Keffiyehs and the Invention of Tradition

How traditional is the traditional Palestinian headdress?

Since the keffiyeh has emerged as this year’s “de rigeur” fashion item on university campuses around the world, I thought this would be a great opportunity to delve into the interesting history of this Palestinian headdress.

For starters, the keffiyeh (aka shemagh) is not strictly Palestinian, but rather has been around for centuries and was primarily us…