For the sound of drums and flutes, freshly coffed Palestinian The groom dances with his brothers, cousins and friends, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his useless woman’s glittering robe.
It would have been normal Gaza Wedding, except for the venue – not a luxury seaside hall, but a narrow alley Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.
Welcome to Gaza’s new epidemic-era weddings: due to the strict limits of the crowd they are small, they sit outside and they end up as early as possible to defeat the curfew.
And they are all cheaper than usual.
The groom said, “I’m not entirely happy because I would have chosen to celebrate it in the wedding hall.” Mohamed Ahmed Ashor, Blazer and burgundy.
But for her family, the 24-year-old trader told AFP in the middle of the dance that even paid-down naphthales have brought welcome savings in times of financial hardship.
Weddings in the Palestinian Coastal Enclave are usually extravagant, taking place in large halls that draw along the Mediterranean coast.
Despite the poverty and unemployment rate being around 50 percent even before the epidemic, many Gazans spend thousands of dollars on weddings.
The virus has had a major impact on the economy in the strip this year, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2007 and is currently spreading rapidly in Gaza.
Ahmed al-Jadba, a doctor at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, warned that the infection had multiplied in recent weeks and that “the situation is spiraling out of control.”
To contain the spread of the coronavirus, the Islamic group Hamas, which operates the belt, has banned large, indoor gatherings elsewhere, like officials.
Families are forced to have small weddings in settings less than fairytale – like alleys and backyards – but bundles preserved in the process.
Ashor said many couples these days prefer scaled back day naphthales that take “a little over an hour”.
Once Ashers’ wedding was over, the musicians – three percussionists and a traditional reed flute player, called – went home before the evening curfew.
The next day they booked more performances, as their small, traveling business is now thriving.
A few days later they were inside Jabalia, A town north of Patti, for a wedding Ahmed Omar Khallah, A 28-year-old postman.
“There is no work, no money, but now we have saved a lot by getting married,” Khalla told AFP.
He was picking up his woman from a beauty salon called “Al-Qalaq Al-An”, an Islamic expression referring to the beautiful eyes of the women of heaven.
Its owner, Fadvi, Confirmed that “many young couples choose to get married during the Corona period because of the low cost. They don’t have to rent wedding halls or pay for big buffets. “
Fadvi has changed his business hours to include a new routine as night curfew is imposed on Hamas police patrols.
“Now we start work around 00:00, because people only get married in ceremonies until 5:00,” he said.
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