www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Palestinian Keffiyeh

Dear Forum Members,
Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Is the traditional Palestinian head scarf for men, the Keffiyeh, (with the black Agal-the rope which keeps it in place on the head)worn only by muslims, or is it also traditionally worn by Palestinian Orthodox & Catholics?

Thank You!

There is nothing Palestinian or Moslem about wearing the Kefiyeh. It is worn in different ways by many men of all faiths all across the asiatic Arab lands.

In my Jordanian parish the older men wear the kaffiyeh even in church but they remove the agal.

This is Patriarch Theophilos communing a man with Keffiyeh, but without the Agal:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4189/4551862v.jpg


The Orthodox church in I'billin, north Israel. A man is communing wearing a white Keffiyeh at 05:35:



Roman Catholic Church in Zababdeh, West bank:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcarillet/2435108788/sizes/z/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcarillet/2435108806/in/photostream/



Although not Palestians and not in Palestine, but in Kuwait and with the Agal:
http://www.spc.rs/files/u5/2011/4/Sv__Pricest_2.jpg
http://www.spc.rs/files/u5/2011/4/Sv__Pricest.jpg



The way of the Cross during Lent 2010 at the Syriac Catholic church in Al-Nabk, Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Homs. There are elderly men wearing black Keffiyehs with the Agal.
http://www.syrcathoms.org/show.php?id_p=20&id=97

One of my more vivid memories when I was a pre-teen in Chicago was seeing a man in kufiyyah walking (with his wife(?) a few steps behind) past a neo-gothic Lutheran church. He would take a few steps, cross himself while bowing low, take a few steps and repeat until he passed the church.