Posted on 01/20/2008 3:11:24 PM PST by BGHater
HEBRON, West Bank — Like many Palestinians of his generation, 76-year-old Yasser Hirbawi felt a new-found pride when a young Yasser Arafat began to campaign for an independent homeland half a century ago. He also sensed a business opportunity.
As Mr. Arafat vaulted into the international spotlight as the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Mr. Hirbawi realized there was money to be made by manufacturing the kaffiyeh, the checkered black and white scarf that became Mr. Arafat's trademark headgear.
Today, though, in what many see as a metaphor for the failing state of the Palestinian economy, foreign competition threatens to ruin the factory he set up.
The kaffiyeh may remain a symbol of Palestinian solidarity and has become a fashion accessory from New York to Tokyo, but its sole surviving Palestinian manufacturer has cut production to a fraction of capacity and is in danger of closing.
"It's the national symbol. It must keep going and it must be produced locally," said Mr. Hirbawi, who wears the scarf over his traditional jalabiyeh robe. "It must be protected."
Mr. Hirbawi opened the Hirbawi Textile Factory in 1961, just as Mr. Arafat, who died in 2004, was building his Fatah movement in exile in Kuwait. The kaffiyeh, without which Mr. Arafat was seldom seen, is a traditional desert garment, protecting wearers from hot sun and dust in summer and cold in winter.
Once used largely to denote different tribes, today its various colors and designs carry political connotations — black and white is associated with Mr. Arafat's Fatah, while a red and white version is linked to the Islamist organization Hamas.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Cool, now they can outsource and free themselves for higher tasks. Like killing Jews. They can order their new pizza table cloth headgear from terror.com.cn
Several times, no less.
Kinda hard to stay in business when your repeat customers keep turning into piles of Israeli missile dust...
Ooooh, Hirbawi, BABY, we’re talking fashion emergency call 911!! Honey, I wouldn’t be caught DEAD in a checkered print these days; that’s just soooooo 14 centuries ago! Fashions come and fashions go, sugar, and you need something that just oooozes with “desert chic!”
Morgana, it’s called parody :-)
Isn't that like a widget?
I thought Charmin’ made those headdresses
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