Keffiyeh

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The keffiyeh, or hatta, is a cotton cloth, usually white or chequered, fastened by a band called the agal, and traditionally worn by Arab Bedouin and in some areas peasants. In the Gulf, it is typically white; in Palestine, commonly red-and-white or black-and-white patterned.

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In the 1930's, it became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, as a result of its association with rural areas (as opposed to the city-dweller's fez; cf. Segev 2001, p. 370.) The British attempted to ban it in Jenin, and at one point, a British army chief went so far as to propose jailing any Palestinian who wore it, but he was overruled by his superiors. (ibid., p. 424.)

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It would later become a trademark symbol of Yasser Arafat, who was rarely seen without it.

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Agal: REDIRECT Agal (accessory)...

Arab: The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are an originally Arabian ethnicity widespread in the Middle East and North Africa....

Bedouin: Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawi بدوي, a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic groups, who are found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to ...