When fashion and politics collide...

Walking the streets of Boston and now the streets of New York City I see a still emerging trend which I was sure would have faded out by now, but, to my dismay, has not. This long-lasting trend is the donning of the keffiyeh [kah-fee-yah], which is the traditional checkered scarf worn by men in the Middle East. The red and white keffiyeh is mostly shown being worn by Saudi men, while the black and white keffiyeh is worn by men in most parts of the Middle East and has become a symbol of Palestinian unity and, in many ways, a statement of one's political stance on the Arab-Israeli conflict:

"Traditionally worn by Palestinian peasants, the keffiyeh became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s. Its prominence increased in the 1960 with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Arafat...
Another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is Leila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Several photographs of Khaled circulated in the Western newspapers after the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the Dawson’s Field hijackings. These often included Khaled wearing a keffiyeh in the style of a Muslim woman’s hijab, wrapped around the head and shoulders. This was unusual, as the keffiyeh is associated with Arab masculinity, and many believe this to be something of a fashion statement by Khaled, denoting her equality with men in the Palestinian armed struggle."

The surging popularity of the keffiyeh, worn in the traditional style of Middle Eastern men, began with North-eastern urban hipsters and has now spread to various demographics and has picked up some new shades. I now see everyone wearing keffiyehs--women in business suits on the subway, stylish 20 or 30-somethings on 5th Ave., preps in Irish pubs--it seems I can't escape them. The style of the keffiyeh has also changed to fit its growing popularity...it has been shortened to be better styled as an accessory rather than an actual scarf (for the warmer climate) and now comes in all colors and several different prints. I have seen keffiyehs with flowers on them, seen them in orange, hot pink, red (red and black, unlike the traditional red and white keffiyehs of the Middle East), green, blue. I stopped in my tracks as I walked up 31st Ave. towards 5th Ave. and witnessed keffiyehs of all colors displayed in the window of a small clothing shop. Attending the recent Common/N.E.R.D. show in New York was like attending a who's-who of keffiyehs---just about everyone was wearing one. And this new fashion style is not gender or race biased either. Men wear them, women wear them, black, white, asian, hispanic..I've seen it all at this point.

I admit that I own a keffiyeh and I do wear mine as a scarf when it's cold. But mine is the traditional, long, black and white keffiyeh and my reasoning for wearing it is also much different than those walking the streets of Boston and New York. I bought my keffiyeh in Amsterdam, a place where I was amazed to find them being sold on almost every street in Arab or Turkish owned shops.

Now every time I see someone sporting a keffiyeh, I get a tiny pang of anger inside. Turning the keffiyeh into the hottest new trend, in my opinion, has striped it of all its cultural and political meaning and made it nothing but a cute accessory. The Palestinian people do not have much to fight with, and the wearing of this scarf was one of the peaceful tactics employed for their struggle. How dare fashion take something that makes (or made) such a strong statement and means so much to people that most of those living in northeast America know nothing about and turn it into such a spectacle? What's next, fashionable hijabs? Trendy yarmulkes? Hip turbans?

Now I understand that fashion occasionally needs to reach into far depths to pull out something new and edgy (and often down-right ridiculous) for the urban population to "express themselves" with, hence the passing 'urban cowboy' trend. Overalls shouldn't be worn by anyone over 5, I say, but fashion says otherwise and all I can do is sit back and silently judge those giving into the trend-pressure. But I can say this openly: Fashion should stay out of politics! Unless you are wearing an Obama tee-shirt or in some other way expressing your own personal political views, leave the political stylings of people you know nothing about alone! Unless you are willing and ready to say that you support the Palestinian cause and wish to express your solidarity with the Palestinian people, put your keffiyeh away.