“Some of the male stylists have a devoted following, and their customers accept long waiting periods to get appointments. Fares said Hamas' new ruling takes away one of the last remnants of a more liberal lifestyle in Gaza that flourished decades ago, when the territory had cinemas and bars. Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, small ultra-radical Islamic groups have sprung up. Known as Jihadi Salafis, they advocate holy war and a strict, fundamentalist brand of Islam, dismissing Hamas as too pragmatic. They are suspected in dozens of bombings of Internet cafes, music stores and other alleged purveyors of vice. All cinemas and bars closed years ago. Fares said a small pipe bomb was recently set off outside a male hairdresser's shop, as a warning for him to stop working. Hamas is moving gradually to impose Islamic customs. In the summer, the Islamic group promoted a "virtue campaign," urging women to cover up and sending out beach patrols to enforce modest attire…………”

That puts Gaza at par with most of the states of the Persian-American Gulf, as well as Afghanistan and Waziristan. And perhaps a few extremist Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
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