Vox Sentences - What the keffiyeh scarf means

Friday, December 8, 2023

Good afternoon,

Here’s the agenda today:

UP FIRST: A symbol of the Palestinian cause

CATCH UP: Hunter Biden has been indicted — again 

— Dylan Scott, senior correspondent

The keffiyeh, explained

Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

The war between Israel and Hamas has been growing more brutal by the day since last week’s truce expired. Whatever optimism might have existed after each side exchanged hostages during the ceasefire, the latest wave of headlines has done a convincing job of dispelling it. Here are a few selections from this morning:

• Israel escalates Gaza strikes, UN says nowhere in enclave is safe, Reuters. The Israeli military said it had struck 450 targets within Gaza on Friday, attacking from the land, sea, and air. It was twice the number of strikes seen in the preceding days. “Intense close-quarter combat" is underway in Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza.
• Civil order is breaking down in Gaza, UN warns, New York Times. The UN’s top humanitarian official in Gaza said on X: “Civil order is breaking down in Gaza — the streets feel wild, particularly after dark — some aid convoys are being looted and UN vehicles stoned. Society is on the brink of full-blown collapse.”
• UN chief uses rare power to warn Security Council of impending ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Gaza, AP. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 in a letter to the security council members, a rarely used designation meant to convey the severity of the crisis and to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Reuters also published an investigation of the events that led to one of its journalists being killed by Israeli forces in mid-October, igniting another round of condemnations for the reckless ways in which critics say Israel is conducting its military campaign. Meanwhile, an American man faces federal charges for firing a shotgun outside of a New York City synagogue. That burst of violence followed last week’s shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vermont. The investigation is ongoing, but the students may have been targeted in part because two of them were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves.

The Burlington shooting prompted a searing, thoughtful essay from my colleague Abdallah Fayyad on how the keffiyeh has become a symbol of the Palestinian cause. 

Abdallah explains the scarf is a point of national pride and cultural identity for the Palestinians themselves, but also the source of fear and discomfort for others. He writes about the pride he’s felt seeing the keffiyeh show up in unexpected places, like the one worn by an uncommented-upon extra in Home Alone 2. But he also reflects on the ways it has been weaponized in prejudicial ways: Just last year, a North Carolina police department deployed a man wearing the scarf for a school shooting drill. 

What began as a practical piece of clothing for people living in a desert climate has been imbued with a much deeper meaning, Abdallah writes:

"As long as Palestinians are subjugated as a people, then even something as simple as a traditional scarf turns into something bigger than a cultural display; it becomes an intrinsic part of a controversial journey toward freedom. So while Palestinians still wear the keffiyeh for the cloth’s practical purposes and cultural significance, they also often wear it to assert a political statement. After all, expressing Palestinian identity has become an act of resistance in and of itself — to remind others that this people is still here."

Read the rest of his essay here.

Hunter Biden faces new federal criminal charges

Mark Makela/Getty Images

Hunter Biden was indicted on nine federal charges related to tax evasion on Thursday night, adding to his legal charges following prior gun charges. 

It was the latest bombshell from a special counsel investigation that has hung over the Biden presidency, and comes as House Republicans try to gin up enough support for launching an impeachment inquiry against the president.

• Three felony and six misdemeanor charges were filed against the president’s son. They cover at least $1.4 million in unpaid taxes that Hunter Biden is alleged to owe from 2016 to 2019. If convicted, he could face up to 17 years in prison.
• Hunter Biden’s lawyers accused the special counsel of “bowing to Republican pressure.” The House GOP majority has been agitating for more aggressive prosecutions in the probe. They cited the indictments as vindication.
• President Joe Biden himself has been accused of no wrongdoing — but the House may try to impeach him anyway. The younger Biden’s trial is likely to extend through next year’s election and Republicans are sure to make as much hay of it as they can, especially as their own nominee-in-waiting faces personal legal jeopardy. House Republicans put out an impeachment resolution on Thursday, with a vote expected soon.

• The fastest-sinking city in the world. Some neighborhoods in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, have sunk 16 feet over the past 25 years. The crisis has left many residents without access to safe water, and experts anticipate irreversible chaos if something isn’t done soon. [Bloomberg]
• Some of your organs may be “older” than others. A new study that tracks proteins in a person’s body has led researchers to conclude that individual organs can age at a faster rate than others within the same person. [Nature]
• Britain’s National Health Service in turmoil. The NHS has long been a paragon of modern health care. But today, hospitals are overrun, patients have died in their homes waiting for an ambulance to arrive, and medical workers are walking off the job. What went wrong? [NYT]

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Today’s crossword

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