Despite the abundance of commercial markets in the Gaza Strip during the past years the traditional Al-Zawiya market remains the first destination for those fasting to go shopping there to enjoy the atmosphere of the holy month.
Al-Zawiya market is located on the eastern side of what is known as Old Gaza where it is adjacent to the eastern side of the Great Omari Mosque which is the largest and oldest mosque in the Strip. It is also adjacent from its northern side to Al-Daraj neighborhood which is the largest and oldest neighborhood of the Old City and from the south it is adjacent to Omar Al-Mukhtar Street the largest street in the city that connects its east to its west. It is also adjacent from the western side by Fahmi Bek Street and Palestine Square which is the most famous square in the Strip.
For this prestigious location; the Al-Zawiya market attracts the hearts of fasting people to buy Ramadan supplies which most shops offer starting with Qatayef and carob and not ending with pickles incense perfumes and others.
Amjad Nabil 40 says that he enjoys shopping in the Al-Zawiya market which is what his father used to do when he was young as he used to accompany him to buy household necessities especially during the month of Ramadan.
Nabil says that like other hundreds of young men they gather in the afternoon to go to the Al-Zawiya market on foot for a shopping spree and he adds “No matter how much they open malls shops or supermarkets; I cannot dispense with Al-Zawiya market.”
What attracts fasting people in the Al-Zawiya market especially in Ramadan is the wide variety of different foodstuffs offered by the shops in addition to the stalls selling vegetables fruits chicken and meat in addition to a clear distinction for the largest spice markets in the Strip.
Hamed Taha owner of one of the shops points out in a statement to the PIC that people enjoy shopping in the Al-Zawiya market for many reasons the most important of which is the presence of the market in the Old City where people feel as if they are in the alleys and markets of Jerusalem and the great diversity of goods and foodstuffs and the competition between merchants.
For her part Nihal takes her eight-year-old daughter Leen who started to fast for the first time this year to the Al-Zawiya market in order to entertain her with the atmosphere offered by the month of Ramadan and the scenes of lanterns and decorative ropes in order to bring joy to her heart and to convince her of the beauty of the holy month according to her statement to the PIC.
Her friend Iman does not hide a secret that offers on foodstuffs and Ramadan products are very attractive to her for shopping in the Al-Zawiya market explaining in a statement to the PIC that she feels her childhood wandering in the alleys of Al-Zawiya Market which is characterized by its smell of ancient history.
Palestinian history experts confirm that the Al-Zawiya market is more than a hundred years old as many of the shops in it still bear witness to the antiquity of the old stone buildings the Ottoman arches and other different civilizations.
