A rising variety of People are donning the keffiyeh, the distinctive patterned scarf that’s intently linked with Palestinians, to demand a ceasefire to Israel’s assaults on Gaza or to sign their help for Palestinians.
Gross sales of the scarves have jumped for the reason that Israel-Hamas warfare started in October, US distributors say, at the same time as keffiyehs have been forcibly eliminated by safety forces at some protests and wearers report being focused for verbal and bodily abuse.
“It was like a light-weight swap. Unexpectedly, we had a whole bunch of individuals on the web site concurrently and shopping for no matter they may,” stated Azar Aghayev, the US distributor for Hirbawi, which opened in 1961 and is the one producer of keffiyehs left within the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution.
“In two days, the inventory that we had was simply gone, and never simply gone, it was oversold.”
Hirbawi, which has patented its model, sells scarves internationally by way of its US and German web sites and on Amazon. All 40 variations on the US web site, which embrace many in shiny colors in addition to the normal black and white, are bought out, Aghayev stated.
Unit gross sales of keffiyeh scarves have risen 75 p.c within the 56 days between October 7 and December 2 on Amazon.com in contrast with the earlier 56 days, information from e-commerce analytics agency Jungle Scout confirmed.
Searches for “Palestinian scarf for ladies” rose by 159 p.c within the three months to December 4 in contrast with the earlier three months; searches for “army scarf shemagh,” “keffiyeh palestine” and “keffiyeh” rose 333 p.c, 75 p.c, and 68 p.c, respectively.
The keffiyeh, with its fishing internet sample, is widespread all through the Arab world, with roots courting way back to 3100 BC. It first got here to symbolise Palestinian resistance throughout the 1936 Arab Revolt towards British rule and later turned the signature headgear of Palestine Liberation Group chief Yasser Arafat.
Whereas Hirbawi is the best-known producer, others embrace small artisans and world copycats; luxurious items maker Louis Vuitton bought a model in 2021.
US supporters of the Palestinians and Israel have confronted threats and assaults for the reason that Center East battle started, with Jewish People seeing a rise in anti-Semitism and Muslim People an uptick in Islamaphobia.
Hazami Barmada, 38, a former United Nations official who lives in Virginia, wore a keffiyeh lately as she protested outdoors the White Home and in Washington’s Georgetown neighbourhood in help of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Donning the headband felt like a “superpower,” she stated, reconnecting her together with her Palestinian heritage and providing a symbolic hyperlink to kids in Gaza. However she believes it additionally attracts verbal abuse. “I’m taking a calculated danger,” stated Barmada.
Safety goal, Vermont capturing
At New York Metropolis’s Rockefeller Middle Christmas tree lighting in November, one attendee who wore a keffiyeh had it yanked off by a safety guard – a second captured in a Reuters {photograph}.
The safety officer approached protesters on the entrance of the group who had a banner, a Palestinian flag, and a keffiyeh worn by one demonstrator. The guard grabbed all three objects, taking the keffiyeh from across the neck of the protester, photographer Eduardo Munoz stated.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has documented a number of cases of individuals focused for sporting a keffiyeh, from a father assaulted on a Brooklyn playground to a Harvard College graduate pupil who was advised she was sporting a “terrorist” scarf.
In probably the most critical incident, three faculty college students of Palestinian descent – two sporting keffiyehs – had been shot in Burlington, Vermont, whereas taking a stroll final month. Hisham Awartani, 20, is paralysed from the chest down. Authorities have charged a suspect with tried homicide within the shootings and are investigating whether or not it was a hate-motivated crime.
Tamara Tamimi, the mom of one of many college students, Kinnan Abdalhamid, advised CBS Information final week that she believed they’d not have been focused if that they had not been “dressed the way in which that they had been and talking Arabic.”
College students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a bunch on the centre of US campus activism since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, has been encouraging college students to “put on your keffiyeh” in solidarity with the scholars shot in Vermont within the week after the incident.
Nonetheless, in Houston, Texas, SJP member Anna Rajagopal stated she and different members had not worn their keffiyeh outdoors areas they thought-about pleasant to Arabs and Muslims since October, after individuals waving Israeli flags surrounded a restaurant they had been in, screaming insults.
“Myself and a good friend have been cognizant of taking off our keffiyehs after leaving Palestinian, Arab areas to be secure,” stated Rajagopal, 23, a contract author who graduated from Rice College in Might and can be a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, a bunch that advocates for Palestinian independence.
Demand is unabated, although, sellers say. “If we may inventory 20,000 keffiyehs, we might have bought them,” stated Morgan Totah, founding father of Handmade Palestine, a bunch primarily based within the Palestinian metropolis of Ramallah that sells native artisans’ wares on-line.
