What is keffiyeh?

keffiyeh is a type of headband wearing men in many Arab countries. It is known by a number of other names, including many alternative spelling of the word keffiyeh. Other names include Shemag, Yashmag, Ghura, Mashada and Hatta. Headdress begins like a scarf, which then wraps around the head and sometimes folds first. Usually part of the scarf is hanging to the side, allowing men to cover their nose and mouth during heavy winds or sand and dust storms.

This traditional headband is considered a national symbol of Palestine. You will notice many pictures of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who wears this folded and wrapped scarf. In Palestine it has a scarf, usually made of cotton or cotton and wool, spider-web and is often black and white. In other countries, Keffiyeh may vary in design and color.

In addition to traditional clothing, keffiyeh serves an incredibly functional purpose. It can keep the head protection in very hot weather and also helps keep your head warm at colder temperatures. NaturalFibers used to help the scarves to allow breathability and rapid drying.

Perhaps ironically, one of the world's leading producers of these scarves is China. They tend to make them much cheaper than can be made in Arab or African countries. For this reason, China undermines most of the market in countries where they wear most.

For some people, wearing keffiyeh is associated with terrorism, especially Palestinian terrorist acts from the past, such as kidnapping in 1969 flight TWA. Given Arafat's hobby of having a scarf, it can also represent anti -Semitism of some people or anti -anisrael sentiment. Others consider Keffiyeh as a clearly militant symbol, in particular representing long -term disagreements between Israel Apalestine. It would be a mistake to read it to read it in a traditional headband, especially one that is worn in so many different ways, so many different men, in a huge number of countries.

Given the rise of anti -arabic sentiment in the West, people who wear keffiyeh, or anything that resembles some of them, some can be viewed with great suspicion. This will definitely be shown in the fits that were created in the spring of 2008, led by the right -wing American journalist Michelle Malkin. She led others to the boycott of Dunkin 'Donuts, which included a television ad with a well -known host of chef and talk show Rachel Ray. Ray seems to have a scarf around his neck, which looks somewhat like keffiyeh, even if it's not one.

In response, Dunkin 'Donuts quickly pulled out the advertising. The more center of the road and liberal press indicated that it was an exaggerated reaction on the grave parts of Malkin and Dunkin. Keith Olbermann, a newsletter at MSNBC, a waxed poetic role for the liberation of the world of "terrorist scarves".