Kufiyya

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KUFIYYA

A cotton white-and-red or white-and-black headscarf traditionally worn by Arabian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Syrian, and Palestinian peasants and Bedouins. In the 1930s the kufiyya became a symbol of Palestinian national sentiment. Peasants largely led the 1936–1939 revolt, and men in cities were discouraged from wearing the Turkish fez and the Western fedora. It became a nationalist act to wear a kufiyya. It has since become the symbol of the Palestinian cause. Yasir Arafat has made it an internationally recognized icon, wearing it on all occasions.

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