Dubai: The party goes strong: classical music playing, families clapping, crowds of dancing revelers. Then the police broke in. Officers evicted the guests, imposed heavy fines, even locked up the groom and singers in tuxedos.
In recent weeks, such unfortunate endings in long-awaited marriages have a non-unusual history in the Arab world, as the resurgence of coronavirus cases triggers deceptive police action.
However, in a region where marriage is the cornerstone of society, the door to independence and the only culturally appropriate context for a sex life, couples are advancing, despite the fatal risks. -Scale of classic marriages that forget about public fitness measures.
In Jenin, northern West Bank, Mustafa Khatib and six members of his organization spent two nights in prison for attending a busy wedding this month. Police fined the organization $11,000.
“It’s fair, ” Khatib. La will never avoid getting married and will never avoid throwing parties. “
Mohammed Abu Al Naji, another singer, was only released after committing to avoid making a song until the end of the pandemic.
“There were about 500 people at the party, without any protection,” al Naji recalls. “I wasn’t satisfied with being at a wedding like this, but I had to do it” to make it to the end of the month,” he said.
The Palestinian government has ended dozens of ceremonies, police spokesman Loaie Irzekat said. However, the wave of fines, arrests and infections has not prevented our partners from deciding to marry, surrounded by a lot of friends.
“You plan to have a small wedding, but then all your relatives and friends show up,” said Qasim Najjar, whose wedding party last weekend in the northern West Bank village of Deir Sharaf was dispersed by police. “It is our custom. “
For Arab families, abundant and luxurious weddings mark social status. For newlyweds, the tradition of accepting envelopes full of money is helping them settle in. For Palestinians, the ritual can be even deeper.
“It’s an existential thing,” said Randa Serhan, a political sociologist at the American University of Beirut, referring to Palestinians living under the Israeli profession or in exile. “If the Palestinians prevent them from marrying and procreating, they will cease to exist. They have a nation, but they have a family. “
The celebrations of life have potentially fatal consequences. Palestinian Ministry of Health Director Ali Abed Rabu has linked more than 80% of new coronavirus infections to giant meetings at weddings and funerals. Indoor wedding halls in conservative cities like Hebron have vectors. contagion, he said. Coronavirus cases are now reaching new heights. The Palestinian National Authority reported more than 34,500 cases in the West Bank and 270 deaths.
In Israel, which is dealing with one of the most consistent coronavirus outbreaks in the world, the government identifies giant marriages in Arab cities as one of the main reasons for the spread of the virus. With ultra-Orthodox enclaves known for giant marriages and the prayers of organizations. , Arab communities are among the most affected by the virus.
Arab-Israeli lawmaker Ahmad Tibi told The Associated Press that the infection rate in Arab regions had increased from about 3% to 30% during the summer wedding season. Israeli citizens, disillusioned after the failure of an initial closure, are beginning to “ignore instructions,” he added.
When Egyptian wedding halls closed this spring due to an increase in infections, the rich moved their extravagant celebrations to personal villas. Working-class Egyptians took their noisy parties to the streets of the village, prompting local police to interrupt the festivities. Although Egyptian officials still warn of a imaginable “second wave,” the government announced last week that weddings could resume outdoors and in qualified hotels.
In the United Arab Emirates, infection rates peaked at 4 months. Farida Al Hosani, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said nearly 90% of the new instances came here from crowds at weddings, funerals and other events.
The government of the United Arab Emirates has intensified its crackdown on illegal attacks. Last weekend, the government ordered the arrest of eight other people across the country who had organized massive parties without masks.
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