| Beoulve said: Yeah, it's a keffiyeh, why? |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefiyeh#Palestinian_national_symbol
Traditionally worn by Palestinian peasants, the keffiyeh became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s.Its prominence increased in the 1960 with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Arafat.
The keffiyeh would later become a trademark symbol of Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat, who was rarely seen without a distinctively-arranged black-and-white scarf (only occasionally did he sport a military cap or, in colder climates, a Russian-style fur hat or Ushanka). Arafat would wear his keffiyeh in semi-traditional manner, around the head and wrapped by an agal, but he also wore a similarly patterned piece of cloth in the neckline of his military fatigues. 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 triangle, so resembling the outlines of the territory claimed by Palestine. This manner of wearing the keffiyeh in turn became a symbol of Arafat as a person and political leader, and it has not been imitated by other Palestinian leaders.
Another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is Leila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Several photographs of Khaled circulated in the Western newspapers after the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the Dawson’s Field hijackings. These often included Khaled wearing a keffiyeh in the style of a Muslim woman’s hijab, wrapped around the head and shoulders. This was unusual, as the keffiyeh is associated with Arab masculinity, and many believe this to be something of a fashion statement by Khaled, denoting her equality with men in the Palestinian armed struggle.
The colors of the stitching in a keffiyeh are also vaguely associated with Palestinians’ political sympathies. Black and white keffiyehs are associated with Fatah, while red and white keffiyehs are associated with Hamas, and were historically associated with the PFLP and other leftist groups. While widely known, this color symbolism is by no means universally accepted by all Palestinians, and its importance should not be overstated — red or black-and-white scarves are used by Palestinians of all political stripes, as well as by those with no particular political sympathies.
This symbol of Palestinian identity is now largely imported from China; in 2008 Yasser Hirbawi, who for five decades had been the only Palestinian manufacturer of keffiyehs, told Reuters that, “Two years ago I had to close down my factory because I couldn’t compete with Chinese-made Hattas (keffiyehs) that sell for 40 percent less.”
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