Via Al Akhbar:
Gaza had been inundated with a flood of disciplinary campaigns initiated by the resigned [Hamas] government. But this time, it has planned a special type of campaign. In the past, the government had employed its security apparatus to chase after individuals wearing baggy pants, or with unusual haircuts. Today, the security apparatus is intruding on something else that is supposed to be sacred and kept away from militarism and security matters.
Recently, the Political and Moral Guidance Committee of the Ministry of Interior and National Security launched a campaign titled “Officers on the Podiums of God’s Messenger.” According to the campaign, officers and soldiers will deliver the Friday sermons from mosque podiums in their military uniforms.
This is a peculiar and extraordinary situation, especially since so many are vocalizing the need for sheikhs to stop intervening in the political and personal sphere. But the Interior Ministry came up with this campaign, which creates a confusing role for the military, and opens the door to its blatant involvement in religious affairs. Unarmed soldiers will replace religious preachers inside mosques and will take up arms outside of them to provide protection and security.
The Political and Moral Guidance Committee’s justification centers on breaking the barrier between the people and the security forces and improving their image. This is assuming that fear of the security apparatus could be broken by a sermon in a mosque.
“Interior [Ministry] officers are part of the clergy and part of the security regime and intellectual security,” explained Khalil Abu Julaidan, the committee’s director in Rafah. “The police and security cadre’s work is not limited to policing the homeland. It also extends to intellectual and moral protection and controlling the prevalent culture inside society.” Abu Julaidan’s comments hint that the security regime will be given more powers to permeate holy places, which should safe from the security treatment and political control.