Recently, I signed up for Google Alerts, to be nudged whenever a news story appears about single women, and today I learned that Hamas, in addition to its militant activities, has started a matchmaking service in Gaza. According to the Associated Press, women pay a service fee of $10-$70 to the Tayseer Association for Marriage and Development in Gaza and are divided into categories, depending on their eligibility. Let me just say, if you’re over 30 and a divorcee, good luck! On the application, women detail their ideal mate, with the majority looking for a man “with a job and his own apartment.” (I’m sure those are on one of my lists.) They also need to answer the question, “Do you consider yourself pretty according to Gaza standards,” with most men requesting (and why am I not surprised) tall and fair-skinned women with blue or green eyes and light-colored hair.
Must be the only matchmaking service ever to charge the women for the one-of-a-kind opportunity to enter lives of indentured servitude.