Give Them an A for Effort

Or something. But this still seems a tad weird:

Fed up with internal Palestinian strife, about 40 men gathered in the centre of the West Bank town of Ramallah and gave up their facial hair in solidarity with Ibrahim Abu al-Naja, who lost his moustache on Monday night.

More than a dozen of the protestors also had their skulls completely shaved by barbers who were brought in especially for the event, which drew many spectators.

In Arab culture facial hair is a symbol of masculinity that often reveals political or cultural attitudes, with secular nationalists usually sporting moustaches and religious Muslims growing beards.

"The moustache for an Arab is a source of pride. What Abu al-Naja had to go through while in the hands of Hamas in Gaza was meant to humiliate him," said newly cleanshaven retired journalist Maher Abu Ghdeib.

"Shaving our heads and beards is an expression to our rejection of the moral decadence and violations of human rights as a result of the rivalry between Fatah and Hamas," journalist Khalil Shahnin told AFP.

Haretz adds:

For older Arab men, hair, and particularly mustaches, are a sign of masculinity and status. Observant Muslims often grow beards. Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah-affiliated forces in June and tensions have been high between the groups since then.

On Tuesday, Hamas forces rounded up a group of Fatah leaders, and shaved off half of one man's hair and mustache as humiliation. Hamas denied it shaved the man

Hamas, of course, denies this, and counter-claims that Fatah has been shaving ITS people. J'accuse!

Fatah officials held Hamas responsible, saying the act was designed to humiliate Ibrahim Abu al-Naja, who is one of the most senior leaders of Fatah in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, however, said Abu al-Naja's kidnappers were former Fatah security officers who were angry because the Palestinian Authority had not paid them their salaries.

...Abu al-Naja, who has not appeared in public since his release early Tuesday, has been wearing a mustache for nearly 35 years.

A top Fatah leader in Ramallah expressed outrage over the abduction of Abu al-Naja, denying Hamas's claim that disgruntled Fatah officers were responsible. "As usual, Hamas is lying about its serious crimes," he told The Jerusalem Post. "Hamas's gangs are targeting all Fatah members in the Gaza Strip, including the leaders."

Ihab al-Ghissin, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior, strongly denied the allegations. "You can ask Abu al-Naja himself about the identity of those who kidnapped him and shaved his mustache and he will tell you the truth," he said.

Hamas recently accused the Fatah-controlled security forces in the West Bank of shaving the beards of Hamas detainees.

So the Fatah guys are doing the only thing they can: showing solidarity and calling Hamas out for humiliating their colleague. I get that; as a fairly hirsute fellow myself, my beard has come to be part of the way I conceive of myself (to say nothing of how others think about me), and the rare occasions where I've gone without have sometimes made some of my friends and family a little upset (Shiksa Girlfriend seems to mind it the most, but I suspect that has more to do with the fact that any stubble that immediately starts coming back jabs her in the face). And certainly Jews are sensitive to how dehumanizing it can be to be treated like a sheep.

Still, it seems to me that Fatah is maybe being a little too direct about what its goals are with this protest:

"If Hamas wants to humiliate our Fatah leaders in Gaza by cutting their mustaches, we want to tell them today that mustaches are not a symbol of masculinity any more," former Fatah lawmaker Borhan Jarrar said. "Shame on Hamas for doing that."

So there! I like the idea of unilaterally changing the cultural meaning of a long-standing trend. Maybe they can also give Urban Outfitters a talking-to.

P.S.

I have to wonder, how come Satmar shearing a Chabadnik in the 80s didn't lead to a similar response? That would have been interesting. And just think of how many sheitls they could have made from the donations.