The Ubiquitous Kaffiyeh
The Siren
The Morning shows the day
The Origin of the Playboy
It is not clear when the Palestinian Kaffiyeh became popular with fashionable Europeans and then crossed over into American via hipsters and Euro-imitators, but whatever the inauguration date what was once something no one but Arabs and die hard Palestine-supporters would wear is now a must have item for anyone seeking the title of "vogue", "radical", "hipster".
Ted Swedenburg, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas, runs a blog dedicated in part (or, rather, mostly) toward monitoring the phenomenon. And his list of photos shows just how ubiquitous the Kaffiyeh has become:
Sex and the Kaffiyeh
And now to the polar opposite of sex:
No, this photo has not be doctored. That is the Pope visiting in Amman, Jordan.
You can't have a hipster party without one.
Iron Man Kaffiyeh.
I do not think we want his endorsement.
Or hers.
And, finally, Laila Khalid, Palestinian resistance fighter, the original Kaffiyah badass:
(All photos from Swedenburg's blog).
The one sad thing about the Kaffiyeh is that many wear it without realizing the political salience of it. Many stores refuse to identify it as a Kaffiyeh, but rather use words such "anti-war scarf" and "tablecloth scarf" for fear of offending pro-Israel shoppers.
I once read a story about how a Kaffiyeh-wearing woman came up to a group of pro-Palestinian activists sitting at the kiosk. They assumed that given her clothing she is sympathetic to their cause but instead she thumbed her nose down on them and then walked away in smug fashion as she tightened the Kaffiyeh around his neck. This anti-Palestinian Zionist was entirely oblivious to the fact that she is wearing one of the most potent symbols of Palestinian resistance.
Many hipsters no doubt are unaware of what the Kaffiyeh means and many could care less. It is cool and that's all that matters.
This has created a problem for pro-Palestinians who started wearing the scarf before it was vogue. They still want to wear it. But if they wear it most will assume that they do so only for superficial reasons, and thus these sincere activists will then have inadvertently contributed to the cheapening of the Kaffiyeh.
I say: Stand with Palestine and wear it, but figure out a way to dress it up so that no doubt is left as to why. That for you (for me) it is not a fashionable symbol, but a declaration of resistance, an unceasing commitment to Palestinian aspirations, and a statement on behalf of justice.
