Imagine the potential loss. How many activists, conservationists, or world champions are we losing by denying these girls the divine pleasure, play and empowerment they might receive from surfing? Imagine the strong, capable women the world is sacrificing to the confines of culture. This is not just a personal issue, but also an issue of global importance. Sabah Abu Ghanim, a seventh grader, is one of Gaza’s first girl surfers. Her dream? To travel and win a surf competition. Given the political situation, resources, and cultural restrictions there, her dreams seem unlikely.
The ability to be in and play in the sea is a basic human right. If a girl chooses at age 17 to no longer surf, then that her choice. But, in Gaza there is no choice. As surfers, we know that surfing is a way of life, it becomes part of us. Young, surf-stoked Gazan grom Sabah has already made this discovery, “There is a connection between me and the sea, and there, for a little time, I feel happy and free. It belongs to me, and I belong to it,” she says. She too, is quick to lament what the future holds for her, “When I am older, my society refuses to allow me to surf. It’s shameful. I will keep surfing until then, and then I will have to stop. I will be sad.”
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However, as the Gaza surfer girls come “of age,” their parents come under scrutiny from the community for allowing their girls to participate in such an unconventional pastime. And by “unconventional” I mean doing anything outside of the domestic realm beyond adolescence.