Palestinian keffiyeh

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<h3>Ottoman period</h3>

Traditionally worn by Palestinian farmers, during the Ottoman period the keffiyeh signalled that the wearer was rural, in contrast to the <a href="/facts/Fez_(hat)/g2hHLmQJ">tarboosh</a> worn by the urban classes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>

<h3>Mandatory Palestine</h3>

Early Jewish migrants to <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">Mandatory Palestine</a> adopted the keffiyeh because they saw it as part of the authentic local lifestyle.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a>
The white keffiyeh worn by Palestinian men of any rank, became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the <a href="/facts/1936%25E2%2580%25931939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine/MoXwBAJb">Arab Revolt</a> of the 1930s.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> This reached a peak in 1938, when the leadership of the revolt ordered that the urban classes replace their traditional <a href="/facts/Fez_(hat)/g2hHLmQJ">tarbush</a> hats with the keffiyeh. The move was intended to create unity, as well as allow the rebels to blend in when they entered the cities.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>

<h3>Post-1948</h3>

Its prominence increased during the 1960s with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Palestinian politician <a href="/facts/Yasser_Arafat/r2DjotE5">Yasser Arafat</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a>
The black-and-white fishnet pattern keffiyeh would later become Arafat's symbol and he would rarely be seen without it; only occasionally would he wear a military cap, or, in colder climates, a <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russian</a>-style <a href="/facts/Ushanka/BAdUb5l2">ushanka</a> hat. Arafat would wear his keffiyeh in a semi-traditional way, wrapped around his head via an <a href="/facts/Agal_(accessory)/41h9EMyu">agal</a>. He also wore a similarly patterned piece of cloth in the <a href="/facts/Neckline/kHCvEMur">neckline</a> of his <a href="/facts/Battledress/h1bHGRPC">military fatigues</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a> Early on, he had made it his personal trademark to drape the scarf over his right shoulder only, arranging it in the rough shape of a <a href="/facts/Triangle/cRXUwsMn">triangle</a>, to resemble the outlines of the territory claimed by <a href="/facts/Palestine/XYeHy1af">Palestine</a>. This way of wearing the keffiyeh became a symbol of Arafat as a person and political leader, and it has not been imitated by other Palestinian leaders.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a>
Another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is <a href="/facts/Leila_Khaled/nbdC671P">Leila Khaled</a>, a member of the armed wing of the <a href="/facts/Popular_Front_for_the_Liberation_of_Palestine/ucecaY4M">Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine</a>. Several photographs of Khaled circulated in the Western newspapers after the hijacking of <a href="/facts/TWA_Flight_840_(1969)/Tktbk7RA">TWA Flight 840</a> and the <a href="/facts/Dawson%2527s_Field_hijackings/j3vkLnzt">Dawson's Field hijackings</a>. These photos often included Khaled wearing a keffiyeh in the style of a Muslim woman's <a href="/facts/Hijab/9AABhGEk">hijab</a>, wrapped around the head and shoulders. The most famous of these images is a photograph taken by Pulitzer Prize winner <a href="/facts/Eddie_Adams_(photographer)/D9YTrCMD">Eddie Adams</a>. The photographs brought publicity to the hijackings and rendered Khaled an iconic status within the broader Palestinian liberation movement as well as within leftist movements globally. This was unusual, as the keffiyeh is associated with Arab masculinity, and many believe this to be something of a <a href="/facts/Fashion_statement/WbR38tGI">fashion statement</a> by Khaled, denoting her equality with men in the Palestinian resistance.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a>
The colors of the stitching in a keffiyeh are also somewhat associated with Palestinians' political sympathies. Traditional black and white keffiyehs became associated with <a href="/facts/Fatah/43bcYlrX">Fatah</a>. In 2021, clashes broke out at <a href="/facts/Al-Azhar_University_%25E2%2580%2593_Gaza/KNTD07Nb">Al-Azhar University</a> after <a href="/facts/Hamas/VjIkApsc">Hamas</a> security forces demanded that students and staff members remove their black and white keffiyehs, an action that critics believe was motivated by the keffiyeh′s association with Fatah.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a> Red and white keffiyehs were adopted by Palestinian <a href="/facts/Marxist/sgnnLfax">Marxist</a> groups, such as the <a href="/facts/Popular_Front_for_the_Liberation_of_Palestine/ucecaY4M">PFLP</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a>

<h2 id="popularity-with-pro-palestinian-activists">Popularity with pro-Palestinian activists</h2>

In Europe and North America, keffiyehs are often worn by non-Palestinians as a political expression of solidarity with the Palestinian cause. While Western protesters wear differing styles and shades of keffiyeh, the most prominent is the black-and-white keffiyeh. This is typically worn around the neck like a <a href="/facts/Neckerchief/311bVEng">neckerchief</a>, simply knotted in the front with the fabric allowed to drape over the back. Other popular styles include rectangular-shaped scarves with the basic black-and-white pattern in the body, with the ends knitted in the form of the <a href="/facts/Palestinian_flag/5oFqWTy0">Palestinian flag</a>. Since the <a href="/facts/Second_Intifada/PCqXCSXk">Al-Aqsa Intifada</a>, these rectangular scarves have increasingly appeared with a combination of the Palestinian flag and <a href="/facts/Al-Aqsa/cmqRc8JJ">Al-Aqsa</a> printed on the ends of the fabric.

In 2006, the <a href="/facts/Prime_minister/RKQSQbMy">prime minister</a> of <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a>, <a href="/facts/Jos%25C3%25A9_Luis_Rodr%25C3%25ADguez_Zapatero/I1DdajD6">José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero</a> gave a speech in which he criticized Israel harshly, then accepted a keffiyeh from members of the audience and had his photo taken wearing it.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a>
The keffiyeh print has been used many times in fashion by brands such as <a href="/facts/Topshop/FEs06oys">Topshop</a>, <a href="/facts/ASOS_(retailer)/Gs3sREWS">ASOS</a>, Cecilie Copenhagen, Boohoo or the Israeli brand Dodo Bar Or, bringing controversy and debates about <a href="/facts/Cultural_appropriation/flXNW2fo">cultural appropriation</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a>
In 2007, the American clothing store chain <a href="/facts/Urban_Outfitters/d0QTt7tU">Urban Outfitters</a> stopped selling keffiyehs after a user on the Jewish blog Jewschool criticized the retailer for labelling the item as an "anti-war woven scarf".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a> The action led to the retailer withdrawing the product.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20">20</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21">21</a>

<h3>Appropriation</h3>
British-Palestinian hip-hop rapper <a href="/facts/Shadia_Mansour/8hYnP01o">Shadia Mansour</a> denounced <a href="/facts/Cultural_appropriation/flXNW2fo">cultural appropriation</a> of the keffiyeh, defending it as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, in her first single, "al-Kūfīyah 'Arabīyah" ("The keffiyeh is Arab"). She performs wearing a traditional Palestinian <a href="/facts/Thawb/svplcrvM">thawb</a> and proclaims in her song: "This is how we wear the keffiyeh/The Arab keffiyeh" and "I'm like the keffiyeh/However you rock me/Wherever you leave me/I stay true to my origins/Palestinian." On-stage in <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York</a>, she introduced the song by saying, "You can take my <a href="/facts/Falafel/zDjU4B2X">falafel</a> and <a href="/facts/Hummus/gyrcCoy9">hummus</a>, but don't fucking touch my keffiyeh."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22">22</a>

<h2 id="symbolism">Symbolism</h2>
The patterns on the Palestinian <a href="/facts/Keffiyeh/o1KTcvjW">keffiyeh</a> symbolize various themes:

<ul><li>Olive leaves: Strength, resilience, perseverance.</li>
<li>Fishnet: Connection between Palestinian sailors and the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean Sea</a>.</li>
<li>Bold lines: Trade routes going through <a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">Palestine</a>, including the <a href="/facts/Silk_Road/TLBryY39">Silk Road</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23">23</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24">24</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="production">Production</h2>
Palestinian keffiyehs are now largely imported from <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a>. With the scarf's growing popularity in the 2000s, Chinese manufacturers entered the market, driving <a href="/facts/Palestinians/DBnkAQ5l">Palestinians</a> out of the business.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25">25</a> For five decades, Yasser Hirbawi had been the only Palestinian manufacturer of keffiyehs, making them across 16 <a href="/facts/Loom/dGq2Ftfq">looms</a> at the Hirbawi Textile Factory in <a href="/facts/Hebron/FlKSDvJS">Hebron</a>. In 1990, all 16 of the looms were functioning, making around 750 keffiyehs per day. By 2010, only two looms were used, making a 300 keffiyehs per week. Unlike the Chinese-manufactured ones, Hirbawi uses cotton only. Hirbawi's son Izzat stated the importance of creating the Palestinian symbol in Palestine: "the keffiyeh is a tradition of Palestine and it should be made in Palestine. We should be the ones making it."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26">26</a> After the <a href="/facts/Gaza_War_(2023-present)/3hElVMy3">2023 Gaza war</a> demand has doubled – it could not be met because Hirbawi has a monthly production of 5,000.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27">27</a>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_national_symbols_of_Palestine/MWzyDlaj">List of Palestinian national symbols</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Palestinian_culture/rTTMslaq">Palestinian culture</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">William Roseberry; Jay O'Brien (8 January 2021). Golden Ages, Dark Ages: Imagining the Past in Anthropology and History. UC Press. pp. 170–. ISBN 978-0-520-32744-3. While the kufiya signified social inferiority (and rural backwardness), the tarbush signaled superiority (and urbane sophistication). <a href="978-0-520-32744-3" target="_blank">978-0-520-32744-3</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Sottile, Zoe (28 November 2023). "The Palestinian keffiyeh explained: How this scarf became a national symbol". CNN. Retrieved 5 September 2024. <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/28/style/style-palestinian-keffiyeh-explained/index.html" target="_blank">https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/28/style/style-palestinian-keffiyeh-explained/index.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">William Roseberry; Jay O'Brien (8 January 2021). Golden Ages, Dark Ages: Imagining the Past in Anthropology and History. UC Press. pp. 170–. ISBN 978-0-520-32744-3. While the kufiya signified social inferiority (and rural backwardness), the tarbush signaled superiority (and urbane sophistication). <a href="978-0-520-32744-3" target="_blank">978-0-520-32744-3</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Langer, Armin (5 December 2023). "How the keffiyeh – a practical garment used for protection against the desert sun – became a symbol of Palestinian identity". University of Florida. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. <a href="https://archive.today/20240403211820/https://news.ufl.edu/2023/12/conversation-keffiyeh-palestinian-identity/" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20240403211820/https://news.ufl.edu/2023/12/conversation-keffiyeh-palestinian-identity/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Haidari, Niloufar (11 December 2023). "From Yasser Arafat to Madonna: how the Palestinian keffiyeh became a global symbol". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2024. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/11/keffiyeh-scarf-fashion-history-palestine" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/11/keffiyeh-scarf-fashion-history-palestine</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Kim, Kibum (2 November 2007). "Where Some See Fashion, Others See Politics". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Torstrick, Rebecca (2004). Culture and Customs of Israel. Greenwood. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-313-32091-0. <a href="978-0-313-32091-0" target="_blank">978-0-313-32091-0</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Ted Swedenburg (8 January 2021). "Popular Memory and the Palestinian National Past". In William Roseberry and Jay O'Brien (ed.). Golden Ages, Dark Ages: Imagining the Past in Anthropology and History. University of California Press. pp. 170–. ISBN 978-0-520-32744-3. In August 1938, at the height of the insurgency, the rebel leadership commanded all townsmen to discard the tarbush and don the kufiya. The order was issued to help the rebels blend in when they entered the cities, but it was also a move in the wider social struggle... Official colonial sources, which noted that the fashion spread with "lightning rapidity," saw this more as the result of a conspiracy than as a manifestation of the spirit of unity (Palestine Post, 2 September 1938). Once the rebellion ended, the effendis of the town reassumed the tarnish, owing in part to British pressure (Morton 1957:98-100). <a href="978-0-520-32744-3" target="_blank">978-0-520-32744-3</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Kim, Kibum (2 November 2007). "Where Some See Fashion, Others See Politics". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Renfro, Evan (2018). "Stitched together, torn apart: The keffiyeh as cultural guide". International Journal of Cultural Studies. 21 (6): 571–586. doi:10.1177/1367877917713266. ISSN 1367-8779. <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1367877917713266" target="_blank">http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1367877917713266</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
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<li id="fn:12">Zulaihah, Sitti (23 December 2023). "Keffiyeh trend on social media as a form of solidarity for Palestine". Digital Theory, Culture & Society. 1 (2): 135–144. doi:10.61126/dtcs.v1i2.27. ISSN 3031-707X. <a href="https://journal.c-dics.com/index.php/dtcs/article/view/27" target="_blank">https://journal.c-dics.com/index.php/dtcs/article/view/27</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Bakr, Sarah W. Abu (1 March 2016). "A Stranger in the Gallery: Conceptions of the Body Through Art and Theory". InVisible Culture (24). doi:10.47761/494a02f6.e4f732fc. <a href="https://www.invisibleculturejournal.com/pub/a-stranger-in-the-gallery/release/1" target="_blank">https://www.invisibleculturejournal.com/pub/a-stranger-in-the-gallery/release/1</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
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<li id="fn:16">Binur, Yoram (1990). My Enemy, My Self. Penguin. p. xv. <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">"Spanish minister objects - Says criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic". The New York Times. 20 July 2006. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/world/europe/20iht-spain.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/world/europe/20iht-spain.html</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">Bramley, Ellie Violet (9 August 2019). "The keffiyeh: symbol of Palestinian struggle falls victim to fashion". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/aug/09/the-keffiyeh-symbol-of-palestinian-struggle-falls-victim-to-fashion" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/aug/09/the-keffiyeh-symbol-of-palestinian-struggle-falls-victim-to-fashion</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">Kim, Kibum (2 November 2007). "Where Some See Fashion, Others See Politics". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:20">Kim, Kibum (2 November 2007). "Where Some See Fashion, Others See Politics". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
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<li id="fn:24">"The Significance of the Keffiyeh". KUVRD. 12 May 2021. <a href="https://kuvrd.ca/blogs/blog/the-significance-of-the-keffiyeh" target="_blank">https://kuvrd.ca/blogs/blog/the-significance-of-the-keffiyeh</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
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<li id="fn:26">"The Last Keffiyeh Factory In Palestine". Palestine Monitor. 24 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024717/http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1461%2F" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024717/http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1461%2F</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:27">Alkousaa, Riham; Foroudi, Layli (15 December 2023). "Palestinian keffiyeh scarves - a controversial symbol of solidarity". Reuters. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/palestinian-keffiyeh-scarves-controversial-symbol-solidarity-2023-12-14/" target="_blank">https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/palestinian-keffiyeh-scarves-controversial-symbol-solidarity-2023-12-14/</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Palestinian keffiyeh open-in-new

Palestinian keffiyeh