Kufiyah

What is a Kufiyah? The Kufiyah is a specific headscarf worn by men in the Arab cultural region. The name of this headgear is derived from the Iraqi city of Kufa, where it originally belonged to the more rural attire of the male population.

Colour and style of wearing vary depending on regional origin and political affiliation. In its most well-known variant, the cloth has a woven checkered pattern in black or red with a fringe edge and is either fastened with a cord or wrapped as a turban. The term Palestinian scarf became synonymous, as this headgear was introduced as a symbol of the Palestinian revolt against English-speaking and Jewish occupiers in the 1930s, replacing the oriental fez in this function.

The Kufiyah gained worldwide recognition in the 1970s through the late leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat. Since then, the scarf has been understood to signify solidarity with Arab resistance fighters. Among Westerners, the headscarf is used, for example, in army operations in the Arab region as both sun protection and camouflage. In Germany, however, the Palestinian scarf is primarily a fashionable accessory among young people, without any political context.