Love and Rockets: Hamas Now Plays Matchmaker, Too

Creeped out by blind dates? Sick of the bar scene? Craigslist hook-ups a little too impersonal? Maybe you're looking for this kind of matchmaking only an Islamist terror organization can provide. Why not try the latest dating service that’s sweeping the Gaza strip, and let Hamas find that special someone just for you?

As Diaa Hadid of the Associated Press reports, Hamas, in the form of the "Tayseer Association for Marriage and Development,” has been providing matchmaking services to the men and women of Gaza since 2007. 40 marriages have already been arranged; the applications of 287 single women are currently on file.

The matchmakers have become particularly valuable since the recent Gaza war, Hadid notes, as Gaza’s sociology has collided with the conflict’s economic aftermath.

While Tayseer's matchmaking service helps both men and women, it is particularly important for women since staying single is a cruel fate for them in Gaza. They are are often treated as unpaid maids by their extended families and, says Gaza sociologist Naser Mahdi, increasing economic hardship has made the marriage market even harsher.

The dwindling number of middle-class men with steady incomes can have their pick of the prettiest women, leaving others to work hard to find a suitable husband. Meanwhile, poor families are reluctant to marry off working daughters, hoping to keep their salaries.

It may seem strange for the same organization that rockets schoolhouses to be acting as the Gaza equivalent of Singled Out. But Hamas has many faces. Part terrorist organization, part social services group, Hamas’ charitable efforts have given it the political clout among Palestinians that makes it such an enduring opponent. In the words of the Tayseer association’s director, "This makes people close to Hamas and makes Hamas close to the people."

Sensitive singles should be warned, though. Hard as it may be to believe, Hamas can be somewhat shallow, tactless and kinda racist in its selection process, particularly for those not “pretty by Gaza standards.”* *

"If we see a girl that appears to match (a man), but she's not physically what he wants, I'll call him and say, 'Well, she's pretty, but she's dark.' Or 'she's short, but she's white.' We encourage them to be a bit more realistic," [Tayseer matchmaker Nisrin] Khalil said.

[Photo: Hatem Moussa, AP]

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