It is unfair that the couple couldn't travel openly, but I am struck by the thought that 17 year-old Shanar will never again get out of the tunnel. She will go from a veil more like a table cloth over her head to full black burka. I wish her luck.
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Veiled
Photograph by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
On March 21, Egyptian bride Manal Abu Shanar (shown above) took an unusual route to her wedding in the Gaza Strip (map): a smuggler's tunnel.
Her Palestinian groom, Emad al-Malalha, told Reuters that Egyptian officials did not give Shanar permission to enter Gaza, part of the Palestinian territories, at a designated crossing point.
The couple resorted to their backup plan, the underground route. Hundreds of tunnels, up to half a mile (0.8 kilometers) long, burrow beneath the border of Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The tunnels are part of an enormous illegal smuggling operation that imports food, medicine, and construction materials—as well as weapons and drugs—into the territory.
Smugglers have used the Gaza tunnels since at least 1982, when the city of Rafah was divided between Egypt and Gaza. Traffic increased after Israel instituted a restrictive blockade six years ago.
Now a lifeline for the residents of Gaza, the tunnel economy involves tens of thousands of people. As much as two-thirds of the region's consumer goods are brought through the tunnels. (See "The Tunnels of Gaza" in National Geographic magazine.)
—Katia Andreassi
Published March 27, 2013
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Safe Passage?
Photograph by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Reuters
Al-Malalha, 21, leads Shanar, 17, through a tunnel on the border of Egypt and Gaza. The Egyptian bride traveled by tunnel so that the couple could marry in the groom's native Gaza.
The border between Egypt and Gaza is tightly controlled above ground, but underground tunnels provide alternate—but often risky—routes. Although some tunnels offer sturdy stone walls and ventilation, many others are poorly constructed. Cave-ins, fires, and explosions are constant threats. (See pictures of the Gaza tunnels.)
Published March 27, 2013
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Celebration
Photograph by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Reuters
The groom's relatives celebrate after al-Malalha and Shanar made it through the tunnel and arrived in Gaza on March 21.
The Egyptian government recently stepped up efforts to destroy the tunnels by flooding them with sewage and blockading entrances with bulldozers.
Published March 27, 2013
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Family Portrait
Photograph by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Reuters
The bride and groom have a wedding portrait taken with relatives in Rafah, Gaza, on March 21.
Rafah was divided between Egypt and Gaza in 1982 as part of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, which was signed in 1979. Today Rafah's markets are stocked with goods smuggled through tunnels along the border.
Published March 27, 2013
4 comments
Just goes to show that life persists in spite of the egos of politicians barriers to borders.
@Vincent Thomas i agree. Wouldn't surprise me if that area is swiss cheesed with tunnels in decades effectively ending any blockade
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