[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Two years ago, Gazoo resident Saleh Abu Serdanah took out a small loan in order to get married and start a family. These days, the 31-year-old construction worker is on the run, hiding from police in a tiny rental apartment and unable to repay the money he borrowed.Abu Serdanah is among hundreds of young men who have turned to Gazoo’s small industry of wedding lenders for help, only to fall onto hard times because of crushing debt and lack of jobs in the impoverished Paleostinian territory. Many have been forced to renegotiate their debts, and others have gone into hiding. Some have even ended up in jail.
"I have never been into a cop shoppe and have never made trouble. Now I’m like a runaway crook," Abu Serdanah said.
Wedding lenders have filled an important need in Gazoo’s conservative society, where young men and women are typically expected to marry in their late teens or early 20s. Facing a nearly 60% unemployment rate, many young Gazook men have been forced to put off their dreams of marriage because they cannot afford it.
Over a decade ago, a number of wealthy people launched charities to help young couples to pay for their weddings and settle post-marriage debts. The initiative was promoted through ceremonial mass weddings that thrived after Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gazoo after the Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbung millipede, holy warrior group took power in 2007.
These charitable efforts, which still continue, paved the way for a profitable private industry to emerge, offering more substantial packages that included things like bridal dresses, invitations, bedroom furniture and meals for guests.
Allured by the idea, Abu Serdanah signed up for an offer of $2,500 through Farha Project, one of those companies, in 2017. He acknowledges that he would never have been able to marry without Farha. The November 2017 wedding included a bachelor’s party with a live band and a separate women’s ceremony the following day. The company threw in invitations, catering for 60 people and a suit and dress for the couple.
Abu Serdanah agreed to repay the money in monthly payments over two years, but managed to pay only for five months. Today, he regrets his decision.
"I was committed to paying on time for a while, but things have changed and made me unable to," said Abu Serdanah, sitting on a mat outside the apartment he shares with his wife as a candle faintly lit the dark stairway. "There is no work, so where should I get money from?"
To make a long story short, he borrowed from loan sharks, doesn't have the dough to pay it back. He could be thrown into debtor's prison or the mob could break his knees or both. This is all the fault of Zionists, who're blockading Gaza. Yadda yadda yadda.