KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Eman Hassan Lawwa, wearing traditional Palestinian prints, and Hikmat Lawwa, wearing a suit, held hands as they walked past collapsed buildings in southern Gaza, where other couples were similarly dressed.
The 27-year-old Palestinians were among 54 couples married in war-torn Gaza on Tuesday in a mass wedding that represented a rare moment of hope after two years of destruction, death and conflict.
“Despite everything that has happened, we will start a new life,” Lauva said. “God willing, this will be the end of the war.”
Weddings are an important part of Palestinian culture, but during the war they became rare in Gaza. After a fragile ceasefire, the tradition began to resume, although weddings differed from the elaborate ceremonies once held in the region.
While jubilant crowds in the southern city of Khan Younis waved Palestinian flags, celebrations were tempered by the ongoing crisis across Gaza. Most of Gaza’s 2 million residents, including Iman and Hikmet, have been displaced by the fighting, entire urban areas have been razed, and aid shortages and outbreaks of conflict continue to plague daily life.
The young couple are distant relatives who fled to the nearby town of Deir al-Balah during the war and have struggled to find basic necessities such as food and shelter. They said they didn’t know how to build a life together given the circumstances surrounding them.
“We want to be happy like the rest of the world. I once dreamed of having a home, a job and being like everyone else,” Hikmet said. “Today, my dream is to find a tent to live in.”
“Life has started to resume, but not in the way we had hoped,” he added.
The celebration is funded by Al Fares Al Shahim, a humanitarian aid organization backed by the United Arab Emirates. In addition to hosting events, the organization provides couples with a small amount of money and other supplies to help them start a new life together.
For Palestinians, weddings are often elaborate celebrations spanning several days and are seen as an important social and economic choice that points to the future for many families. These include joyful dancing and processions through the streets by extended families dressed in cloth patterns by the newlyweds and their loved ones, as well as plates piled high with food.
Randa Serhan, a Barnard College sociology professor who studies Palestinian weddings, said weddings can also be a symbol of resilience and a celebration of a new generation of families carrying on Palestinian traditions.
“Every new wedding has children, which means the memory and the bloodline don’t disappear,” Serhan said. “The couple will continue to live in impossible circumstances.”
On Tuesday, a procession of cars carrying the couple passed through a patchwork of collapsed buildings. Hikmat and Ayman waved Palestinian flags with other couples as families around them danced to loud music from the crowd.
On Tuesday, Laua and Eman, dressed in traditional attire of white, red and green, said the wedding provided them with a brief reprieve after years of pain.
But Iman said the loss of her father, mother and other family members in the war left a deep impression on her.
“It’s hard to experience joy after so much sadness,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “God willing, we will rebuild brick by brick.”
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Janetsky reported from Jerusalem.
