Gaza police block women from attending football match

NUSEIRAT, Palestinian Territories: Police blocked dozens of women from attending a football match Sunday in the Gaza Strip, in what activists said they hoped would have been the first such permission under Hamas’s rule. Authorities in the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas told the women they had orders not to allow them into the stadium at Nuseirat refugee camp south of Gaza City. Some of the women instead watched the match between Al-Nuseirat and Al-Jalaa by standing outside the fence, an AFP journalist reported. “We came here to encourage the team and youths in Nuseirat and watch the game, but we were surprised by the presence of Hamas security guards who closed the gates in our faces and did not allow us to go inside to cheer,” Ayat Othman, one of the women who tried to attend, told AFP.

Female relatives of players have previously been allowed to attend matches in Gaza, but Sunday’s match would have marked the first time under Hamas women could have attended on a large-scale basis, according to organisers.They were to be seated separately from men in the stadium. The plan was an initiative of a project to improve sports clubs in Nuseirat.

Amal Shihadeh, an activist with the project, said she was disappointed by the authorities’ actions. “We wanted to set a precedent today in Gaza with women cheering on Al-Nuseirat club, but unfortunately we were shocked to find out after already coordinating with security forces that the gate was closed despite there being a women-only section,” she told AFP.