Palestine · Textile / Basketry

Hirbawi Jacquard-Loom Kufiya Weaving

Kufiya (also keffiyeh, shemagh); wardeh ('flower,' the pattern layer woven above the base layer)

The industrial jacquard-loom weaving of the kufiya, the 125cm-by-125cm square black-and-white patterned scarf so closely tied to Palestinian identity that it is often likened to an unofficial national flag, produced at the Hirbawi Textile Factory in Hebron, directly and specifically documented as the last remaining authentic kufiya factory in Palestine. Founded in 1961 by Yasser Hirbawi, who had previously imported traditional headdresses from Syria before establishing his own local production, the factory opened at a time when approximately thirty such factories operated across Palestine; in its heyday, Hirbawi alone wove as many as 1,000 scarves a day, its machines running eighteen hours daily to keep pace with demand, with production covering markets from Gaza to Jerusalem and Ramallah during the 1980s First Intifada. Production is woven on two distinct layers -- a base layer and a pattern layer called wardeh ('flower' in Arabic) -- using industrial jacquard looms that must be constantly monitored, with threads between the woven patterns cut manually by hand while the machine continues running, a specific hand-skilled intervention within an otherwise mechanized process; the cross-stitching technique itself was developed over decades, and only a few artisans today still master it. Following the 1993 Oslo Accords and the accompanying adoption of free-market policy, cheap Chinese-manufactured kufiyas began flooding markets worldwide; Abdel Aziz El Taraki, one of Yasser Hirbawi's sons who now manage the factory, directly described the resulting collapse to the BBC in 2011: 'In the past we were doing very well, it then deteriorated until we only had two machines working in the factory.' Production fell from more than 150,000 kufiyas per year in 1993 to a mere 10,000 by 2010, a decline directly and specifically attributed not only to cheap imports but also to Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks, which created further documented hindrances to the production and trade of Palestinian small businesses generally. Facing possible collapse, the Hirbawi family partnered with Made In Palestine, a German organization founded by Palestinians, to establish kufiya.org, a dedicated online platform that shifted the factory's customer base from local Middle Eastern sales toward a growing global online audience, directly enabling the business's survival and international visibility. By the early 2000s, Hirbawi had become the sole surviving Palestinian kufiya manufacturer; every scarf claiming to be an authentic 'Palestinian' or 'made in Palestine' kufiya that does not originate from Hirbawi is, as the factory's own website states, factually not made in Palestine. The garment's own history traces from its traditional practical use by farmers protecting themselves from sun and dust, through its adoption by Palestinian freedom fighters during the 1936 Arab Revolt against British colonial rule, to its subsequent status as a global symbol of Palestinian solidarity and resistance.

Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not independently inscribed