Editing Hamas (section)

=== Gaza Strip ===
{{Main| Islamism in the Gaza Strip | Islamist anti-Hamas groups in the Gaza Strip | Jamila Abdallah Taha al-Shanti | Palestinian Christians }}

Hamas' [[Change and Reform]] [[electoral list]] for the [[2006 Palestinian legislative election]] included a [[Palestinian Christian]] candidate, Hosam al-Taweel, running as an independent for the Christian [[Reserved political positions|reserved]] seat in [[Gaza City]].{{efn| His name has been spelled: Hussam al-Tawil,<ref name="JP HT" /> Hossam Al-Tawil, or Hosam al-Taweel.<ref name="AJ HT" /> }}<ref name="AJ HT" >{{cite web | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/1/25/christian-candidate-on-hamas-ticket | title=Christian candidate on Hamas ticket }}</ref><ref name="PI HT" >{{cite web | url=https://english.palinfo.com/o_post/MP-Hussam-al-Tawil-dies-in-Gaza/ | title=MP Hussam al-Tawil dies in Gaza | date=31 October 2012 }}</ref><ref name="API HT" >{{cite news | title= Palestinian relatives of Christian Hossam Al-Tawil mourn on his body during his funeral at the Church of Saint Porphyrius | url= https://www.apaimages.info/image/I0000glJOxm4mGcU | work= www.apaimages.info [[AP Images]] }}</ref> Israeli media were surprised by the team.<ref name="JP HT" >{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/hamas-boosts-image-by-backing-christian-candidate | title=Hamas boosts image by backing Christian candidate | date=24 January 2006 }}</ref> Hosam al-Taweel won the seat, one of six seats reserved for Palestine's Christian minority, with the highest winning vote of the six elected, due to the endorsement of Hamas and other nationalist groups.<ref name="imec ht">{{cite web |date=4 March 2006 |title=Palestinian Christians: 'We don't feel threatened by rise of Hamas' |url=https://imemc.org/article/17091/ |website=International Middle East Media Center}}</ref>

The gender ideology outlined in the Hamas charter, the importance of women in the religious-nationalist project of liberation is asserted as no lesser than that of males. Their role was defined primarily as one of manufacturing males and caring for their upbringing and rearing, though the charter recognized they could fight for liberation without obtaining their husband's permission and in 2002 their participation in jihad was permitted.{{sfn|Davis|2017|p=55}} The doctrinal emphasis on childbearing and rearing as woman's primary duty is not so different from Fatah's view of women in the First Intifada and it also resembles the outlook of Jewish settlers, and over time it has been subjected to change.{{sfn|Shitrit|2015|pp=73–74}}{{sfn|Phillips|2011|p=81}} A few were worried about imposition of Islamic dress codes, but most Christians in the Gaza Strip said these worries were baseless were not worried about the Hamas government.<ref name="imec ht"/>

In 1989, during the First Intifada, a small number of Hamas followers{{sfn|Shitrit|2015|p=74}} campaigned for polygamy, and also insisted women stay at home and be segregated from men. In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'.{{sfn|Rubenberg|2001|pp=230–31}} The harassment dropped drastically when, after 18 months, the [[Unified National Leadership of the Uprising]] (UNLU) condemned it,{{sfn|Gerner|2007|p=27}} though similar campaigns reoccurred.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} Polygamy is practised in some [[Bedouin]] communities in Israel, and some Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, particularly in the Negev desert (Arabic pronunciation: Naqab) surrounding the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aburabia |first1=Rawia |title=Trapped Between National Boundaries and Patriarchal Structures: Palestinian Bedouin Women and Polygamous Marriage in Israel |journal=Journal of Comparative Family Studies |date=2017 |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=339–349 |doi=10.3138/jcfs.48.3.339 |jstor=44509032 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44509032 |issn=0047-2328}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Boulos | first1=Sonia | date= 2 January 2021 | title= National Interests Versus Women's Rights: The Case of Polygamy Among the Bedouin Community in Israel | doi= 10.1080/08974454.2019.1658692 | url= https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08974454.2019.1658692 | journal= Women & Criminal Justice | volume=31 | pages=53–76 |issn=0897-4454}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lidman |first1=Melanie |title=Polygamy is illegal in Israel. So why is it allowed to flourish among Negev Bedouin? |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-sorry-plight-of-bedouin-women-trapped-by-polygamy/ |work=www.timesofisrael.com |date=16 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=No more than 1 wife: Israel looks to tackle Bedouin polygamy |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-486a1223036f436eb39bf497652a11ec |work=AP News |date=9 January 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bedouin women are pushing Israel to crack down on polygamy |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/polygamy-persists-among-israel-s-bedouins-women-are-pushing-change-n922296 |work=NBC News |date=22 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, some of its members have attempted to impose Islamic dress or the [[hijab]] head covering on women.<ref name="nytimes20090906">[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/world/middleeast/06gaza.html Hamas Fights Over Gaza's Islamist Identity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119001358/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/world/middleeast/06gaza.html |date=19 January 2017 }} ''The New York Times'', 5 September 2009</ref><ref name="xinhua">{{cite news |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/03/content_12748559.htm |title=Hamas encourages Gaza women to follow Islamic code _English_Xinhua |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |date=3 January 2010 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514030330/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/03/content_12748559.htm |archive-date=14 May 2011}}</ref> The government's "Islamic Endowment Ministry" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing, and dating.<ref name="bloomberg">[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aB2RfynNbLmk Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118123632/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aB2RfynNbLmk |date=18 November 2015}} By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, 30 November 2009</ref> There are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students.<ref name="nytimes20090906" /> There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/18/hamas-gaza-islamist-dress-code Hamas patrols beaches in Gaza to enforce conservative dress code] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210235710/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/18/hamas-gaza-islamist-dress-code |date=10 February 2017 }} ''The Guardian'' (UK), 18 October 2009</ref> Hamas officials deny having any plans to impose Islamic law, one legislator stating that "What you are seeing are incidents, not policy," and that Islamic law is the desired standard "but we believe in persuasion".<ref name="bloomberg" />

In 2013, [[UNRWA]] canceled its annual marathon in Gaza after Hamas prohibited women from participating in the race.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rettig |first=Haviv |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-cancels-gaza-marathon-over-hamas-ban-on-women/ |title=UN Cancels Gaza Marathon |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=5 March 2013 |access-date=27 March 2013 |archive-date=10 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310055227/http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-cancels-gaza-marathon-over-hamas-ban-on-women/ |url-status=live }}</ref>