Wait for Julian

ellobofilipino:

enchallah:

The Keffiyeh is not a fashion statement. It is a political statement. Know what you’re wearing before you falsely adorn it.

Outside of the Middle East and North Africa, the keffiyeh first gained popularity among activists supporting the Palestinians in the conflict with Israel.

Its prominence increased in the 1960s with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat. Another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is Laila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These photos 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 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. Traditional black and white keffiyehs became associated with Fatah. Later, red and white keffiyehs were adopted by Palestinian Marxists, such as the PFLP. Today, Palestinian Marxists have virtually disappeared, and red and white keffiyehs are instead identified with Hamas.

The color symbolism of the scarves is by no means universally accepted by all Palestinians or Arabs. Its importance should not be overstated, as the scarves are used by Palestinians and Arabs of all political affiliations, as well as by those with no particular political sympathies.

Unfortunately,

today, this symbol of Palestinian identity is now largely imported from China. With the scarf’s growing popularity in the 2000s, Chinese manufacturers entered the market, driving Palestinians out of the business. In 2008, Yasser Herbawi, who for five decades had been the only Palestinian manufacturer of keffiyehs, is now struggling with sales. The Herbawi Textile Factory has 16 machines. In 1990, all 16 machines were functioning, making 750 keffiyahs per day. Today, only 2 machines are used, making a mere 300 keffiyahs per week. Unlike the Chinese manufactured ones, Herbawis uses 100% cotton. Yasser Herbawis son, Izzat, states the importance of creating the Palestinian symbol, in Palestine, “the keffiyah is a tradition of Palestine and it should be made in Palestine. We should be the ones making it.”.

If you’re going to buy a Keffiyeh, make sure it is made in Palestine or the Mid East. Not China.

Another misfortune,

In 2007, the American clothing store chain, Urban Outfitters, stopped selling keffiyehs after “a pro-Israel activist… complained about the items”, and the store also issued a statement that “the company had not intended ‘to imply any sympathy for or support of terrorists or terrorism’ in selling the keffiyehs and was pulling them”.

And that is why I never shop at Urban Outfitters.

Point being people, know what it symbolizes. It’s not cute, it’s not on sale, it’s not ‘what’s in’ …it’s a support for freedom.

Free Palestine.

Reminds me back then of a time when I had to buy one since reporters from Mindanao were supposed have something with which we could be identified as being from Mindanao.

When I visited a Maranao Muslim trader to buy one, she first hesitated, thinking I would just be wearing it as an accessory (this was a decade ago). And then I explained I was a journalist and why I needed one. Still she was hesitant.

In our exchange she found that two of my first names are Arabic and I wrote a paper on the struggle of the Palestinians (the PLO, PFLP and PDFLP). Seeing that I knew what the keffiyeh stood for beyond being a mere headscarf, she agreed to let me have one. But, before leaving the store, she gave me explicit instructions to care for the keffiyeh and value it as much as I value my Holy Rosary. Since then, I have used my keffiyeh only when it is appropriate.

In recent years the wearing of keffiyehs has become fashionable and in some cases here in the Philippines, men wear them to evoke machismo. But I think very few here actually know what it symbolizes. And fewer still know the groups represented by the colors and the patterns. Many just take them for fashion accessories.

Not so long ago the Keffiyeh or what they call “Scarf” became a fad in CDO. Most of the jeepney conductors would wear em and it became an image close to “Jejemon”.

We should pay utmost respect to culture. Thank you Enchallah for sharing this.

woah, Chris Farley is dead?

(via marjiii)