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The keffiyeh, or hatta, is a cotton cloth, usually white or chequered, fastened by a band called the agal, and traditionally worn by Arab Bedouin and in some areas peasants. In the Gulf, it is typically white; in Palestine, commonly red and white or black and white patterned.
In the 1930's, it became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, as a result of its association with rural areas (as opposed to the city-dweller's fez; cf. Segev 2001, p. 370.) The British attempted to ban it in Jenin, and at one point, a British army chief went so far as to propose jailing any Palestinian who wore it, but he was overruled by his superiors. (ibid., p. 424.)
It would later become a trademark symbol of Yassir Arafat, who was rarely seen without it.
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