Feature: Gazans mark Valentine' Day despite hardships, weak economy

Israel's military campaign last summer has made life in Gaza quite hard, but not hard enough to render love and romance traceless.

As the world marked this year's Valetine's Day on Saturday Lama, a young lady in the coastal enclave, prepared for her fiance a gift of surprise, a bunch of red roses.

She bought those flowers in one of the war-torn city's souvenir shops selling flowers, teddy bears and coffee mugs.

Lama is only among a few young people in the impoverished Strip to celebrate the Valetine's Day by exchanging presents.

"I wanted to please my fiance and express to him how much I love him in spite of the hard situation we are living in Gaza," Lama told Xinhua as she waited for the flower dresser at one of the souvenir shops in Gaza city's Remal neighborhood.

Lama, who got engaged several months ago, said her marriage was postponed because her fiance's brother was killed in Israel's 50-day offensive, which left 2,200 Palestinians killed and more than 11,000 wounded.

Lama said she, with the red roses and her love, wanted to comfort her fiance, and to rid him of sadness. "I hope, we will be able to forget our sadness and live a happy life."

Mohamed, a young Gazan, also bought a bouquet of red and white flowers. He said that Gaza people are eager for happiness and they really want to grab any opportunity to express love, peace and happiness instead of sadness.

An Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for almost eight years has almost crippled Gaza's economy, while poverty and unemployment rates are sky high.

Faddel Abu Heen, professor of psychology at al-Aqsa University, said "the more entertainment and the more happiness in a society that suffers from tragedies and crisis, the psychological health would certainly improve or even get better."

"Regardless of what the ceremony or the event is, the most important thing is to grab the opportunity and cheer up. Therefore, if there is no opportunity, the people should look for any event or ceremony to get themselves out of depression and stress," said Abu Heen.

Abdullah Hashim, one of Gaza residents in his mid 40s, told Xinhua that the economic situation in Gaza is not only difficult, but also ruined.

"The people here are trying to get out of depression and they found Valentine's Day as a way to express joy and happiness," he said.

Last month, Israel decided to withhold the tax revenue dues paid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which helps to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of employees in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The PNA has been paying only 60 percent of those employees' monthly wages. Endit