Gaza lion cubs named for missile, war
Male and female lions, born in zoo to parents smuggled through tunnels, called Sejeel and Fajr
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Twin lion cubs were born this week in a Gaza Strip zoo, causing excitement in the Hamas-run coastal enclave.
A six-year-old lioness brought in from Egypt into Gaza through smuggling tunnels gave birth to the cubs Monday at the Bissan amusement park in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. The father was also spirited in through the tunnels four years ago.
This being the Gaza Strip, the felines were given names of which Hamas would approve. The male cub was dubbed Fajr, the name of a missile fired at Israel during the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense, and the little lioness was named Sejeel, the name Hamas gave to an offensive launched by Israel last November — which the IDF called Operation Pillar of Defense — in order to curb persistent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Over the course of eight days, Israel’s air force carried out 1,500 strikes against terrorist installations and other targets, and Hamas fired over 1,000 rockets into Israel.
http://twitter.com/AlqassamBrigade/status/402771593073410048
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the flare-up.
Fajr also means “dawn” in Arabic, and Sejeel means “baked clay,” a reference to the 105th sura of the Quran, which is understood to refer to a thwarted attack on Mecca by Christian invaders.
“Despite Israel’s unjust siege,” Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades tweeted, “Palestinians managed to smuggle these 2 lions to draw a smile on faces of Gaza kids.”
The Times of Israel Community.