Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! You are right, Em, and I was wrong.
I will repeat: I was wrong.
All of the references I can find to resort hotels, fancy restaurants, shopping malls, etc. refer to structures that were built AFTER Hamas took over in 2006:
Blue Beach Resort - 2015
Al-Andalusia mall - 2011
Gaza Mall - 2007
Al Mashtal Hotel - 2011
I literally had no idea that there was such a "luxury" building boom that went on under Hamas.
Everyone, it seems, says that Hamas are a blight upon the Palestinians, that life is horrible under Hamas, that Hamas has enslaved and oppressed the people of Gaza.
I am ashamed to admit that I bought into that propaganda narrative.
I really did not think that Hamas would preside over the building of such structures, and I wonder where from the customers were coming to these businesses, given the fact that Gaza was a closed, isolated enclave.
I did find one quote:
"Since we can't take our families to resorts outside Gaza, we bring them here," said Ahmed Khaled, 45, a father of five. "It's a place where you see only beauty, you can enjoy a drink or lunch by the sea," he said.
According to my research, the so-called "middle class" in Gaza amounts to around 100,000 people. I suppose it makes sense that there would be some people who had money and were trapped in Gaza once Israel sealed off the place.
Still, 100,000 people is not nothing, even though it is only 4% of the population.
Who would have thought that Hamas would be such a champion of Gaza's middle class? Or that they would be so pro-business, pro-capitalism? Fast food and Mercedes dealerships?
I am shocked.
Of course, those things are all gone now, but it was a real eye-opener to know that they were there, that despite the blockade, Hamas was able to get such projects built.
Although, I also read that these structures were built using what Wikipedia calls "Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels", so I suppose that Hamas would have been in the best position to facilitate the clandestine import (smuggling) of the materials needed to build such luxury structures in the first place.
I suppose that these luxury resorts are like the luxury goods inmates can buy in a US prison - if you have gang connections, you can smuggle in anything.
