Hamas ‘Freeing’ Gaza from Porn Sites

Is it not an impossible request to ban pornography, sex and voyeurism by simply issuing a ban? Even in Gaza ruled by the Hamas,not every one will welcome the ban. A part of Gaza’s population is basically similar to the West Bank population. A town like Ramallah, more open to the world, can be considered by many Gazans as an example  of how a better life is possible, and among other things, a free internet is maintained and not only for porno’s sake. Will bans, of any sort, not induce ‘hackers’ to bypass them? Only if the Hamas will threatened surfers with unsupportable penalties have they a chance to succeed. But for the more ‘Western’ inclined Gazans, perhaps ‘emigrating’ to the Western Bank..is not an impossible solution, reminding me of “The escape from LA“  movie, starring Kurt Russel.

Here is the ban news:…” ‘Islamist group Hamas has told the main Palestinian telecoms company to block access to pornographic Internet sites in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas government official said on Monday.”….The aim of the move is to protect the Palestinian community from cultural pollution and to protect the young generations from the misuse of the Internet through viewing pornographic sites,’ Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nono said…’An Internet provider in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas seized in June after routing President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah forces, estimated that about 400,000 Gazans surf the Web and said almost half of them were aged 18-35.’…’Attacks against video stores and Internet cafes have increased over the past two years. Some of the attacks had been claimed by radical Muslim groups who say such places run contrary to Islamic values.’ “…see more.

It turns out that issuing a ban in Gaza has no influence on the Israeli internet providers.  Israeli owners of sex sites report, I quote..” The Israeli-Palestinian conflict apparently does not disturb and even encourages Arab internet users from consuming kosher Hebrew porn. Operators of a number of porn sites report that between two and 10% of their users arrive from Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority. Some websites even go as far as offering services in Arabic.”….” The most popular video clip among Arabs, ‘Code name: Deep investigation,’ is described as ‘a parody dealing with the Vanunu affair with agents investigating the affair using erotic means’. “…” Nothing seems to stop the porn-consuming Saudi, not even technical difficulties: ‘In many places Israel is blocked, at times the entire suffix ‘.co.il’ is blocked. Users connect through proxy servers and reach us that way,’ he said”…see here the full article.

So Gazans don’t satisfied themselves  only with the “Sex, lies and videotape” movie, (if he is not censured in Gaza). Maintaining myself a blog, (not porno or any related subject), I see every day entries from the Gaza strip and the West bank on my blog.

Now if the Hamas ban will succeed, what shall be with the fate of private porno sex and future sex extortions in Gaza? From a “Jerusalem Post” article ”Fatah-Hamas mired in tawdry accusations”,  Hamas and Fatah are accusing each other of sex scandals homosexual relations, sex orgies etc.

Here are a few quotes,..”The alleged “sex scandals” are said to have occurred in the Gaza Strip, which fell into Hamas’s hands in June.”…” Some of them had individual sex, while others preferred group sex. Some of them paid money for sex, while others performed sexual intercourse with males in front of their wives.”….” The sex allegedly took place in hotels, clinics and private homes - in some cases with a picture of Yasser Arafat hanging overhead.”..

And here a few Fatah accusations against the Hamas sex scandalls, I quote ..”According to Fatah, a Hamas imam was recently caught having sex with a male minor in a mosque basement. In another incident, according to Fatah, a senior member of Hamas’s armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, was expelled from his refugee camp after he was caught having sex with a male colleague in a vehicle. And according to a report on a Fatah-controlled Web site, a Hamas man was caught naked together with his neighbor’s wife in her bedroom”…see here for the full article.

Now, as always, a ban, even in Gaza, has his  pros and cons. Each reader can decide for himself  what are his preferences.