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Iraqi man at Sabaa Nissan (2003) wearing keffiyeh in Charraweyya style



The keffiyeh has been worn by Arabs residing in regions in Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq for over a century, but its prominence increased in other regions in the 1960s with the beginning of Palestinian movements and its adoption by Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat. The keffiyeh has been a fashion accessory in the United States since the late 1980s. In the early 2000s, keffiyehs were very popular among adolescents in Tokyo, who often wore them with camouflage clothing.[2]

Varieties and variations[edit]

Bahraini potter with keffiyeh making vases

During his sojourn with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq, Gavin Young noted that the local sayyids – "venerated men descendants of the Prophet Mohammed & Ali ibn Abi Talib" – wore dark green keffiyeh or Cheffiyeh, in contrast to the black-and-white checker ones typical of the area's inhabitants.[3]

Many Palestinian keffiyehs are a mix of cotton and wool, which lets them dry quickly and keep the wearer’s head warm. The keffiyeh is usually folded in half, into a triangle, and the fold is worn across the forehead. Often, the keffiyeh is held in place by a rope circlet, called an agal (Arabic: عقال‎, ʿiqāl). Some wearers wrap the keffiyeh into a turban, while others wear it loosely draped around the back and shoulders. Sometimes a taqiyah is worn underneath the keffiyeh, and, in the past, it has also been wrapped around the rim of the fez. The keffiyeh is almost always of white cotton cloth, but many have a checkered pattern in red or black stitched into them. The plain, white keffiyeh is most popular in Arab States of the Persian Gulf, almost excluding any other style in Kuwait and Bahrain. The keffiyeh is worn by men of all ages, be it on their heads or shoulders (like a scarf).

In Jordan the red-and-white keffiyeh is a symbol of Jordanian heritage, and is strongly associated with Jordan, where it is known as shemagh mhadab. The Jordanian keffiyeh has decorative cotton or wool tassels on the sides. It is believed that the bigger these tassels, the more value it has and the higher a person’s status. It has been used by Bedouins and villagers throughout the centuries and was used as a symbol of honor and tribal identification. The tasseled red and white Jordanian shemagh is much thicker than the red and white shemagh used in Persian Gulf countries (no tassels).

In Yemen it is used extensively in both red-white and black-white pattern and some traditional Yemeni designs and colours. Multi-colored tribal shemagh were used widely before the 1950s. Nowadays these are mostly worn in Yemen and Oman only while in the Persian Gulf and Levant the black/white red/white or pure white styles succeeded. The shemagh is part of an ancient Middle Eastern headgear tradition.

Ancient Jews used to wear a headgear that was similar to either a keffiyeh, turban or a stocking cap called a Sudra.[4]

The keffiyeh, especially the all-white version, can also be called a ghutrah, particularly in Arabian Peninsula (where the skullcap is called keffiyeh), but is also known in some areas as shemagh or ḥaṭṭah:

Palestinian national symbol[edit]

Yasser Arafat in his trademark keffiyeh, 1974

Traditionally worn by Palestinian farmers, the keffiyeh was worn by Palestinian men of every rank. It became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s.[5][6] Its prominence increased in the 1960s with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat.[5]

The keffiyeh would later become a trademark symbol of Arafat, who was rarely seen without a distinctively-arranged black-and-white scarf. (Only occasionally did he wear a military cap or, in colder climates, a Russian-style fur hat called ushanka). Arafat would wear his keffiyeh in semi-traditional way, around the head and wrapped by an agal. 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, to resemble the outlines of the territory claimed by Palestine. This way of wearing the keffiyeh became a symbol of Arafat as a person and political leader, and it has not been imitated by other Palestinian leaders.


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.[verification needed][5][7]



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.[8] 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.”.[9]


Westerners in keffiyeh[edit]

T. E. Lawrence at Rabegh, north of Jeddah, 1917.


The 1920s “silent-film” era of American cinema saw studios take to Orientalist themes of the “exotic” Middle East, possibly due to the view of Arabs as part of the allies of World War I, and keffiyehs became a standard part of the theatrical wardrobe. These films and their male leads typically had Western actors in the role of an Arab, often wearing the keffiyeh with the agal (as with The Sheik and The Son of the Sheik, starring actor Rudolph Valentino).

Erwin Rommel also commonly wore a keffiyeh around his neck during the Western Desert Campaign.

Symbol of Palestinian solidarity[edit]


The wearing of the keffiyeh often comes with criticism from various political factions in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The slang “keffiyeh kinderlach” refers to young left-wing Jews, particularly college students, who sport a keffiyeh around the neck as a political/fashion statement. This term may have first appeared in print in an article by Bradley Burston in which he writes of “the suburban-exile kaffiyeh kinderlach of Berkeley, more Palestinian by far than the Palestinians” in their criticism of Israel. While this political use is generally associated with the left wing, European activists have also worn the keffiyeh.[10][11]

In 2007, the Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero gave a speech in which he criticized Israel harshly, then accepted a keffiyeh from members of the audience and had his photo taken wearing it.[12]


Military use[edit]

Border Station Torkhemn by James G Pinsky 2006.jpg


Fashion trend[edit]

A model wearing an Arabic keffiyeh around his neck

As with other articles of clothing worn in wartime, such as the T-shirt, fatigues and khaki pants, the keffiyeh has been seen as chic among non-Arabs in the West. As the Palestinian liberation movement became increasingly popular amongst leftwing activists in western Europe during the 1960s and 70s the Keffiyeh soon became symbolic of socialist activism, transformed into a general symbol of rebellious behaviour after being adopted by Punks during the 70s and 80s and was still considered synonymous with socialism-inspired anti-liberal opinions during the wave of anti WTO riots in the early 2000s.[14] Keffiyehs became popular in the United States in the late 1980s, at the start of the First Intifada, when bohemian girls and Jewish punks wore keffiyehs as scarves around their necks.[2][5] In the early 2000s, keffiyehs were very popular among youths in Tokyo, who often wore them with camouflage clothing.[2] The trend recurred in the mid-2000s in the United States,[2][5] Europe,[5] Canada and Australia,[15][16] when the keffiyeh became popular as a fashion accessory, usually worn as a scarf around the neck in hipster circles.[2][5] Stores such as Urban Outfitters and TopShop stocked the item.[5] (after some controversy, however, Urban Outfitters pulled the item).[5] In spring 2008, keffiyehs in colors like purple and mauve were given away in issues of fashion magazines in Spain and France.

In recent years, new keffiyeh designs with Israeli and Jewish motifs have also been sold. Jews have historically worn their own variations of the Keffiyeh and in pre-state Mandate Palestine, both Jews and Arabs dressed in keffiyehs.[17][18]

Controversial symbol[edit]


The keffiyeh has become a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, dating back to the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. As a result of its symbolic meaning in this context, its display in the West has periodically been the subject of criticism.

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”.[19] Caroline Glick, deputy editor of the Jerusalem Post, equates the Palestinian keffiyeh with the fascist wearing of brown shirts.[20]

See also[edit]


  2. ^ a b c d e Lalli, Nina. "Checkered Past: Arafat's trademark scarf is now military chic." Village Voice (February 17, 2005).
  3. ^ Young, Gavin (1978) [First published by William Collins & Sons in 1977]. Return to the Marshes. Photography by Nik Wheeler. Great Britain: Futura Publications. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-7088-1354-2. "There was a difference here for nearly all of them wore dark greenkefiyahs(or Cheffiyeh) (headcloths) instead of the customary black and white check ones. By that sign we could tell that they were sayyids, like the sallow-faced man at Falih's." 
  4. ^ J. R. Bartlett (19 July 1973). The First and Second Books of the Maccabees. CUP Archive. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-521-09749-9. Retrieved 17 April 2013. "traditional Jewish head-dress was either something like the Arab's Keffiyeh (a cotton square folded and wound around a head) or like a turban or stocking cap" 
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kim, Kibum. “Where Some See Fashion, Others See Politics.” New York Times (Feb. 11, 2007).
  9. ^
  12. ^ “Spanish Minister Objects – Says Criticism of Israel Not anti-Semitic” International Herald Tribune, July 20, 2006 [1]
  14. ^ "arab scarf". Urban Dictionary. Retrieved 2013-02-11. 
  17. ^ Faddi Iyadat. “Hummus and Keffiyehs, Israeli style” (in Hebrew) Walla (Jan. 11, 2007).
  18. ^ Ruth Eglash (29 January 2010). "Heads up! It’s the new ‘Israeli keffiyeh’". The Jerusalem Post. 
  19. ^ US chain pulls ‘anti-war’ keffiyehs | Jerusalem Post
  20. ^ No Tolerance for Genocide, By Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post, August 2, 2002

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]