Sunday, July 05, 2009

Keffiyeh and fashion


Hello young trendsetters.
I've noticed you've taken a fancy to the keffiyeh.
I guess it's alright to unknowingly wear symbols that you don't understand because it's fashionable.

Do you realize that in wearing the keffiyeh you are endorsing the PLO and Yasser Arafat?
In other words, you are supporting terrorism.
I guess the truism that ignorance is bliss couldn't be more appropriate.
I've even seen a few Asian girls wearing the Swastika pendant around their neck but that's another story. You may look up Buddhist symbols to figure that one out.


Controversial symbol

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 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”.[14] Rhoda Koenig, a theatre critic for the The Independent in 2006, asserted that the keffiyeh had “become a symbol of Islamic militancy”.[15] Caroline Glick, deputy editor of the Jerusalem Post, equates the Palestinian keffiyeh with the fascist wearing of brown shirts.[16] A spokesman for Spain’s People’s Party accused Prime Minister Zapatero of “anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and Israelophobia”, after he “criticized Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and posed in a Palestinian-style keffiyeh scarf”. [17]
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10 comments:

Jeannie said...

Interesting. I always wondered about that. On the one hand, it's just a bit of fabric, but like the kilt plaids, stands for so much more.

Anonymous said...

I think fashion trendsetters should wear more swastikas...

Anonymous said...

I think that the young hollywood types that parade about in their keffiyehs are too cowardly to take an anti-terror approach to anything.
It's hip to be pro-Pali. Arafat's a good guy isn't he? He won a Nobel Peace Prize, after all. :P

The keffiyeh is worn by middle easterners (other than pali's), as well as soldiers, for protection from the elements. But it's the 'damn the meaning, I'm gonna look cool' attitude that gets me.

Mattexian said...

Since they're related (in a geographic and practical sort of way), I prefer the shemagh, and it's been worn by the Tommys since WW2 and now the US soldiers in the sandbox too, to the point that companies are making them in "US Army uniform" colors.

Lexcen said...

Shemagh? As different to a keffiyeh as a swastika pointing the other way.

Mattexian said...

Well, yes, true, tho most folks are as ignorant as a pile of crap, and couldn't tell you any real difference. Hell, I was gonna link to the Wikipedia listing for "shemagh" but it redirected straight to the one for "keffiyeh," as apparently that is their generic term for the item. (Not that I'm agreeing with their decision on it.)

This kinda ranks up there next to all those fools in their Che t-shirts, blissfully ignorant that he was a murderin' Commie bastid, and continuing their ignorance even after they're informed of this. Seems like a lot of times, it's more important to them how they feel, like they're making a statement (and being fashionable, just like in the music videos!), tho they're unable to articulate what that statement might be!

Red Squirrel said...

The keffiyeh craze infuriates me. I am used to seeing them wrapped around the necks of the so-called anti-fascists; but recently I have seen a smart office worker wearing one, as well as a local 'chav', who would normally be wearing Burberry or a hoodie.

nanc said...

lex - would i be out of line if the next person i see wearing a keffiyeh i strangle them with it?

Lexcen said...

nanc, no.

nanc said...

thank you.

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