Edit: Wow... me too, jhocking. I was writing this at the same time as you, apparently.
It really bugs me when people wear keffiyehs without understand the political/historical significance of them.
Particularly hipster girls.
It really bugs me when people make a big deal about a scarf.
First of all, why single out "hipster girls"? I've seen plenty of guys wearing them too.
Second of all- people really need to stop saying this stuff about keffiyehs. A keffiyeh is
just a scarf used by people in desert regions to keep the goddamn sun off their head. While a very specific colour and pattern of scarf is associated with a certain Palestinian leader, all the other keffiyehs seen around the place aren't at all associated with anything except being a practical and decorative addition to your head. And even wearing one of the black and white ones doesn't necessarily mean anything!
They're also used by many armed forces in many countries, including Australia and the U.K., yet no-one ever seems to bring that up.
Yeah, some of the patterns are for specific tribal groups, but so what? Arguing about this would be like saying that anyone who wears any type of tartan should find out the political stance of clan McDougal on the British Monarchy before they're allowed to wear tartan.
Please note that I don't own a keffiyeh. But you know what I do own? A khmer scarf, called a krama.
Guess what- this is a piece of clothing that has been around for thousands of years, yet became associated with the Khmer Rouge in recent times largely because of the media. Does wearing this mean I support the actions of the Khmer Rouge? No, it doesn't! I just like the scarf, and agree with Cambodians who dislike the fact that one of their lovely traditional items of clothing has become associated with something they hate.
If I didn't know all of this, it'd still be a nice looking scarf. Practical, too.