Feature: Mass weddings brighten gloomy Gazans

In spite of severe poverty, unemployment, ongoing Israeli blockade and delay of reconstruction, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are seeking any happiness and joy that they can find. One of such events is joining mass wedding ceremonies.

Over the past few years, Palestinian charity organizations have sponsored and organized several mass wedding ceremonies in the Gaza Strip to please young couples and aid them financially, because the deteriorated economical situation in the enclave doesn't allow them to start a new family.

On Friday evening, 50 grooms shared all together the happiness in a mass wedding party held in Gaza city. The aim of the event was to get them and their families out from the bad consequences of the Israeli military offensive waged on the Gaza Strip last summer.

The Gaza-based al-Fallah Charity, a pro-Islamic Hamas movement association, was the one which sponsored and organized the wedding this time. During the pleasant event, 50 grooms stood together wearing black wedding suits and all smiled as music was playing.

The brides didn't show up in the ceremony because it is an Islamic style wedding. But 50 little girls wearing white dresses stood near each groom, while grooms held bunches of roses. Such a scene, grooms without their brides, can only be witnessed in Gaza.

"I'm happy to join this mass wedding ceremony with my friend. We really miss joy and smiles and this wedding is an opportunity for us to celebrate and to say good-bye to single life," said Hassan Zeidan, a 27-year-old groom, with a wide smile on his face.

The 50 grooms danced on the stage while conservative Islamic music played and a large audience cheered. The mass wedding organizers said the event was held to express social cooperation among the populations, please the grooms and help them overcome a deteriorated economical situation.

"The idea of joining a mass wedding was to get the financial aid from the sponsoring charity because it is the only solution for me and other young men in the Gaza Strip to help us starting a new family amid the ongoing high rates of poverty and unemployment," said Zeidan.

The mass wedding held in Gaza city was the first since the end of the 50-day large-scale Israeli military air and ground offensive waged on the Gaza Strip that started in July 8. The conflict left 2,200 Palestinians killed, 11,000 wounded and large destruction in housing and infrastructure.

"The hard circumstances in Gaza in general prevent the populations from feeling joy. In this particular day, the mass wedding day, a mass participation of 50 grooms, 50 brides and their families and friend to defeat sadness and grief and replace it with happiness," said Zeidan.

Mohamed Abu Nadda, anther groom in his mid-20s, said his happiness in this even is doubled, adding "in spite of wounds and sadness, we send a message that we have the ability to live happily, build up our lands, have children and make families."

The aid given to the grooms and funding the running cost of the mass wedding was a Qatari donation sent to al-Fallah Charity in Gaza.

Mohamed Khella, deputy chairman of al-Fallah Charity told Xinhua that the ceremony aimed at bringing smiles to the faces of local residents suffered tragic actions, adding "the populations in the Gaza Strip deserve to have a good life like other populations allover the world."

During the ceremony, the organizers delivered gifts to the families of the grooms. Khella, who attended the wedding, said "the world should see the difficult living circumstances in the Gaza Strip, mainly a huge group of young men who are jobless and unable to get married and start a better future."

Ismail Haneya, the deputy chief of Hamas movement also attended the mass wedding. Addressing at the occasion, he said "our weddings and our happiness in Gaza are different from any other place in the world," adding "these events are like the flags of victory that defeated our wounds."

"Mass weddings in Gaza are a message that our people are stronger than the occupiers and higher than the fences of the siege. Funding these mass weddings is a reward to the people in the Gaza Strip for their sacrifices they made to protect our holy places and strengthen out steadfastness," said Haneya. Endit