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But pre-mass-media, the keffiyeh had already played a unifying role in the face of another occupier, the British. During what has become known as the Arab revolts of 1936-39, the traditional headdress was adopted by fighters who went on to push the urban classes to drop the traditional Ottoman tarbush or fez (the crimson short cylinder hat topped with a black tassel) in favour of the keffiyeh.
In his research, Ted Swedenburg of the University of Arkansas points out that prior to the revolts, the keffiyeh was traditionally worn by Palestinian peasants, the fellah. Its main purpose was, after all, to shield head and face from the sun in summer and from the wind in winter. Its adoption by the urban classes marked a moment of “inversion of social hierarchy,” Swedenburg explained. The warrior fellah successfully dictated the dress-code that signified national unity.
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