Keffiyah Scarfs: A simple trend or a political statement?

I wonder how much offense lies strictly in the mind of the potential offender. When I was driving to a mutual friend's wedding with a Mauritanian Muslim here in the USA, the Vietnamese pork spring rolls that I had made for the reception were putting out a heavy smell. I asked my companion whether the pork smell was offensive to him. He replied: "No, I'm not going to eat any."

A friend who was teaching in Saudi Arabia brought me back a keffiyah from Riyadh: the Saudis wear these scarfs, too, so it's not just Palestinian. I don't wear mine -- it's just a handsome keepsake (see the photo I've just uploaded).

Will Scotsmen soon be up in arms about people abusing the kilts?

thanks for the great comment and the good stuff. I hope I didn't imply that only Palestinians wear keffiyahs, because, as you said, that's not the case - it's common practice amongst all the Arab world. What is unique about the Palestinian custom is the symbolism of the keffiyah. Yasser Arafat turned the keffiyah into a symbol of nationalism and politicized it, for better or worse.

Great piece Ryan.  A friend of mine had acquired one 4-5 years ago after having spent a number of months in the middle east and the west bank.  He wore it in suport of their cause, and I was amazed when people would come up to him and say, "I love your scarf!  Where can I get one?!"  Ahhhh ignorance.

No, Ryan, you didn't imply that the scarfs were exclusively Palestinian at all.  I wrote my comment way too late to be completely articulate. My "dig" was at those who react kneejerkwise whenever they see a keffiyah and make a narrow conclusion. You are certainly not among that number. My own "telescoped" point was that to think Arafat whenever a keffiyah is worn is a broad leap of illogic. At 7:38 in the evening, I can state that more lucidly.

This debate is stupid.

 Anyone who is half informed knows there is no religious ties to this scarf. It's an arab male headdress.  END OF STORY.

Just because some palestinian comes along and says "Oh this is gonna represent yo." doesn't mean shite.

Saddam could've done something similar and said it was a symbol of his resistance to the US. At the end of the day, ITS JUST AN ARAB SCARF. With some ties to a mans rank in terms of the community and thats it.

 If some westerners want to wear the scarf and be ignorant about it. Fine. It makes as much sense as an arab wearing a baseball cap, and not knowing what baseball is. And frankly I'm not going to get pissed off at an arab who doesnt know who the NY Yankees are, but wear the cap. 'nuff said.

what you say is true...however the significance attributed to a symbol is what gives it meaning. so yes, intrinsically the keffiyah is not of religious or political significance but because of what it has come to signify changes the nature of it.

i've got to agree with thomashood10 and denseatoms on this one BIG TIME!

i studied abroad in egypt last semester and traveled to syria, jordan, morocco, israel (and the west bank), and turkey. kufayyas are not a symbol of war or religion! it's their version of a baseball hat or a business suit (these kufayyas and galabayyas were what they wore daily before the western world introduced western suits and clothing)! you'll see guys just peacefully walking down the street wearing them on their way to work or riding their camels/horses/jeeps in the hot desert sun, not on their way to a political activity. so just because the only time the media depicts arabs is in terms of terrorism, it doesn't mean that all arabs and their clothing has to do with militant groups, terrorism, or political termoil. i'm not an expert on this but i did my fair share of observation and asking questions and i can
promise you that it's not just a palestinian thing. the red and white one is, but there's a 
black and white one which is iraqi. then there's the yemenese one that is a really cool black
and white pattern (different from the iraqi one).  i happen to own one of each and wear
them now as part of the fashion trend which you correctly picked up on - i think it's
pretty sweet looking. but i wear mine also to show my respect for the arab world. so
while you may have a point that most people have no clue where the kuffayyas come from or that they're supposed to go on your head rather than neck, please don't go making
everything arab out to be so controversial (it's a bit racist). the kufayya is just fashion's inevitable reinvention of a classic. they ran out of decades to re-do so they're picking up on other countries. leave it at that.

Why would u or wouldn't u wear the kuffiyah?

I don't think you should take westerners wearing the keffiyah that seriously at all. When the trend came out, about 80% of people wearing it probably had no idea there was anything behind it other than maybe having seen them worn on the heads of arabs in papers or something. 

If you live in America, you have to get with it. West adopts trends from all over the world. I have a bright yellow keffiyah-type scarf and don't wear it to symbolize anything about the middle east. I wear it because it is really pretty. Sorry if that offends you ::OMG:: 

The general public is wearing the scarves because they LIKE them. It makes me think about Rachel Ray and dunking donuts and how the far right conservative people like Michelle Malkin and Anne Coulter made it this big story that Rachel Ray was wearing that scarf to support Palestine and terrorism and that means dunkin donuts must be run by terrorist and blah blah blah... soon all those crazy conservative people were protesting DD! I think Rachel Ray decided "This scarf is really nice", like the rest of us. People found the need to turn that campaign into something it wasn't... I found the whole thing absolutely ridiculous!!!

I wonder if it's anything along the lines of sporting a green cap with a red star (communist) or a giant swastika on your sweater? 

For arabs to get offended because the west is stealing a cultural symbol would be like Japanese telling the rest of the world to STOP WEARING HELLO KITTY! 

If all arabs were as deeply intolerant about the trend spreading as you are than A. Why do I see hipster arabs adopting the trend of the keffiyah's with their western clothing? And 2. There would be more riots and deaths if the sight of my yellow keffiyah sparked the need for war with some deeply offended fundamentalist anti-fashion arab. 

On the bright side most arab/middle eastern I know are cool with the trend (they are A. Hipsters) and my friend is going to get me one when he comes back from vacation in Dubai ♥

Please cite your reference for the claim that hate crimes against Arab Americans increased in 2001.

"Big lie" arguments by assertion minimize any point being made.

I am an American of Syrian extraction.

I am a Pro-Palestine activist and a 29-year-old white Western female. I purchased a keffiyah to show my solidarity with the people of Palestine. I waited to buy one until I found a retailer that I felt good supporting. The Arab American Museum in Michigan sells them through their gift shop and was happy to ship one to me in Minnesota. I wear my keffiyah with pride and see it as an opportunity for me to educate others when asked about my "scarf".

According to every arab nationalist and u.s. military  i've ever met (and i've met quite a few) it's a protective pice of outer wear. no more, no less.

to me those keffiyahs look all red, blood of all the victims who died due to terrorist attacks: 9/11, suicidebombings in israel, kenya US embassy, beslan, ... terrorists wear them to show they are terrorists, if an arab wears this too, it's a traditional symbol if caucasion people wear it I see no other excuse but these 2: they're stupid and just wear it as a fashion statement or they support the terrorism of hamas, hezbollah, al qaida, taliban,... they support the oppression of women, killing innocents for their religion, ...