Political Symbolism of wearing a Keffiyah / Shemagh

Anybody on here is more than likely wearing it for its intended purposes. My mom wears one as a shawl..its just yellow though. I've got one for its intended purpose. Comes in quite handy in cold hot and dusty enviroments. I don't know why idiot kids wear them as political and fashion statements. I don't what good it would be wearing around the city. Silly kids. Shemaghs are for protection. not fashion.
 
Kinda looks hot to me but I don't hang out in the desert. I suppose it would protect you but so will lots of stuff. I don't think I'd wear one.
 
xbxb said:
Kinda looks hot to me but I don't hang out in the desert. I suppose it would protect you but so will lots of stuff. I don't think I'd wear one.
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It keeps the sun of your skin which is very important when trying to keep cool in desert climates. It also keeps sand off and helps keep a layer of circulating cool air between you and the sun. It's been used for thousands of years in the middle eastern regions I'm sure they know whats effective by now.
 
If they know whats effective by now maybe they should have made a little more progress in other ways also. And why do they wear them inside where the sun is not shinning or the wind blowing? Like I said I suppose it would protect you but so will lots of stuff. You can wear one if you want to but I don't think I'd wear one. I live in Kansas, when I'm out in the sun I'll wear something much different then a long towel type piece of material around my head. Maybe that's all they had a few thousand years ago and it caught on. You know---outdoors and sandstorm trendy. I don't know. If you could attach some pictures of you wearing one around town or when your mowing the yard it would help me to see if I want to be part of the Shemagh group.
 
All sorts of services wear them as practical garments.

If you want to get eyebrows raised by tofu-eating, sandal wearing, no-nukes-here type,wear a olive drab scrim scarf.

They all think I'm the lone gunman because I often have a knife in my pocket.
 
xbxb said:
If they know whats effective by now maybe they should have made a little more progress in other ways also. And why do they wear them inside where the sun is not shinning or the wind blowing? Like I said I suppose it would protect you but so will lots of stuff. You can wear one if you want to but I don't think I'd wear one. I live in Kansas, when I'm out in the sun I'll wear something much different then a long towel type piece of material around my head. Maybe that's all they had a few thousand years ago and it caught on. You know---outdoors and sandstorm trendy. I don't know. If you could attach some pictures of you wearing one around town or when your mowing the yard it would help me to see if I want to be part of the Shemagh group.
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A baseball cap is to keep the sun out of your but you probably wear one inside and at night too huh? I generally dont mow my lawn during sandstorms or blizzards. I would imagine you'd probably end up wearing one if you lived in a huge sandbox too. I'm not saying I wear one around town or mowing my lawn. It can be useful is all.
 
It must be for utility in the hot, dry, sandy desert. After all, don't Americans wear the same thing in our southwest? Cowboys wear cowboy keffiyehs and Indians wear feather keffiyehs. Sheriffs wear keffiyehs with badges on them and mailmen wear keffiyehs with the postal eagle insignia.

Everybody all over the world living in hot dry deserts wears long enveloping robes like the Australians -- in the Dreamtime, they use their jelabas as Blankets.

:p

It's a cultural trait of the Arab/Muslim peoples. It is appropriate in many ways to the environment many of them inhabit, but inappropriate for many others. It is also reinforced by the extreme body modesty of many but certainly not all Muslim peoples.

And for those of us whom the Arab/Muslim establishment has designated as disposable subhumans, it is a symbol of their genocidal bigotry.
 
For me and many others it will always be a symbol of their genocidal bigotry.

And it has become a very popular symbol of not only the more contemporary supporters of the islamist extremists but also among actual neo-nazis, especially neo-nazis in Europe.

For example:
Here is Christian Worch, one of the current leaders of the nazi movement in Germany, wearing the "Pali scarf"/keffiyeh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Worch
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And here's a neo-nazi from Sweden.
28irp1c.jpg


It is a symbol and statement.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
It must be for utility in the hot, dry, sandy desert. After all, don't Americans wear the same thing in our southwest? Cowboys wear cowboy keffiyehs and Indians wear feather keffiyehs. Sheriffs wear keffiyehs with badges on them and mailmen wear keffiyehs with the postal eagle insignia.

Everybody all over the world living in hot dry deserts wears long enveloping robes like the Australians -- in the Dreamtime, they use their jelabas as Blankets.

:p

It's a cultural trait of the Arab/Muslim peoples. It is appropriate in many ways to the environment many of them inhabit, but inappropriate for many others. It is also reinforced by the extreme body modesty of many but certainly not all Muslim peoples.

And for those of us whom the Arab/Muslim establishment has designated as disposable subhumans, it is a symbol of their genocidal bigotry.
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yeah i went to the rodeo in austin TX last month and i saw lotsa folks wearing a kheffaya lol.
 
Yeh mines just green and black.. Multi tool for the bush is all. I thoroughly understand where your coming from Esav. Just understand some of us find them useful for the outdoors and dont wear them as political symbols of any kind.
 
denverco said:
It keeps the sun of your skin which is very important when trying to keep cool in desert climates. It also keeps sand off and helps keep a layer of circulating cool air between you and the sun. It's been used for thousands of years in the middle eastern regions I'm sure they know whats effective by now.
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I'm sure they do, however, lots of people in other parts of the world went nearly naked in very hot climates. Aborigines and Apaches come to mind. It's interesting how different cultures have different approaches to the heat.

Personally, I don't like layers in the heat, so I wouldn't wear one. After 9/11, I wouldn't wear one for other reasons. To each their own.
 
To keep the dust out of your face, get a Recon Wrap. I carry one to filter wood smoke out of the air, which irritates my lungs. It's thin, so it's not stifling, even in hot weather.
 
I got OD, black, and hi-viz. The last is one of the new models, which is a bit longer and thicker than the old ones. Very nice, very comfortable, not stuffy at all. They wash up real well, just toss them into the washing machine.

There's an item called the Buff which seems similar, with some heavier-duty versions and lots of different patterns.
 
I had a Black/white one when I was living in Germany- it was a gift from an american friend whose folks were working in Saudi Arabia at the time. I wore it sometimes because it makes a damned good scarf in winter. There was a trend among the self-proclaimed anti-fascist/leftist type assholes to wear shemaghs. That's wild that the right wing assholes are wearing them too. I also knew MANY folks who wore them who were of fairly neutral political standing who wore them because they make damned good scarves in winter.
I packed mine (OD/Black) on a 10-mile hike to the highest point in VA (Mt. Rogers) this past weekend and used it to protect my sunburned legs in the car from the sun on the ride home. I also use it from time to time because, yes- it makes a damned fine scarf in winter.
 
That looks very practical.
I've never known the name before, but seem plenty of them through various media outlets.
I think one in blaze orange for hunting season or bandana pattern for everything else wouldn't get many people to'd at you.
Wearing a traditional Middle Eastern one- well, some idiot will probably get angry and suspicious and call you terrorist, and some bigger idiot will come up, congragulate you, and hand you some weed and a Green Day CD.
I wouldn't wear one in an airport, but I would for outdoor use. I wouldn't have looked twice at someone wearing one of those when I was in the Boundry Waters this summer.
Also, remember, just because you have a right to do something, doesn't mean it's always smart to.
 
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