The keffiyeh explained: How this scarf became a Palestinian national symbol

Palestinians seen at a polling station in the West Bank town of Hebron in 2006.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, three Palestinian college students were shot in Vermont, two of them while wearing keffiyehs, in a crime their families have said was “fueled by hate.”

Although keffiyehs are worn across the Middle East, in recent decades they have come to be identified in particular as a symbol of Palestinian identity and resistance. At pro-Palestinian protests across the world amid the Israel-Hamas war, demonstrators have sported the scarves around their necks or used them to cover their faces.

Originally worn by shepherds and

...not a garment that anyone can wear,” she explained. “It symbolizes Palestinian solidarity, liberation and freedom.”Malhas, on the other hand, said while non-Palestinians should be careful when wearing the keffiyeh in the traditional style worn by Bedouins, in general, non-Palestinians wearing the garment can be a “great show of solidarity.”