It sounds bizarre if we live in such a big city, for instance Jakarta or Singapore, to hear a first mall in the city. People may think it must be somewhere in rural area. For urban dwellers, a mall is not just a center of economy, but has already become such a lifestyle. Yes, the phenomenal of mall culture has been happening since last decade in some cities. But, not for Gaza, this Palestinian city is starting the experience of mall just now.

For the first time, Gaza has opened a shopping centre a month ago. Two floors connected by staircases, full of air conditioning, Islamic music background, small, selling imported products, Gaza mall is the name of the mall, which located in Gaza’s Kimmel neighborhood. The mall looks like a semi-luxurious and more old-fashioned mall.

Since the grand opening, the mall captivated people to visit in. Amusingly some people came by to the mall just to sense or get a pleasure of the air conditioning. Due to poverty, people only can enjoy window-shopping instead of buying the things there. Though, some people explain the stuffs are cheaper than outside stores. Besides there are international brands like Adidas, Lacoste, etc., the local businessmen are also running the stores there.

Gaza, what we often heard, is still a blockaded territory, strictly having no access with outside of the country. With this opening mall, it is being hoped to bring positive effects to Gaza, helping their economy, and definitely, this mall could be such a proof that Gaza is not always and will not again be trapped in any misery.

Source:

New York Times
Ynet News
Palestinenote
Independent UK