Recognize that scarf? If you don’t, take one stop on the L train and you’ll see it all over the place. Or maybe you could just watch the news. You’ll likely catch a glimpse of it there.
So how did this turn into this?
Well, the scarves first became a popular fashion trend in the US during the First Palestinian Intifada in the 1980s. Now they’re back and being sold all over – TopShop, on the street on Broadway, and even in Urban Outfitters as the “Anti-War Woven Scarf.” Well, at least until controversy arose & they discontinued it, but then released the all too similar “Fringe Square Scarf.” Hipsters, Spanish leaders, even daughters of presidential candidates are all hip to the style.
So I get it – it’s cute, and is great with cutoffs and a wifebeater. Fold it in half and tie it around your neck so the triangle points down, right? Totes. But do they even know what they’re wearing? Perhaps. But perhaps not, as one NYTimes scarf-wearing interviewee says, “I’m not too up to speed in what’s going on in the Middle East.”
Here’s a bit of history about this great new accessory. It’s a Keffiyeh, and was originally the headwear of Palestinian peasants. It became the symbol of Palestinian nationalism and of class struggle during the 1936 to 1939 Great Arab Revolt against the British Mandate of Palestine when the insurgents forced upper-class Palestinians to wear it to show sympathy with the fighters. Later, in the 1960s when the Palestinian resistance movement began, Yasser Arafat adopted it. It now adorns the heads of the younger generation in the Middle East to show support of the Palestinian cause. The black and white keffiyeh is associated with the Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and apparently the red and white keffiyeh is associated with the Hamas. You know, the terrorists?
But the Keffiyeh stands for many different things for many different people. For some, it stands for Palestinian solidarity, or “taking a stand against the state of Israel’s oppressive and racist policies toward Palestine” - the PLO scarf. For some, it stands for anti-Semitism while promoting terrorist groups. For others, it is an attempt to trivialize the Palestinian cause by making the symbol so ubiquitous that it loses its meaning. For some it is merely a practicality to shade one’s face from the sun and heat in arid desert nations. For others, it is a shemagh, the Anglicized name given to the scarf by British soldiers who wore them during WWII. For others, it’s just a fashion trend, an item of symbolic meaning marketed for the masses. Get your own at Talibanana.com!
In other news, “the swastika is the new black.”
Diana! Once again so insightful, and timely. I actually bought a similar scarf (my version is red and black) recently - a couple of friends had them and I thought they were cute. It instantly generated comments from my more historically and culturally erudite pals. It’s interesting/scary to learn where a trend comes from, and how oblivious those are that spread it. Guilty! (and guilty even more for still thinking it is kinda cute.)
