The Palestinian keffiyeh is one of the most globally recognised symbols of the 20th century — and also one of the most frequently counterfeited. This guide explains what an authentic Palestinian keffiyeh actually is, its place in Palestinian traditional clothing, what to look for when buying, and why the factory where it's made is the only one left in Palestine.
If you've searched for a Palestinian keffiyeh online, you've encountered the problem immediately: thousands of results, almost all of them manufactured in China or Bangladesh, most carrying some version of the word "Palestinian" in the product title. The actual Palestinian keffiyeh — made in Palestine, by the last factory still operating there — is buried somewhere in that search.
This guide cuts through the noise. We cover what makes an authentic Palestinian keffiyeh, its role in Palestinian traditional clothing culture, how to evaluate what you're buying, which styles and colours exist, and where to find the real thing.
What Is a Palestinian Keffiyeh?
The keffiyeh (also written kufiya, kufiyah, keffiah, or kuffiyeh) is a large square woven scarf, traditionally made of cotton, worn across the Arab world — but most specifically associated with Palestine and Palestinian identity.
The black-and-white fishnet pattern of the Palestinian keffiyeh is the most recognisable: a grid of interconnecting diamonds and lines, historically representing the fishing nets of Palestinian fishing communities, the olive branches of Palestinian agriculture, and the trade routes of the region. This specific pattern, on this specific cloth, became the national symbol of Palestine during the Arab Revolt of 1936–39, and was adopted globally as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity from the late 1960s onward.
The red-and-white version — sometimes called the Jordanian or Bedouin keffiyeh — is equally traditional, worn across Jordan, the Gulf states, and parts of Saudi Arabia. Both versions come from the same family of woven garments; the black-and-white became specifically Palestinian through history.
The Palestinian Keffiyeh in Palestinian Traditional Clothing
The keffiyeh is the most internationally visible element of Palestinian traditional clothing, but it exists within a much richer textile tradition. Traditional Palestinian clothing encompasses:
- The thobe (ثوب) — the Palestinian woman's embroidered dress, which in its full form can take hundreds of hours of tatreez needlework to complete. The patterns on a thobe identified its wearer's village of origin, making the dress a wearable address.
- The kuffiyeh/kufiya — worn by Palestinian men as a head covering, a face covering in wind and sun, a garment of solidarity, and later a global symbol. In traditional Palestinian clothing for men, the kufiya was a daily working garment long before it became a political statement.
- Tatreez (تطريز) — the embroidery tradition that runs through Palestinian clothing from the thobe to contemporary accessories, encoding village identity, marital status, and regional belonging in patterns of cross-stitch on fabric.
Traditional Palestinian clothing was and is a functional visual language — clothing as communication, as geography, as record. The keffiyeh is the most portable and globally reproducible element of that vocabulary, which is why it travelled furthest. But it doesn't travel alone: it is one piece of a complete textile tradition that includes traditional Palestinian women's clothing embroidered with tatreez, traditional Palestinian men's clothing centred on the kufiya and the loose jalabeya, and the full range of craft objects — ceramics, leather, olive wood — that constitute Palestinian material culture.
For Palestinian traditional clothing men and women's pieces including embroidered apparel, see the PalStitch™ range at kufiya.org/collections/shop-palestine.
The Problem: Almost No Keffiyehs Are Actually Palestinian
In the 1980s and 1990s, cheap Chinese-manufactured keffiyehs flooded global markets. The price differential was extreme — a Chinese-made keffiyeh could be produced for a fraction of the cost of a Palestinian-woven one. Palestinian factories, unable to compete on price, closed one by one.
By the early 2000s, only one Palestinian keffiyeh factory remained: Hirbawi®, operating in Hebron since 1961. Today Hirbawi is the last. Every keffiyeh that claims to be "Palestinian" or "made in Palestine" and is not from Hirbawi is, factually, not made in Palestine.
This matters if you are buying a Palestinian keffiyeh because you want it to actually be Palestinian — not because of what it symbolises, but because of where it comes from and who made it.
Hirbawi kufiya factory floor - weaving looms in Hebron Palestine, representing authentic Palestinian keffiyeh production.
Hirbawi® — The Only Authentic Palestinian Keffiyeh Factory
Hirbawi keffiyeh production began in Hebron (الخليل) in 1961 when Yasser Hirbawi's father established the factory. The looms, the building, and the family have remained in the same city for over sixty years. The factory weaves on industrial jacquard looms, producing kufiyas with a density and weight that Chinese imports cannot match. An original Hirbawi keffiyeh is noticeably heavier, more tightly woven, and more durable than its alternatives.
The Hirbawi keffiyeh factory exports globally through kufiya.org, shipping authentic Palestinian kufiyas from Hebron to over 50 countries.
→ Browse the full Hirbawi® Kufiya collection — woven in Palestine.
How to Identify an Authentic Palestinian Keffiyeh
When evaluating whether a keffiyeh is genuinely Palestinian-made, ask these questions:
1. Where is it actually manufactured?
Look for explicit "Made in Palestine" labelling — not "Palestinian-style" or "inspired by Palestinian design." A genuine Hirbawi keffiyeh will carry the Hirbawi® name and Palestinian origin clearly. If the product listing doesn't clearly state country of manufacture, it is almost certainly not Palestinian.
2. Does the weight feel right?
Authentic Hirbawi premium keffiyeh kufiyas are woven at approximately 170g/m² — noticeably heavier than the mass-produced Chinese versions, which often feel thin and almost synthetic by comparison. The weave should feel structured and firm, not floppy.
3. Are the fringes hand-knotted?
On an authentic Palestinian keffiyeh, the fringes at each end are hand-knotted. Mass-produced versions typically have machine-cut or heat-sealed fringes. The knotting is not just aesthetic — it is part of the construction.
4. Is the seller transparent about the supply chain?
Legitimate sellers of genuine Palestinian keffiyeh can be found by the website hirbawi.ps, the Palestinian website of the Hirbawi Factory. And the International website of the factory for the purchase of Hirbawi Kufiyas is kufiya.org. goods will tell you who made it, where, and when. If a product has no story, it doesn't have one because there isn't one to tell.
Palestinian Keffiyeh Styles & Colours
The classic Palestinian keffiyeh comes in two traditional patterns, and Hirbawi produces both — plus over fifty colourways, many named after Palestinian cities and landscapes.
The Black & White Keffiyeh
The most recognised Palestinian keffiyeh. Black-and-white fishnet pattern on white cotton. This is the one that became the national symbol, the one Yasser Arafat wore, the one that spread globally as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
→ Shop the Black & White Hirbawi® Kufiya
The Red & White Keffiyeh
Equally traditional, associated with Jordan, Bedouin culture, and the Arab world more broadly. The red dye was historically madder-based; today the pattern is identical to the black-and-white version but in deep red on white cotton.
→ Shop the Red & White Hirbawi® Kufiya
The Palestine Flag Keffiyeh
A kufiya woven in the colours of the Palestinian flag — black, white, green, and red. More visually statement-making than the classic, and one of the most requested.
→ Shop the Palestine Flag Hirbawi® Kufiya
Coloured Kufiyas — Named for Palestinian Cities
Hirbawi produces more than fifty coloured keffiyehs, each named after Palestinian cities, villages, and landscapes. The naming is intentional — each colourway is a tribute to a place in Palestine, keeping the names and geography of those places in circulation.
Notable colourways include:
- Yafa — For Jaffa (يافا), the ancient Mediterranean port city.
- Gaza — Red and olive green tones, for the city that refuses to disappear.
- Al-Khalil — For Hebron, where the factory itself is located.
- Nablus — Named for one of the largest cities in the West Bank.
- Nazareth — The home of Jesus, within the 1948 borders, still Palestinian.
- Jenin — The northern city and refugee camp.
- Safad — صفد, the mountain city of artists and scholars.
- Ramallah — The administrative capital of the Palestinian state.
- Bethlehem — بيت لحم, the city of nativity and olive wood.
- Jericho — The oldest city in the world, still Palestinian.
- Akka — عكا, Acre, the Crusader-era city on the northern coast.
- Haifa — حيفا, the port city of culture and curiousity..
Browse all Hirbawi® colourways →
Range of Palestinian keffiyeh colours are available, including the Gaza Hirbawi® Kufiya.
The Palestinian Keffiyeh as Palestinian Traditional Clothing
Understanding the keffiyeh as traditional Palestinian clothing — rather than simply a political symbol — changes what it means to wear one. In the villages and cities of Palestine before 1948, the kufiya was worn daily by Palestinian men as sun protection, wind cover, face mask in dust, improvised bag, prayer mat supplement, and garment of social identification. A man's kufiya, and the way he tied it, marked his region and his status.
Traditional Palestinian men's clothing centred on the kufiya and the agal (the black cord that holds it in place), worn over the jalabeya or with more formal dress. In the cities, more tailored dress was common; in the villages, the kufiya-jalabeya combination was practical working dress.
Traditional Palestinian clothing for men as it's preserved in museums and family archives shows enormous regional variety — the kufiya of a man from Hebron was worn differently from one in Jaffa, tied differently, folded differently. That regional specificity is part of what makes Palestinian textile tradition so rich, and why the Hirbawi factory's decision to name its colourways after Palestinian cities carries cultural weight beyond the commercial.
The Palestinian Scarf — Keffiyeh vs. Other Palestinian Scarves
The palestinian scarf keffiyeh is the most internationally known form of the Palestinian textile tradition, but it is worth understanding the terminology:
Palestinian Scarf vs. Keffiyeh
The terms are used interchangeably. A traditional Palestinian scarf is a kuffiyeh by another name — the square woven cotton garment that has been worn across Palestine for centuries. Palestinian scarfs in the broader sense can also refer to embroidered accessories made with tatreez needlework, but the primary Palestinian scarf in global usage is always the keffiyeh.
Keffiyeh vs. Shemagh
The shemagh and the keffiyeh are the same garment — the word varies by region. "Shemagh" is common in Gulf states, Jordan, and the military context (a shemagh keffiyeh scarf is just a keffiyeh described with Gulf terminology). "Keffiyeh" or "kufiya" is the Palestinian usage. A Hirbawi kufiya is a Palestinian keffiyeh; it is also, technically, a shemagh.
Keffiyeh vs. Generic Patterned Scarves
Since the early 2000s, the keffiyeh pattern has been used in mainstream fashion on scarves, accessories, and clothing with no connection to Palestine or Palestinian culture. These are pattern-referencing products, not keffiyehs in any meaningful sense. An authentic Palestinian keffiyeh is a specific woven garment made in a specific place — not a pattern on a scarf.
Palestinian Keffiyeh Sizes & Materials
Hirbawi kufiyas are woven in the standard traditional size: approximately 127cm × 127cm (50in × 50in), large enough to wear as a headcovering or wrap fully around the body. The cotton is heavyweight (170g/m²) — warmer than many customers expect, and more durable.
The fabric is 100% cotton. Palestinian kufiyas are not blended with synthetic fibres. Cotton breathes in heat and insulates in cold, which is why the garment has been worn across all seasons for centuries in the climate of the Levant.
How to Care for Your Palestinian Keffiyeh
- Machine wash cold or warm (30–40°C). Do not hot wash — it can shrink the cotton slightly.
- Tumble dry low or hang to dry. Either works. Hang drying is gentler over time.
- Iron on medium heat if you want the weave crisp. The natural cotton softens beautifully with washing and wear.
- No dry cleaning needed. The keffiyeh is a working garment — it is made to be washed frequently.
What to Pair with a Palestinian Keffiyeh
If you're building a broader collection of Palestinian goods, the keffiyeh works naturally alongside Sumud Stories and PalStitch pieces that share its craft vocabulary:
- The Sumud Masari Leather Wallet or Watan Keychain carry the same kufiya-pattern detailing as the weave itself.
- The Sumud Copper Kufiya Bracelet is stamped with the keffiyeh weave pattern — worn with the scarf, it's a complete set of Palestinian craft.
- A PalStitch™ embroidered tote bag rounds out the look with tatreez — the other great tradition in traditional Palestinian clothing.
- The PalStitch™ Sabr Hoodie or PalStitch™ Homeland Tee layer with the kufiya as contemporary Palestinian dress.
Where to Buy an Authentic Palestinian Keffiyeh
The authentic Palestinian keffiyeh is only available from one source: Hirbawi®, the last kufiya factory in Palestine, operating in Hebron since 1961. You can buy directly through the official online store at kufiya.org, which ships internationally.
→ Shop authentic Palestinian keffiyehs from Hirbawi® — woven in Palestine, shipped worldwide.
If you're not sure which colourway to choose, the Black & White is the classic starting point — the one with sixty years of history behind it, the one that has been wrapped around more shoulders and faces and heads than any other Palestinian keffiyeh in existence. From there, the collection speaks for itself.
For a complete picture of Palestinian craft beyond the keffiyeh — the full context of traditional Palestinian clothing, embroidery, ceramics, leather, and art — see our guide to Palestinian goods and our guide to Palestinian brands.
