IN HAMAS’S ceaseless campaign to win hearts and minds, hearts were the primary focus yesterday. The minds can follow.

The Kalashnikov, the Qassam rocket, suicide bombers and their dismal “martyr” videos are the usual faces that the Harakat al-Muqawama al- Islamiyya (the Islamic Resistance Movement) shows to the world.

But on the green turf of a Gaza football stadium yesterday it was all flowers, sunflower-seed stalls and plentiful orange juice as the ruling Islamist group staged a mass wedding for 84 bridegrooms too poor to afford their own ceremony — thereby earning their gratitude and, the organisers hoped, loyalty.

An annual event for the Hamas-linked Islamic Society in Rafah — the distinction is lost in a blue-and-green swirl of flags and Hamas beards in police uniforms — there was not a bride in sight; they had a separate ceremony two days ago in line with Palestinian Islamic tradition. But the 10,000 plastic chairs in rows on the pitch of Rafah’s football stadium testified to the success of the militant group’s social wing in creating a buzz among families celebrating the biggest day in their sons’ lives.

Riders on horses and camels charged around waving Hamas flags in front of the podium while the band, more used to funerals, played. Relatives cheered from the sidelines, men and women eyeing one another from the two ends of the pitch, separated by a cordon of Hamas armed guards.

Among the excited and besuited celebrants on the platform was Saher Jarbouah, a designer-stubbled, hair-gelled 24-year-old accountancy student who admitted that only 30 of the 84 grooms were religious, and that he was not among them. But the ceremony had saved him about £1,200, he estimated.

“Of course this is useful for us,” he said as he donned his neat single-breasted suit. “It would cost a lot of money if you have to organise a wedding celebration yourself, hiring the band, the chairs, the video and so on. Most people can afford only a small celebration but this way you have the chance to be part of a really big event.

“It saves people money, it brings joy and happiness and it brings people together. It unites the families of 84 people, so that rich and poor can celebrate, not just the wealthy.”

Among the guests invited was Ismail Haniya, the Prime Minister and Hamas leader, but he cancelled later, amid renewed violence in Gaza City and protests against the Pope’s remarks on Islam.

Divided into four main groups — political, military, social and governmental — Hamas knows that its grassroots organisation of mosques, schools, clinics and events such as the wedding are what have earned it a reputation for honesty and sacrifice among Palestinians — vital when it faces a sceptical world far more interested in whether it still harbours violent intent towards its Jewish neighbour. Maintaining grass roots support is crucial for Hamas, which is coming under growing internal criticism for provoking sanctions that have cut hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid money to Palestinians, halting the payment of government salaries.

In a report this week the United Nations trade and development agency, Unctad, said that the Western aid freeze and Israel’s West Bank wall, closures and confiscation of $65 million (£35 million) a month in Palestinian tax revenues, have left the Palestinian economy “on the verge of collapse” and that unemployment — currently 35 per cent — could rise to more than 50 per cent by the end of the year.

Most Palestinians blame Israel and the West for their woes, while Israel insists that the closures on Gaza are vital to maintain its security.

Shlomo Dror, the spokesman for the co-ordinator of government activities in the territories, insisted yesterday that Israel opened the Karni goods and Rafah passenger crossings into Gaza whenever it could.

“I agree that the situation in Gaza is very bad. Nobody will tell you that it is good,” he told The Times.

“The issue is that the Palestinians have to take responsibility for the situation. They put snipers on the roof to target our civilian staff at Karni crossing and dig tunnels to attack them. When we offer to use other crossings, they refuse.

Mr Dror added: “I think Hamas wants the situation to be very bad because this is the way that they can get money from Europe and America.”

Drums and huge speaker systems drowned out the political debate last night in Rafah, where Nasser Barhoum, the event organiser for the Islamic Society, said that the $10,000 cost of the mass wedding was “money well spent”.

“In a poor town like Rafah there is a huge percentage of bachelors who cannot afford their own ceremonies,” he beamed. “We recognise the importance of the marriage institution and we are doing our best to make good Palestinian families.”

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