Wearing a keffiyeh, the Palestinian solidarity scarf and a popular fashion statement, is no longer fashionable.
On Sunday, Jan. 11, as we were driving through Westwood, we were shocked to see dozens of Israeli flags being waved in the sky in the distance. Intrigued, we redirected our trip to drive by the federal building.
We quickly pulled a sign we had from a previous demonstration out to the front of the car. As we held up the sign that read, “Gaza, when you cry, I cry” while stopped at the light on Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue, our car was stormed by pro-Israelis yelling and calling us “terrorists,” “suicide bombers” and “sharmutas” ““ the Arabic word for “whores” ““ while looking directly into our faces and almost sticking their heads into our car through the window. As we looked at the disturbers of peace in shock, the hateful words only escalated.
We then decided to park and walk to the protest to see what was happening for ourselves. As we were walking and wearing our keffiyehs, cars would slow down flipping us off, people would curse at us in Farsi, Arabic and English, and more than a few threatened us. As we made our way through the grass and around the building, we had been called “terrorists” at least 20 times.
Additionally, we came across three teenagers whose T-shirts had been ripped off by protesters and who claimed to have been physically assaulted. As women of color living in America, it was not so much being called inappropriate names that disturbed us (insults such as these are commonly directed toward our community), but rather the anger and violence that these protesters displayed. Why were they so angry?
We had visited the federal building only the day before this incident, when we attended the peaceful protest against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Dec. 27, Israel launched an attack on Gaza, killing more than 1,000. Hamas has killed at least four Israeli civilians and eight soldiers. The Israeli military also allegedly started using chemical weapons, according to the BBC.
Protesting in such an angry and violent manner as the pro-Israeli protesters did on Sunday should never be OK. As members of the UCLA community, we condemn all of the violence that has been taking place in Gaza, Israel and now Westwood.
When did wearing Urban Outfitters’ top-selling scarf become associated with being a terrorist? The keffiyeh is representative of the Palestinian people and has traditionally been worn by the fellahin (peasants) of the region. We ask the UCLA community to understand that wearing a keffiyeh does in no way mean that one is affiliated with any sort of terrorist organization, but rather that one stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their continued struggle to obtain equal rights.
On our next visit to the federal building, we hope that our fellow Americans refrain from ripping our signs apart, calling us names or simply classifying us as terrorists due to the fact that we are Middle Eastern and wearing a keffiyeh. We applaud USAC for standing up for peace on an issue that directly affects us as UCLA students and alumni.
Behin graduated from UCLA in 2007. Chehroudi is a fourth-year international economics student.