The Keffiyeh…a symbol of the Palestinian cause that has become controversial
The famous Palestinian head covering, the “keffiyeh,” in its black and white colors, has become a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian cause throughout the world as the war rages between Israel and Hamas fighters in Gaza. But it has become a problem for those who wear it, according to Reuters.
Supporters of Israel believe that the checkered scarf represents a provocation and is a sign of support for what they consider terrorism.
Thousands of people wore the keffiyeh during huge protests in Britain and elsewhere in an expression of support for the Palestinians and to demand a ceasefire.
But activists say that police in France and Germany, which are cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests, have warned, fined or detained people who place them.
The Palestinian-Syrian poet Rami Al-Asheq (34 years old) looks after getting a tattoo on his forearm in the form of a checkerboard in black and white, the colors of the Palestinian keffiyeh, by tattoo artist Tana Tur in Berlin – Germany, December 13, 2023 (Reuters)
Rami Al-Ashiq, a poet of Palestinian and Syrian origins who lives in Berlin, believes he has found a way to overcome this problem. He had a tattoo on his forearm in the shape of a keffiyeh.
He said: “The keffiyeh is being criminalized and people are being asked to remove it so they can enter a place. I decided that you want to pardon me, okay, so you can pardon me, but you want to cut off my hands if you want to pardon me, too. I made this decision.”
He added to Reuters while the tattoo artist was putting the finishing touches on her work: “I celebrate my anger and my culture, which is being criminalized.” “It is also beautiful and reminds us to never forget that so many people were killed.”
A Palestinian keffiyeh on a shelf while tattoo artist Tana Tur works on a keffiyeh tattoo of the Palestinian-Syrian poet Rami Al-Ashiq (34 years old) in Berlin – Germany December 13, 2023 (Reuters)
But the German newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung” described the keffiyeh as “the fabric of the problem” and suggested that German pro-Palestinian demonstrators wear Nazi uniforms instead.
Supporters of Israel say: This shows disregard for the 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, who were killed in the cross-border attack launched by Hamas fighters on October 7, which sparked the Israeli attack on Gaza.
Palestinian supporters point out that more than 18,000 people were killed in the attack and Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories. In this charged atmosphere, acts of violence occurred. In Vermont, the United States, last month, three university students of Palestinian origin were shot, two of whom were wearing the keffiyeh. As a result, one of them was paralyzed.
People wearing the keffiyeh ride a motorcycle in response to a call to strike in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut – Lebanon, December 11, 2023 (Reuters)
Symbol of revolution
The keffiyeh has long been a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, embodied by the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat, who was rarely photographed without it. He folded it in a way that depicted the shape of historical Palestine.
Design historian Anu Lingala told Reuters: The cloth gained political importance for the first time with the revolution that lasted between 1936 and 1939 against British rule, when rural fighters covered their faces with it. She added that he was showing “unified resistance.”
The black and white pattern came in the 1950s, when the British commander, General John Globe, assigned it to Palestinian soldiers in the Arab Legion to distinguish them from the red and white Jordanian soldiers, as stated in the book “Memories of the Revolution” by American historian Ted Swedenborg.
It was later worn by Palestinian fighters, such as Leila Khaled, who hijacked an American TWA aircraft in 1969. South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, whose African National Congress was close to the Palestine Liberation Organization, wore the keffiyeh in sometimes.
With the ban on raising the Palestinian flag in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza between 1967 and 1993, the keffiyeh became a symbol of the struggle to establish a Palestinian state.
Poet Rami Al-Ashiq said: “What was used to cover the identity of the rebels against British colonialism has now become a symbol to show this identity.”
A worker works in a textile factory for the production of the Palestinian keffiyeh in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on November 20, 2023… he puts his touches during the production of the keffiyeh (AFP)
Increased demand for the keffiyeh
Since the beginning of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, online orders for the keffiyeh have increased on the website of the Al-Harbawi Factory, the last keffiyeh factory in the Palestinian territories.
Nael Al-Qassis, the company’s partner in Europe, told Reuters: The monthly production capacity of 5,000 keffiyehs means that fulfilling the backlog of orders for the 150,000 people who have expressed interest in the keffiyeh will take years.
Louay Hayatla, a seller in one of the Oriental decorations stores in Berlin, said: The Gaza war led to an increase in demand by 200 percent. “We had to get two air shipments from Syria,” said Hayatla, whose store caught the attention of the police because of the Palestinian flag he hung above the store window.
Berlin and Paris police said: Wearing a keffiyeh is not against the law unless it covers the face. But Berlin police said: They can impose restrictions or ban outdoor gatherings if they believe public safety is in imminent danger, and this may include banning the keffiyeh. Paris police declined to comment on specific cases.
The police arrested Ghassan Mazoughi as he was leaving a march in Paris in November. Mazughi was asked to take off the red keffiyeh he was draping over his shoulders. “They were quiet, but the message was clear… Take it off or you won’t leave,” the 39-year-old computer programmer said.
The police asked scientist Yousra Masaei (44 years old) to take off her scarf while riding the Paris metro. When she refused, she was fined 30 euros for organizing an unauthorized protest. “I was shocked and in tears,” she said. “It’s a symbol, and it’s the least we can do.”
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2023-12-14 23:23:37
