The boys sat in circles on the massive green carpet and girls sat upstairs on the blue-colored ground of al-Shafei mosque in Gaza City, all reiterating phrases of the Quran.

The aim is to memorize as much as possible of the Muslim's holy book in a period of no more than two months, according to Islamic Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip and sponsors the Quran summer camps across the impoverished enclave.

Salah Yassin, 14, was sitting at the head of a male circle, peeking at a copy of Quran to make sure that if another younger boy recited correctly. "I have taken a Quran-rules course in the mosque and now I'm passing my knowledge to these boys."

The "Summer without Boredom" program is one of the latest activities Hamas launched to permeate through the complex society in Gaza by attracting children to join its camps where they learn Quran, sports, basics of self defense and numerous skills.

"We want at least 10,000 students to memorize the entire Quran this summer," said Abdel Rahman al-Jamal, a Hamas lawmaker who also chairs the Quran and Sunna association.

But a few blocks down to the west of the mosque, groups of young girls rejoiced in joyful playing inside a beachside camp of bright-colored tents under a United Nations flag.

Unable to restrict the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) work, Hamas, which routed forces of secular president Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007, is racing with the international organization to flaunt the fringe benefits of its Islamic program. Abbas' Fatah movement is not allowed to hold any type of activities in the Gaza Strip.

Badria Shamalakh, 8, said she joined the UNRWA camp because it presents "many nice things" like water games, drawing, sports and swimming.

Nisreen, a young mother, used to send her two children to an UNRWA camp in the past four years. Today, she will send the girl to an Islamic camp "as a way of change" and the boy will continue his the UNRWA seaside camp.

"Mohammed is eager to go to his camp this summer after he learnt that there would be swimming pools there," Nisreen said about her son.

But Salah, who wants to be an Islamic religious teacher when he grows up, prefers to join the mosque-hosted camp rather than the UNRWA one. "In the mosque, there are better morals and treatment, but there (in the UNRWA) they don't care about prayer."

Salah believes that spending summer time inculcate the Quran provides you with countless benefaction. "When I die, I will go to heaven immediately and will be the happiest."

The UNRWA-run camps are good too, said Salah's grandfather Abu Yousef Yassin. "But here it is still better because the pupil will remain polite."

Every morning, Abu Yousef walks to the mosque with Salah and three granddaughters, monitoring their progress in the lessons. "They have completed memorizing three Sura (chapters) in one week," the white-bearded man said proudly.

Dr. Fadel Abu Heen, a respected independent sociologist, said the families became badly affected with the political rift between the Palestinian factions. "Those who are against the Islamic trend and want to send their children to a summer camp find no place but the UN camps."

The organizers of the camps have their own goals "and some of them could be political since the political groups stand behind many of these camps," he added.

In eastern Gaza City alone, Hamas has opened 40 summer camps, hoping that up to 4,500 children aging between 6 and 17 would enroll, Mohammed al-Dalou, a Hamas official, added.

"We are teaching the children how to love al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Palestine," he explained, urging the families not to hesitate in sending their children to the camps "since they will be taught the principles of their religion too."

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2009)