This Controversial Gaza Matchmaking Site Is Helping Widows Find A Husband
This Controversial Gaza Matchmaking Site Is Helping Widows Find A Husband
Wesal, a Palestinian matchmaking website, is helping widows and singles alike find spouses in the Gaza strip, but may not be as wholesome as it sounds...
Wesal, a Palestinian matchmaking website, is helping widows and singles alike find spouses in the Gaza strip, but may not be as wholesome as it sounds...
The Groom's Happy Day:
Rami Shatali, 38, prepares to marry Majd Khaleel. Two divorcees who met through Wesal matchmaking site.
I felt like I was the happiest man in the world on my wedding day because I found a woman who madly fell in love with me, the one who could make me forget all about my pain.
Rami Shatali
In search of a first, second, or third wife...
Hashem Sheikha is the founder of a Palestinian matchmaking site, Wesal, located in the Gaza strip. The site has seen a quick rise in success and popularity unlike other datings apps and sites, such as Tinder, which is heavily frowned upon or banned altogether.
The website has led to more than 160 weddings since its creation in March. “Women who lost their men during the last three wars have difficult lives and few options,” said Reham Owda, a Gaza-based writer and analyst of women’s issues. “In most cases the husband’s family pressures the woman to marry the brother-in-law to control her life and seize any financial aid she receives.”
Our website encourages them to search for husbands by themselves, to truly choose and say what they like in the man. We also fight old traditions that say divorced women should not get married.
Hashem Sheikha, founder of Wesal
Hashem Sheikha, Wesal Founder
Hashem Sheikha with wife Duaa, whom he met on Wesal.
What Wesal does not have is profile photos or any online chatting functionality, to protect the privacy of women and because both would be considered “haram,” or forbidden under Islamic law.
Hashem Sheikha, founder of Wesal
Wesal Matchmaking Site
But not everyone agrees with Wesal's matchmaking approach...
“This website is disgusting. Women are not a sack of onions. It limits my ambitions in marriage to someone’s income."
Lina Zein, single woman in Gaza city
Zein felt the site was too transactional in its approach to arranging weddings.
What do you think of the matchmaking site Wesal?
What do you think of the matchmaking site Wesal?