As if the Palestinian people didn’t have enough problems with the occupation and the political splits, we are now experiencing a new controversy, this time a social one.
The problem began last Sunday, Jan. 27, when the board of trustees of Al Aqsa University voted unanimously to impose a “dress code” on female students. The new guidelines include that in addition to the head cover (hijab), all female students must wear the jilbab — the long loose jacket-like cover that extends to the feet, thus not showing any curves in the woman’s body. While this appears to be a binding decision, the statement from the university said that no punishment will be given to those refusing to comply with the dress-code order, but that attempts to change such students' behavior will be applied through “persuasion” rather than punishment.
