Seventeen years after the death of Yasser Arafat, the Herbawi factory continues to export thousands of keffiyehs around the world

In the mechanical din of the Herbawi factory in Hebron, West Bank, Abdel Azim Herbawi moves from one loom to another. The huge spools of thread, bought in Egypt, India or China, come in all colors and each machine produces a type of keffiyeh qui changes color or patterns. Seventeen years after the death of Yasser Arafat on November 11, 2004 in Clamart near Paris, the Palestinian leader popularized the keffiyeh, this traditional headdress of shepherds and peasants in the Middle East, around the world.

The keffiyeh has even become the symbol of Palestine and sometimes a revolutionary emblem. However, in Palestine the factory ofAbdel Azim Herbawi is the last factory textile to make keffiyehs. A family business that employs 16 people in Hebron in the West Bank. “Most of the colors are rather dictated by fashion but they also represent our cities: Gaza, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem “, Explain Abdel Azim Herbawi. “The keffiyeh are also those of the countries: red in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and black and white with small squares is in Kurdistan and Iraq”, he continues.

The factory manager shows another fabric in black and white, with diamonds worn all over the world. “Arafat’s keffiyeh, the symbol of the Palestinian people”, said Abdel Azim Herbawi. This is the one that sells the best according to him:“It represents 70 to 80% of sales, it is number one, the Palestinian keffiyeh.” Arafat’s photos and the Palestinian flags are all over the factory. Abdel Azim Herbawi tells the story. That of his father, a trader, who bought his first machine in 1961: he now owns 24. Three of his five sons are still in charge and employ eight workers on the machines and eight seamstresses.

The Herbawi factory is the last of its kind in Palestine. The others closed for lack of specialized employees and also because of competition. Here a keffiyeh costs a dozen euros, those imported from China barely seven. The house exports 70% of its production abroad. “I sell 6,000 to 7,000 keffiyehs per year”, he assures. Around mint tea, Mr. Herbawi says he waited 49 years before diversifying his production with anti-Covid masks in the colors of Yasser Arafat’s keffiyeh.