Gazans outraged over millions of dollars spent building mosques

Imam al-Shafei mosque in the centre of the Zaytoun neighborhood, Gaza City

Hadeel Al Gherbawi reports in Al-Monitor:

Despite the repeated Israeli military operations on the besieged Gaza Strip and the destruction of dozens of homes, the construction of prestigious and luxurious mosques worth millions dollars seems to be on the rise.

In recent years, the construction of luxury mosques has outraged the largely impoverished population of the enclave.

Imam al-Shafei Mosque in al-Zaitoun neighborhood was built at a cost of $3.5 million, and Al-Hassayna Mosque in Gaza City at a cost of more than $2 million. The construction cost of Al-Khalidi and Salim Abu Muslim mosques exceeded $1 million each. The Great Mosque in Khan Yunis is another lavishly luxurious mosque, in addition to Sheikh Ajlin’s Khalil al-Wazir Mosque, which will be opened soon.

Mohammad al-Khalidi, a citizen from Gaza, poured out his resentment of such luxury mosques. “The Ministry of Endowments claims that the donors funding the construction of the mosques want to spend this much money on them. But why would it [the ministry] not inform the donors that there are other fields in Gaza where the donations could be more useful? Mosques can be built at a reasonable cost and the remainder of the donations could be used to build hospitals, schools or residences, for example. A Muslim can pray anywhere that is pure and does not need expensive and lavish decorations,” he told Al-Monitor.

He said, “Any person is free to use his money as he pleases, but citizens have the right to ask how the state’s funds or donations are being spent. We have the right to know why Khalil al-Wazir Mosque and other luxurious mosques were built at such exorbitant costs.”

Khalidi added, “The opening of the Khalil al-Wazir Mosque in the coming months will stir an uproar among Gazans due to the large number of mosques already present in Gaza, in the absence of development projects, hospitals and sewage networks. For example, in the Beit Lahia area in northern Gaza, the Salim Abu Muslim Mosque was built at a cost of $1 million, while a nonregulated landfill in the area is endangering the health of the locals and the environment.”

Poverty and unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip skyrocketed to levels exceeding 89% last year, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Mohammad Abu Samra, expert on Islamic and Arab affairs, also condemned this phenomenon. “Lavishly decorated mosques are undesirable and unacceptable in light of the difficult economic and living conditions in Gaza, which has suffered many wars causing the destruction of thousands of homes, schools, institutions, associations, factories, mosques, infrastructure facilities and agricultural lands,” he told Al-Monitor.