Take my wife, please!

The Telegraph

By Ben Harris · March 19, 2009

YNet reports that the number of Gaza widows has grown so large that Hamas is paying men off to marry them -- to the tune of $3,000.

Hamas initiated the move in an attempt to lower the number of widowed women in the Gaza Strip who lost the spouses who provided for them and their children, and in order to ease their emotional grief and financial difficulties.

The number of widows in Gaza has grown dramatically after Operation Cast Lead. The Palestinian society regards divorcées and widows in a negative way, and young men usually refrain from marrying them.

Hamas hopes that by encouraging men to wed these women, it will be providing them with stability and a better life.

And lest you think the idea of marrying widows is some crazy Islamic fundamentalist thing, see here. (No, it's not exactly the same, but still ...)

3 Comments Share This

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Lori Gross

03/19/09 12:16 PM

I see no reason for sneering at this initiative. It’s probably the best thing Hamas has ever used its money for.

Audrey Seidman

03/19/09 09:37 PM

I find the flippancy of the headline offensive. It is not a joke to create or try to help widows and orphans. And to a commentor, nor is it in any way HaShem’s wish that we create more. Stability and a better life is what the women of Gaza need.

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