Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
October 12, 2009

Christian girls in the Gaza Strip are under pressure to wear Islamic dress in public schools. An unofficial dress code mainly for high school girls calls for them to wear the full “jilbab,” which is a long traditional robe, and a headscarf, said the Rev. Jorge Hernández of Holy Family Parish in Gaza. “For most of the schools it is an absolute condition for admittance,” Father Hernández said. Most Christian children in Gaza attend church-run schools, but there is a tiny minority of Christian students in the government-run schools. At the start of the school year, rumors circulated in Gaza that the Hamas-run Ministry of Education would impose a dress code. In mid-September the ministry said it had not officially authorized the policy. According to one Christian girl, her teacher tried to convince girls to wear the jilbab by quoting verses from the Koran saying that it is the best way for a woman to dress, but most of the Christian girls refused to acquiesce.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

I use a motorized wheelchair and communication device because of my disability, cerebral palsy. Parishes were not prepared to accommodate my needs nor were they always willing to recognize my abilities.
Margaret Anne Mary MooreNovember 22, 2024
Nicole Scherzinger as ‘Norma Desmond’ and Hannah Yun Chamberlain as ‘Young Norma’ in “Sunset Blvd” on Broadway at the St. James Theatre (photo: Marc Brenner).
Age and its relationship to stardom is the animating subject of “Sunset Blvd,” “Tammy Faye” and “Death Becomes Her.”
Rob Weinert-KendtNovember 22, 2024
What separates “Bonhoeffer” from the myriad instructive Holocaust biographies and melodramas is its timing.
John AndersonNovember 22, 2024
“Wicked” arrives on a whirlwind of eager (and anxious) anticipation among fans of the musical.
John DoughertyNovember 22, 2024