The keffiyeh: Chic fashion accessory or nationalist symbol?

If you’ve signed on to PayPal lately, you may have noticed that the model on the homepage is sporting a “freedom scarf,” aka a keffiyeh.

This is just the latest of the scarf’s immersion in American culture.

Remember the Rachael Ray incident when she wore one during a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial? An interfaith group, which included some rabbis, lashed out at Dunkin’ for succumbing to pressure to pull the ad because of the scarf.

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Then there’s the recent Israeli keffiyeh, aka the Kef

What, you may ask, is the big deal about keffiyehs? Wikipedia, while ignoring the terrorist past of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, has an answer.

Interestingly enough, according to Wiki, most Palestinian keffiyas are now made in China.