Crazy Water Park
Encyclopedia
The Crazy Water Aqua Fun Park was a water park
in the Gaza Strip
, Palestinian territories
, that served the territory's small wealthy class. The park opened in May 2010 and was burned down by masked men in September 2010, after being closed by the Palestinian Hamas
de facto government for allowing men and women to mingle. In July, one Australia
n newspaper called it "the new sensation" among Gaza's "privileged."
Mohammed Al-Araj, a former economics minister for the Hamas
de facto government in the Gaza Strip, was one of the owners of the park. Two thousand families visited the Crazy Water Park during the first four days that it was open.
s, ponds with pedal boats, a restaurant, a cafe, and a quiet area shaded by a tent where adults could sit on carpets and listen to music. The atmosphere was secular, with popular secular tunes playing over the loudspeakers and women in international-style clothing. A lifting of the government ban on women smoking in public
made it legal for women to smoke the popular nargila
s at the Park's cafe. The park was built with materials assembled from war-torn buildings as well as materials brought through the Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels. Construction was completed in six months. Admission was 10 shekels, the equivalent of about $
2.60 as of mid-2010, but using the water slide costs another 5 shekels, and going into the pool costs an extra 20 shekels.
The park cost $2 million to build. According to Ayman Barawi, the Park's financial manager, "This park is a form of escape. People need a chance to escape from the stress. We brought 'air' to the people." According to The Guardian
, the water park was part of an entertainment "circuit" for wealthy Palestinians in Gaza, which includes seaside cafes, browsing at the Gaza Mall
and riding at the Faisal Equestrian Club
, adjacent to the Park.
The Park had 106 employees, not counting about 80 vendors supplying services and goods such as food. Park employees earned the equivalent of between $
250 and $300 a month, considered a good wage in Gaza, where over 80% of the population received welfare payments from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
and other international aid agencies.
, some sources regard the Crazy Water Park as one of a group of Hamas business ventures operating since the late 2000s. According to the Reuters
, the resort was built by a "Hamas-linked charity," According to Egypt
ian journalist Ashraf Abu Al-Houl writing in Al-Ahram Weekly
, the park was one among a rapidly growing group of Gaza leisure parks, including Zahrat al-Madain, the Al-Bustan resort and the Bisan City tourist village, so many of which were completed between his visit to Gaza in February 2010 and his return in July 2010 as to make Gaza "almost unrecognizable." He continued, "a sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza's coast. Further, the sight of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed me. Merchandise is sold more cheaply than in Egypt, although most of it is from the Egyptian market, and there are added shipping costs and costs for smuggling it via the tunnels – so that it could be expected to be more expensive.... the siege was broken even before Israel's crime against the ships of the Freedom Flotilla in late May; everything already was coming into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. If this weren't the case, businessmen would not have been able to build so many resorts in under four months".
In early September 2010, Hamas authorities shut down the park again for 21 days, along with other resorts and a horse riding club.
The identity of the arsonists was not immediately known, but al-Araj noted that "all tourism projects in Gaza are threatened by extremists who reject them" and held the Hamas administration responsible because it had closed the resort. Since seizing control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a violent conflict
with rival Palestinian group Fatah, Hamas had been closing down restaurants, coffee shops and hotels in the territory, claiming these places violate Islamic tradition. During the same period, other extreme Islamist groups carried out numerous attacks on establishments perceived as un-Islamic, including coffee shops, beauty salons and even UN-run summer camps.
A spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry said it had opened an investigation, and denied a connection between the attack and the closure.
Water park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...
in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
, that served the territory's small wealthy class. The park opened in May 2010 and was burned down by masked men in September 2010, after being closed by the Palestinian Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
de facto government for allowing men and women to mingle. In July, one Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n newspaper called it "the new sensation" among Gaza's "privileged."
Mohammed Al-Araj, a former economics minister for the Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
de facto government in the Gaza Strip, was one of the owners of the park. Two thousand families visited the Crazy Water Park during the first four days that it was open.
Features
The landscaped water park, west of Gaza City, featured 3 swimming pools, a canal 100 meters long, three water slideWater slide
A water slide is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size...
s, ponds with pedal boats, a restaurant, a cafe, and a quiet area shaded by a tent where adults could sit on carpets and listen to music. The atmosphere was secular, with popular secular tunes playing over the loudspeakers and women in international-style clothing. A lifting of the government ban on women smoking in public
Women and smoking
The cigarette industry began a strong marketing campaign geared toward women beginning in the 1920s. These campaigns became more aggressive as time has progressed and marketing in general became more prominent...
made it legal for women to smoke the popular nargila
Hookah
A hookah A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) (Hindustani: हुक़्क़ा (Devanagari, (Nastaleeq) huqqah) also known as a waterpipe or narghile, is a single or multi-stemmed (often glass-based) instrument for smoking in which the smoke is cooled by water. The tobacco smoked is referred to...
s at the Park's cafe. The park was built with materials assembled from war-torn buildings as well as materials brought through the Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels. Construction was completed in six months. Admission was 10 shekels, the equivalent of about $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2.60 as of mid-2010, but using the water slide costs another 5 shekels, and going into the pool costs an extra 20 shekels.
The park cost $2 million to build. According to Ayman Barawi, the Park's financial manager, "This park is a form of escape. People need a chance to escape from the stress. We brought 'air' to the people." According to The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, the water park was part of an entertainment "circuit" for wealthy Palestinians in Gaza, which includes seaside cafes, browsing at the Gaza Mall
Gaza Mall
The Gaza Mall is a shopping mall that opened in Gaza in July of 2010.The fully air-conditioned, modern, indoor shopping venue in the upscale Rimal neighborhood of Gaza extends over 19,000 sq. ft. on two floors, the second floor forms a balcony around a spacious atrium...
and riding at the Faisal Equestrian Club
Faisal Equestrian Club
The Faisal Equestrian Club is an equestrian club and upscale restaurant in Gaza.The track is the site of horse races, a "popular sport" in Gaza according a 1994 article in the Rocky Mountain News. As of July 2010, the club was the sole equestrian club in the Gaza strip...
, adjacent to the Park.
The Park had 106 employees, not counting about 80 vendors supplying services and goods such as food. Park employees earned the equivalent of between $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
250 and $300 a month, considered a good wage in Gaza, where over 80% of the population received welfare payments from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a relief and human development agency, providing education, health care, social services and emergency aid to 5 million Palestine refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza...
and other international aid agencies.
Financial backing
According to the Israeli Jerusalem Post newspaper, the Crazy Water Park is one of a number of seaside tourist resorts constructed in a $20 million building binge. According to The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, some sources regard the Crazy Water Park as one of a group of Hamas business ventures operating since the late 2000s. According to the Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, the resort was built by a "Hamas-linked charity," According to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian journalist Ashraf Abu Al-Houl writing in Al-Ahram Weekly
Al-Ahram Weekly
Al-Ahram Weekly is an Egyptian English-language weekly broadsheet printed by the Al-Ahram Publishing House in Cairo, Egypt.It was established in 1991 by the Al-Ahram newspaper, which also runs a French-language weekly version, Al-Ahram Hebdo....
, the park was one among a rapidly growing group of Gaza leisure parks, including Zahrat al-Madain, the Al-Bustan resort and the Bisan City tourist village, so many of which were completed between his visit to Gaza in February 2010 and his return in July 2010 as to make Gaza "almost unrecognizable." He continued, "a sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza's coast. Further, the sight of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed me. Merchandise is sold more cheaply than in Egypt, although most of it is from the Egyptian market, and there are added shipping costs and costs for smuggling it via the tunnels – so that it could be expected to be more expensive.... the siege was broken even before Israel's crime against the ships of the Freedom Flotilla in late May; everything already was coming into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. If this weren't the case, businessmen would not have been able to build so many resorts in under four months".
Government sanctions
In August 2010, Hamas authorities closed the water park for three days as a "warning" to the management against allowing men and women to mingle at parties.In early September 2010, Hamas authorities shut down the park again for 21 days, along with other resorts and a horse riding club.
Criticism
Residents of Gaza criticized the government for not backing investment in housing instead of water parks. One man, interviewed while relaxing at the Water Park, told a reporter that "If the money put into Crazy Water had been used to construct 10 buildings, 100 families could have been housed by now".Arson
On 19 September 2010, the water park was burned down by a group of about 40 masked individuals in a move that was seen by human rights groups as part of the increasing Islamization of Gaza. Ala al-Araj, one of the owners and a former Hamas government minister, said that at about 3 am the men tied up the guards, blindfolded them and beat them. They then set fire to an administrative building; the fire engulfed the park's three-story restaurant and cafeteria, causing extensive damage. The men also dumped gasoline around the plastic slides and torched them.The identity of the arsonists was not immediately known, but al-Araj noted that "all tourism projects in Gaza are threatened by extremists who reject them" and held the Hamas administration responsible because it had closed the resort. Since seizing control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a violent conflict
Battle of Gaza (2007)
The Battle of Gaza was a military conflict between Hamas and Fatah that took place between June 7 and 15, 2007 in the Gaza Strip. After winning Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinan authority national unity government in 2007, headed by Ismail Haniya. In...
with rival Palestinian group Fatah, Hamas had been closing down restaurants, coffee shops and hotels in the territory, claiming these places violate Islamic tradition. During the same period, other extreme Islamist groups carried out numerous attacks on establishments perceived as un-Islamic, including coffee shops, beauty salons and even UN-run summer camps.
A spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry said it had opened an investigation, and denied a connection between the attack and the closure.
See also
- Economy of GazaEconomy of GazaThe Economy of Gaza, once mostly dependent on small-scale industries and agriculture, is now almost entirely dependent on foreign aid. Foreign aid is the "main driver" of economic growth in the Palestinian territories.-19th century:...
- Islamization of Gaza
- Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Gaza Strip)Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Gaza Strip)The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is a group in the Gaza Strip responsible for enforcing Muslim codes of behavior. According to journalist Khaled Abu Toameh and Middle East researcher Dr...