GAZA: The new Palestinian culture minister has set his sights on stamping out pornography - and belly dancing. Atallah Abu Al-Subbah, a senior official of Islamist militant group Hamas, said belly dancing was “a form of striptease”. “I do not regard forms of pornography and striptease as culture. They are destructive,” Abu Al-Subbah told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday. Since Hamas swept parliamentary elections in January, fears among secular Palestinians that the group might crack down on various forms of entertainment and the drinking of alcohol have largely proven unfounded. Hamas took office last week.
Abu Al-Subbah did not say how he would seek to outlaw belly dancing, which used to be performed in public in Gaza before a Palestinian uprising against Israel began in 2000. Some Palestinians expect Egyptian and Arab entertainers and singers to resume performances in Gaza, especially in the coming summer months, after the Palestinians took control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt late last year. Abu Al-Subbah blamed Israel for the spread of pornographic movies in Gaza and the West Bank. He vowed to confront the vice by boosting the “culture of resistance” and Islamic values.