The Gaza Experience: Women on Bikes…Now She Can’t

The government of Hamas has now effectively banned women from riding on motorcycles. This became a problem when the people of Gaza were put under an inhumane siege that restricts and limits the goods that make it to the narrow strip of land. Soon enough underground tunnels emerged and smugglers at the Palestinian Egyptian borders have started to bring in all sorts of goods needed in Gaza but banned from entering Gaza by Israel. Inexpensive Chinese motorcycles started popping in the streets of Gaza. Those little transportation machines have proved ideal for the narrow Gaza streets and its young populace. With brand names like Halawa and Dyson, and broken roads has made them a popular mean of transportation. With inexpensive smuggled subsidized Egyptian gas and relatively higher cab fares (due to shortage of replacement parts), demand for motorcycles has skyrocketed.

Shortly, young Palestinian families started using those rides to move around town, the father with a kid in the front and the wife in the back. It seemed as more and more families started to ride on bikes mainly to save money, many conservative Gazans started to whisper. I found myself one day getting in an argument in cab when an older gentleman complained about women riding on bikes. While, I do not see this as a problem threatening the social fabric, the older man raised the point of public safety. Unemployed Gaza men have an advanced degree in leering, so a women on a motorcycle might create a distraction for male drivers. However, from my personal observations, the only women that ride on those motorcycles are the ones that tend to be more covered up even their faces are veiled, not a distraction for most. So, if you had an image of a hot blond ridging on a motorcycle behind Top Gun, you are thinking too hard. And since the government of Gaza has solved all of the problems of Gaza, they have turned their attention to women on motorcycles.

Early October of this year Hamas banned all females form riding on bikes. In other words, if you feel the urge to take your bike for a ride, make sure to leave your spouse at home and if she needs to come with, get her a cab with complete strangers. But many residence of Gaza applauds the ban, “A bike is no place for a lady” said the Gaza shop owner I spoke to. The rationale might be directed at the wrong group, although hundreds of Gaza men have lost their lives or suffered serious injury because of bike accidents, not a single incident involved female passengers. Gaza insurance companies are still reluctant to offer insurance coverage for bikes and thus tribal law takes affect in the case of death of injury caused by a bike. To their credit, the Gaza government every now and then launches road campaigns to stop bikers from going on fast roads and occasionally detains the bike and the owner. Such police tops focus their efforts on popular roads for bikers such as the one on the Gaza beach and the Southern part of Salah Eldeen highway.