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‘We are very emotional’: keffiyeh-maker’s bittersweet reaction to surge in demand
Global desire to show solidarity for Palestinian cause boosts demand for traditional scarf
In the first few weeks of the Israeli offensive in Gaza – which began after Hamas’s deadly attacks in Israel on 7 October, when the group killed 1,200 people and abducted about 240 hostages – the family-run business sold 20,000 scarves, a number it would normally sell over the entire winter. The Gaza keffiyeh, Qassis said, has strong pink and red colours, because “for us Palestinians when we talk about Gazans it’s these people who like to ‘eat sharp’ – they use a lot of chilli in their food”. Since October the business has donated $25,000 of profit to a Palestinian-American medical association teaching Palestinians in Gaza to be doctors, and will use some of the extra income to modernise the factory and increase production for the first time in 30 years.
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