1906-1910 >
While conducting thesis fieldwork in Syria and Palestine, T.E. Lawrence discovers keffiyahs to be useful both for keeping out the cold and for keeping out the heat.
1921
Rudolph Valentino and his kuffiya star in silent film, The Sheik.
1926
Kufiya and Valentino reunited for The Son of the Sheik. Still no sound.
Mid-Late 1930s
The kuffiyah becomes symbol of Palestinian nationalism and an expression of class struggle against British occupation. British army chief proposes jailing any Palestinian who wears keffiyah. Is overruled by his superiors who kindly ask him to bloody shut the fuck up already, you chattering hen.
1962
Peter O'Toole in white keffiyeh as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. Oscar goes to... Gregory Peck.
Kaffiyahs begin to appear in U.S. within anti-Vietnam war movement. Activists on anti-imperialist left declare solidarity with Palestinians.
1970
Leila Khaled gives gender the finger by wearing previously masculine kuffiyah in style of hijab. Is immediately re-gendered by prepubescent school boys by becoming pin-up sensation of choice.
1983 >
Professional wrestler, The Iron Sheik, signs with WWF to personify every negative stereotype about the Middle East in case you didn't already have them. At autograph signing event in Detroit, reports surface of a five year-old brat named Will repeatedly yanking kaffiyeh off of Sheik's head.
1988
After several unsuccessful attempts, Fayyad finally consults the Guide to Wrapping your Keffiyah into a Mask so you can Creep the Streets of Jenin Spraying Anti-Occupation Graffiti. The event later inspires him to author his own series of "How To" guides while in college, including the Guide to Campus Divestment from Israel, the Guide to Stirring Creamer in Coffee, and the Guide to Stirring Creamer in Salma Hayek's Coffee.
Three months into Palestinian intifada, CBS reports being puzzled by keffiyah sightings on Americans. Time magazine teaches Americans how to pronounce "keh-fee-yah" and assures parents: "It’s just an accessory… The ethnic type of look is in right now… The idea that it’s political is ridiculous."
1990 >
Big pimpin' in the 4th grade, school principal confiscates Nadeem's keffiyah after the girls in his class report his presence to be "simply too terrorgasmic to concentrate."
1991
Street keffiyah-wearing wanes around the U.S. in light of Persian Gulf War. Arab Americans report feeling afraid to wear it. Scarf remains ubiquitous among anti-War movement.
April 2001
Sting performs in front of pyramids at Giza. Unable to decide which color keffiyah best matches his eyes.
June 2001
Raf Simons takes up keffiyahs on Spring 2002 collection. Simons says: "They are not terrorists. They are fighters for independence and freedom."
September 2001
Hate crimes against U.S. Arabs increase. Peace activists intensify keffiyah-wearing in solidarity.
May 2002
Columbia University students wear keffiyahs to graduation ceremony in solidarity with Palestine.
March 20, 2003 >
At Baghdad's Fashion Week, George W. Bush's new ready-to-wear line introduces the "Blood-stained Keffiyah." Continues to be hottest accessory on streets to date.
November 2003
Never one to turn down a dare (especially not after last call) Fayyad masks himself in keffiyah and walks up and down Madison's State Street. Freaks out drunken university students.
January 2004
AP photographer snaps a picture of Howard Dean wearing a keffiyah during Presidential primaries. In spin control, Dean's Jewish affairs adviser, Matt Dorf, explains scarf was thrown over Dean's shoulders by a young supporter, and assures AIPAC and friends that it was yanked off "after four seconds."
November 2004
"Keffiyah" gets her own Wikipedia page. Fights begin over her history, symbolism, and most importantly -- her spelling and variations. Official KABOBfest Style Guide: "Spell it every single way to increase search engine returns!" كوفية, keffiyeh, keffiye, keffiyah, kefiyah, kefiya, kefiyat, kaffiyeh, kaffiyah, kaffiya, kafiya, kufiyah, kuffiyah, kufiya, shmagh, shemagh, gutra, hatta...
January 2005
Hugo Chavez dons keffiyah at World Social Forum. Does not apologize.
February 17, 2005
Village Voice reports: "Arafat's trademark scarf is now military chic"
May 2005 >
Brazilian soccer star, Ronaldo, wears keffiyah while visiting Palestine during 57th Al Nakba.
July 2005
Ricky Martin poses for photos with keffiyah draped over shoulders while visiting Jordan for Arab Children's Congress. Announces support for the Palestinian cause and for refugees' right of return.
August 2005
After his people ask him to remember "just who signs your paychecks around here," Ricky Martin apologizes for wardrobe malfunction. Blames Jordanian children for putting keffiyah on his shoulders without realizing what it represented. Insists he was taken advantage of and as a special gesture, promises to play a concert in Israel on his next world tour the following spring.
December 8, 2005
Matt Lauer suspected of wearing keffiyah to keep warm during filming of Today Show episode. Sparks Keffiyah-Gate.
January 2006 >
Jon Audarson of streetwear label Dead transforms keffiyah pattern into western shirt. Snaps photo of Quentin Tarantino rocking the mishmash of cultures.
International Herald Tribune reports, "Scarf morphs into iconic accessory." Chief editor of British GQ insists scarf has not lost its original political meaning.
April 2006
In LA Times article, "'Terrorist Chic' and Beyond," writer Daniel Hernandez examines the keffiyah kraze by wearing one. Looks in mirror and startles himself.
May 2006
Days before scheduled performance, Ricky Martin cancels Israeli debut due to low ticket sales. Promises to visit to Israel at an unspecified future date.
June 2006 >
Palestinian-American fashion designer Nemi Jamal spins keffiyah (hatta) into new forms of attire. Expresses desire to "take it further, expand on its possibilities and use it as clothing... I want to make the hatta into the bandanna of today."
July 2006
Spain’s Prime Minister Zapatero wears keffiyah at rally for young Socialists. Accuses Israel of using "abusive force" in its military operations.
Anti-Defamation League condemns Zapatero for his racist comments and wardrobe.
November 2006
Top Shop markets minimalist version of keffiyeh: "The Table Cloth Scarf."
December 2006
As part of spring fashion accessories line, Urban Outfitters begins sale of $20 keffiyahs marketed as "Anti-War Woven Scarves."
Manager of one New York Urban Outfitters store reports it to be his top selling scarf.
January 2007 >
Commodification takes unexpected turn with "Kaffieyh Yisraelit." Like the fate of hummus and the hookah, Israeli entrepreneurs now appropriate keffiyah, adorning it with miniature Stars of David. "It's going to be like the falafel," scarf-designer brags. Gets AIPAC, CAMERA, and Alan Dershowitz on speed dial to help convince Americans into believing keffiyah was Israel's first.
Urban Outfitters halts sale of keffiyah per Zionists' careful instructions. In lieu of pulling scarves, Canadian Urban Outfitters renames them "Shemagh Scarves." Continued commodification of Arabic culture assured in five fashion-friendly color variations.
February 2007 >
Anne Frank spotted all over Amsterdam in keffiyah. Chooses traditional red/white pattern over Kaffieyh Yisraelit.
French designer Nicholas Ghesquiere's "Balenciaga Scarf" appears in his collegiate-inspired ready-to-wear collection.
Keffiyah fad is "dead," declares fashion student Whats-Her-Name in New York Times article.
March 2007
Urban Outfitters near UCLA continuing sale of keffiyahs. Maytha dons undercover cultural reporter disguise (read: Maytha pretends to know nothing) and asks salesboy what "this" is. Salesboy responds with, "Oh, I think these are handmade, one of a kind, something special like that." (read: Salesboy pretends to know something)
Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor in keffiyah for latest video, "Survivalism."
April 2007 >
"Balenciaga Scarf" makes it on Style.com’s must-haves for Fall 2007.
David Beckham spotted wearing blue keffiyah in Madrid.
July 2007
Urban Outfitters' Keffiyah Kraze, Version 2: The Heart Woven Desert Scarf is "the Shemagh scarf with a girly touch." Available in bink and burble.
Teen clothing catalog, Alloy’s version: "The Riviera Scarf"
ASOS capitalizes on keffiyah in the style of Cameron Diaz with the "Rock Tassle Scarf in the style of Cameron Diaz"
ASOS capitalizes on keffiyahs in the style of Carl Barat and David Beckham with the "Libertines Check Scarf in the style of Carl Barat and David Beckham"
Teen Vogue declares Kirstin Dunst's brown number to be "Breezy, Global Chic." Right-wing blog visitors declare to now hate Kirstin Dunst.
Certain to be continued...
__________________________________
Special thanks to:
Ted Swedenburg and his work on the keffiyah, particularly his 1992 article in the Michigan Quarterly Review: "Seeing double: Palestinian/American histories of the kufiya." (v31.n4 (Fall 1992): pp557(21)). As you can probably tell by the title, it has great information on the history of the keffiyah -- kufiya -- however he spells it. Check out Dr. Swedenburg's excellent blog at: http://swedenburg.blogspot.com/
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19 comments:
The wrestler wore the kuffiya (with 'iqaal) when he was playing a persian, the Iron Sheik, (which he actually was). Ironically, he stopped wearing it when he became Colonel Mustapha, playing an Iraqi, in favor of a beret. The semiotics of that guy are off the chart. Entering the ring with a pro-monarchy flag while trying to embody the islamic revolution, etc.
Are you on crack again, QuiQui? I've lived most of my life in areas that are popular with Arab immigrants and I've never (not once) seen a man wearing one of those things on his head, here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Khaled
The pilot diverted the aircraft to Heathrow airport in London, where Khaled was delivered to Ealing police station. On October 1, the British government released her as part of a prisoner exchange.
Leila Khaled served was held less than a month in jail after perpetrating at least two hijackings, before the British released her ins some kind of sleazy prisoner swap.
Good on you, Britain! Go ahead and set the high water mark fro counter-terrorism, fuckers.
That woman should be killed for what she did. I don't care if she is 73 years old. There is no statute of limitations on terrorism.
Maybe then, Palestinians will learn the right lessons, instead of the wrong ones. You know, the ones where terrorism actually gets rewarded, like it was in this Leila's case?
What do you think, QuiQui? You don't support terrorists do you? You know her partner who was killed in the second hijacking was Nicaraguan?
In 1987, Sandra Bullock had her first acting role in a film called "Hangman." She had few appearances in the film, but among them, she was wearing a keffiyah. It was very random.
i think this belongs on there. i remember watching the opening ceremony on ABC news and the Israelis complaining about Erekat's scarf.
Symbols Abound At Peace Talks
RICHARD LORANT
1 November 1991
MADRID, Spain (AP) - An empty chair, an old photograph, a checkered keffiyeh.
Symbols have taken on enormous importance in a Middle East peace conference where delegates speak the same language - English - but do not seem to understand each other.
Even before the talks got under way at Madrid's 18th century Royal Palace, representatives of Israel and its Arab neighbors debated details like the shape of the table.
One of the most potent images in the Hall of Columns was that of Arab speakers delivering their arguments to an empty Israeli seat at the negotiating table. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir had left it vacant when he departed for Israel after his opening rebuttal.
Israeli delegates said Shamir left to avoid traveling on the Jewish Sabbath and antagonizing his governing coalition partners of the religious right. They said the Arabs knew about his planned early departure days ago, and denied it was a snub.
"This is not a matter of a symbol," said Israel's ambassador to Washington, Zalman Shoval. "It has more to do with internal politics than external politics."
But chief Palestinian negotiator Haidar Abdul-Shafi criticized Shamir for leaving the table early, saying the peace talks were more important.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa brandished his own symbol to punctuate a personal attack against the Israeli prime minister: a 1948 "wanted poster" with a photograph of Shamir.
The British had suspected Shamir, then a member of the underground Stern Gang, of involvement in the assassination of a U.N. envoy to what was then Palestine. Shamir aides deny he participated in the murder of the envoy, Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte.
At times, the delegates themselves appear frustrated over the interpretation of every detail of their demeanor.
"Why is it provocative? Why is it provocative?" demanded Palestinian delegate Saeb Erekat as he tugged the edges of his checkered scarf, or keffiyeh. He spoke to other delegates but with an eye to the press gallery in the Hall of Columns.
Erekat has been accused of trying to anger Israelis by wearing the keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, among others.
The Israelis refuse to negotiate with the PLO, which they consider a terrorist organization. But it is an open secret that the PLO is deeply involved with the Palestinian delegation to the conference.
AWESOME POST! And, if I do say so myself, that little boy wearing a Jordanian Kuffiyeh, is mighty cute. I hear he's grown to become quite the handsome fellow.
What we need next is a modern chronology of Israeli expropriations - starting with al-Nakbeh and working its way all the way down to... the Kuffiyeh.
Hamas television, which was criticized for a Mickey Mouse-like character named Farfur who spouted anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish nostrums at children, has replaced the mouse with a bee named Nahoul, who says he is Farfur’s cousin.
Farfur was beaten to death by an Israeli who wanted his land on the previous episode of the children’s show “Tomorrow’s Pioneers.”
Nahoul, the bee, says: “I want to continue on the path of Farfur, the path of ‘Islam is the solution.’ The path of heroism, the path of martyrdom, the path of jihad warriors.”
In the name of Farfur, the bee says, “we shall take revenge on the enemies of Allah, the murderers of the prophets, the murderers of innocent children, until Al Aksa will be liberated from their filth.”
Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli group that monitors Palestinian media for anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish incitement, says the bee is referring to Jews and Israelis. Al Aksa refers to the mosque that is part of the Noble Sanctuary, a site holy to Muslims in Jerusalem on the Haram al-Sharif, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Programmer Craig Gets paid every time someone posts a comment to something he says. Stop responding to him.
Her name doesn't sound like duntz for nothing. I'd be really proud too if ignorant people took up my cause as well! Yeah, great advocates.
"Kirsten, can you tell us about the plight of the Palestinian people and your wearing of the Kaffiyah?"
"Um, I just love how this dishrag covers my neck! I mean, it totally matches the Mao bag that Camren Diaz gave me after her visit to Peru! Like, it's so cool to be a trend setter, I mean, setting trends, and stuff like that. Oooh, is that David Beckham over there?!?? What did you say about the pale people again? I think Al Goracle is working on shipping them raisins or tanning beds or something like that. I'll find out from my SUV driver or private jet pilot on my way back from the Live Earth concert!"
Viva Saint Pancake!! Viva Yassin!! Viva Suha Arafat!!
I think the best part about doing the research on the Keffiyah Kraze was reading about how pissed (and I mean PISSED!)the Zionut movement keeps getting everytime a new celebrity wears it, designer adopts it, or if anyone so much as mentions it.
Anon 1:23, thanks for contributing to the delicious joy.
Yum.
Yeah! I'm really PISSED!!! So pissed, I plan on burning an effigy wearing a Kuffiyah.
Please QuiQui, you've been a professional activist for so long you actually think real, working, productive people care as much as you do. We have lives outside of protests, marches, and chants.
But whatever makes you feel important and like you've made an impact in this world I guess, you will so believe.
Your scarf has been discontinued and not caried anymore by Delia's or whatever. Too bad, soo sad, you lose again.
Perpetual loosers.
One of the best Kabobfest blog posts ever. Good shit!
June 12, 2007:
Former marine media liaison officer and now correspondent for Al Jazeera International, Josh Rushing reveals himself to be of the red- and white-checkered persuasion. He appears on the cover of his June 2007 book _Mission Al-Jazeera_ swathed in a keffiyeh, ready to defend the honor of AJ and to "build a bridge, seek the truth, change the world." I personally think he chose the red b/c it brings out his startlingly blue eyes. Anyway, go Josh!
great article! linked to it in my recent blog post about the keffiyah - thanks for all the info, though it is depressing.
Nima Jamal is a great designer!
Her work is great, the way she uses the hatta/keffiyah is amazing.
but she has skills in making gowns and other outfits and such too.
Shes a great image of Palestinian success.
and now Rachel Ray has been charged by the right of embracing "hate couture"
Kaffiyah = checkered toilet paper for wiping up the blood of schmuckistinians who have work accidents on their way to blow up jewish womenn and children.
Here's a hot tip, achmed- Arabs have 14 million sq miles of land - leave israel alone or you will have NONE
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