You know how the media tries to portray Gaza as a poor, rundown refugee camp?
Well, not quite.
The AP reports that a new Western-style indoor shopping mall – complete with an international retail chain, three-story bookstore and bustling food court – has opened in Gaza City.
The gleaming Capital Mall appears to be thriving. Thousands of Gazans have visited in recent weeks, buying shoes and clothes from the Turkish chain “De Facto,” searching for gifts and school supplies in the bookstore and heading up to the fourth-floor food court to enjoy burgers, pizza and ice cream.
There are stores that sell perfume and makeup, home decor and mobile phones. People can often be seen stumbling and giggling as they ride an escalator for the first time.
See: APCorrects on Gaza’s “First” Mall Initially, AP referred to the newly opened facility as the “first indoor shopping mall in the Gaza Strip.” The new Capital Mall is the largest in Gaza, but it is not the first. Two smaller facilities were opened in 2010 and 2011.
{Matzav.com Israel}
The gap between the have’s and the have-not’s is pretty big, so a large percentage of Gazans are far from any of the malls, and even more can’t contemplate actually buying there. But who cares?