As of last month, Delia's was selling the kufiya as a "peace scarf"--much as Urban Outfitters did for a time in its early spring catalogue, as you can see on this post from Jewschool (scroll down). Some folks wrote in to complain about Delia's seeming support for terrorism, as you can see from the comments on Jewschool about this item. Delia's form letter included the following: "We apologize that this item has offended anyone; this was not our intention. Please be assured that our company did not intend to imply
any support for terrorism." Delia's quickly shifted the name to "Euro Scarf," and more recently, has discontinued the item.
Meanwhile, Kabobfest reports that Zara's department store in West Jerusalem is carrying a multi-colored kufiya.
On and on and on...
I teach Palestinian history at Hebrew Univ. and today I noticed a young student with a red keffiyeh around her neck. True, she was speaking English as she ordered her coffee so didn't necessarily represent changing Israeli attitudes towards the keffiyeh. I have to add though, that last week I saw a Hanthala t-shirt on an Israeli kid in a west Jerusalem bar, as well as Leila Khaled on t-shirts among Palestinian-Israeli students.
ReplyDelete