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Opinion

Retailer's anti-war scarf sales unjust

Sousan Hammad
Opinion Columnist 

Corporations that capitalize on cultural garments are now embracing the black and white keffiyeh, a headscarf worn by Palestinians and made famous by the late Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat.

Retailers market the keffiyeh as a fashionable ‘anti-war' scarf, however sympathetic activists who buy the scarves should support alternative means to connect with people's cultures. Consumers should buy products from which the Palestinian people can benefit, rather than corporations such as Urban Outfitters.

Urban Outfitters, the worldwide trendy clothing store, began to sell the black and white keffiyeh as an "anti-war scarf" and even designed a shirt from the keffiyeh's black and white checkered look. The keffiyeh began quickly selling for around $20. In Palestine, keffiyehs are sold for no more than $5.

Hipsters and activists adorn themselves with the scarf, wrapping it around their necks to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people. In some sense that projected a good image of Palestinians, who are commonly branded as "terrorists" and displayed on television screens around the world with a keffiyeh wrapped around their face. 

Yet as sales increased and the keffiyeh became noticeable on city streets, college campuses and leftist hippie hangouts, the keffiyeh's were eventually pulled from the shelves of Urban Outfitters in response to complaints from Jewish community members who questioned whether the ‘anti-war' marketing strategy was suggestive of an anti-Israel position and an expression of sympathy for terrorism.

In the 1930s the keffiyeh became a symbol for Palestinian nationalism and the British, who had control of the area, attempted to ban it. 

During the first intifada in 1987, the keffiyeh again became a nationalistic symbol for the young men who buried their faces underneath it as the uprising began. 

In other Middle Eastern countries, the headscarf is worn in different colors. In Jordan, the king is seen in a red and white keffiyeh, while in Iraq, it is tan-colored or sometimes red. 

Arabs wear the keffiyeh as a practical garment and benefit from it in numerous ways. It serves a purpose in the rural lives of farmers who endure the hardships of nature as they work on their land from sunrise to sunset.

In an ironic twist, entrepreneurs in Tel Aviv are selling keffiyehs that are adorned with miniature Stars of David and border stripes that resemble the stripes on the Israeli flag. The entrepreneurs say that because everyone else in the region has a keffiyeh it would only be fair for Israelis to have their own patriotic keffiyeh.

Despite Israeli control over the movement of goods and services, non-profit organizations are working to assist and alleviate poverty for Palestinians. There could be great benefits if keffiyehs were sold at a decent price and the profits used to help the vast number of Palestinians who are unemployed due to the general closure and separation policy imposed by Israel in March 1993.

It is common in refugee camps for women to sell hand-embroidered wallets and purses with the traditional Palestinian design. Some non-governmental organizations have even helped set up Web sites to assist in international sales. 

If internationalists adore the keffiyeh so much and claim to stand in solidarity with the struggles of Palestinians, then they should not have a problem buying it from Palestine itself. In fact, it would show just how much solidarity they truly have.

Hammad, a communication junior, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu