GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Children wait on their balconies for the musaharati, the man who roams the roads, beating drums to wake up the neighborhood to have the predawn suhoor meal and get ready to fast until sunset.
Both children and adults watch for the musaharati, as people stay up all night long during Ramadan. When he appears, he is greeted with cheers and some even go out on the street to offer him gifts. However, things are not always what they seem, and those who bring others joy might not necessarily be happy themselves. This is the case of 23-year-old Louay Jaber, who chants religious hymns as he roams the streets of al-Rammal to wake up the neighborhood's residents.
Louay waits all year to work during Ramadan, as he has never found any other secure job. “We wait all year long for this month. During the rest of the year, we take up jobs here and there, mostly in construction. However, with the ban on cement into Gaza, it is almost impossible to find a job nowadays,” he told Al-Monitor.
Louay said he goes out every night from 2 a.m. until 3:30 a.m., roaming the streets of al-Rammal from the Shati refugee camp, where he lives. “We wake people up throughout the month of Ramadan. On the first and last day of Ramadan we go knocking on doors to collect money from families who would like to offer us some,” he said.
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