Editing Hamas (section)

=== In the West Bank ===

In 2005, the human rights organization [[Freemuse]] released a report titled "Palestine: [[Taliban]]-like attempts to censor music", which said that [[Music of Palestine|Palestinian musicians]] feared that harsh religious laws against music and concerts will be imposed since Hamas group scored political gains in the Palestinian Authority local elections of 2005.<ref name="freemuse">{{cite news |url=http://www.freemuse.org/sw10095.asp |title=Palestine: Taliban-like attempts to censor music |publisher=Freemuse.org |date=17 August 2006 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807211707/http://www.freemuse.org/sw10095.asp |archive-date=7 August 2011}}</ref>

The attempt by Hamas to dictate a cultural code of conduct in the 1980s and early 1990s led to a violent fighting between different Palestinian sectors. Hamas members reportedly burned down stores that stocked videos they deemed indecent and destroyed books they described as "heretical".<ref name="barel">[http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/afghanistan-in-palestine-1.165006 "Afghanistan in Palestine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015233322/http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/afghanistan-in-palestine-1.165006 |date=15 October 2015 }}, by Zvi Bar'el, ''[[Haaretz]]'', 26 July 2005</ref>

In 2005, an outdoor music-and-dance performance in [[Qalqiliya]] was suddenly banned by the Hamas-led municipality, for the reason that such an event would be "[[haram]]", i.e. forbidden by Islam.<ref name="otterbeck">"Battling over the public sphere: Islamic reactions to the music of today". Jonas Otterbeck. ''Contemporary Islam''. Volume 2, Number 3, 211–28,{{doi|10.1007/s11562-008-0062-y}}. "... the over-all argument was that the event was haram"</ref> The municipality also ordered that music no longer be played in the Qalqiliya zoo, and mufti Akrameh Sabri issued a [[Fatwa|religious edict]] affirming the municipality decision.<ref name="barel"/> In response, the Palestinian national poet [[Mahmoud Darwish]] warned that "There are Taliban-type elements in our society, and this is a very dangerous sign."<ref name="freemuse"/><ref name="darwish">"Palestinians Debate Whether Future State Will be Theocracy or Democracy". [[Associated Press]], 13 July 2005.</ref><ref name="newhumanist">[http://newhumanist.org.uk/937/gaza-taliban Gaza Taliban?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907185601/http://newhumanist.org.uk/937/gaza-taliban |date=7 September 2011 }} by Editorial Staff, ''The New Humanist'', volume 121 issue 1, January/February 2006</ref>

The Palestinian columnist Mohammed Abd Al-Hamid, a resident of Ramallah, wrote that this religious coercion could cause the migration of artists, and said "The religious fanatics in Algeria destroyed every cultural symbol, shattered statues and rare works of art and liquidated intellectuals and artists, reporters and authors, ballet dancers and singers—are we going to imitate the Algerian and Afghani examples?"<ref name="barel"/>