The Revolution Will Be Accessorized

If Western Europeans are going to adopt the keffiyeh as the modern symbol of woke capitalism, I suppose it’s only fair that the pro-Palestinian movement hijacks the remembrance poppy.

Though there is one telling difference: The keffiyeh symbolizes violence, the poppy longs for peace.

But the resistance can’t be bothered with minor details. As the Telegraph reports, opportunistic activists have yet another way to monetize Palestine: the poppy pin that Brits have been wearing since World War I remixed to the colors of the Palestinian flag, which itself is a remix of the flag of early pan-Arabism.

It is, indeed, weird to turn a national symbol into someone else’s flag. “The Remembrance poppy is apolitical despite what some people might say, and commemorates our war dead by bringing people together in the act of remembrance,” one former UK army officer told the press. “The so-called ‘Palestine Poppy’ is about as far away from remembrance as it’s possible to be. It is unashamedly political, designed to divide rather than unite.”

As is, of course, the keffiyeh, which was adopted far and wide by Palestinian Arabs during the Great Revolt in Palestine. The “revolt” was designed to kill Jews to pressure the British government to stop letting other Jews escape European anti-Semitism in the years leading up to the Second World War—leading to the deaths of millions more Jews. It was basically the first globalized intifada.

Among my favorite lines about the keffiyeh comes from Oren Kessler’s incomparable book on the Great Revolt, titled Palestine 1936. Kessler writes of a 1939 conference in London attended by a Palestinian delegation: “The Arabs were feted at the Dorchester, the Savoy, the Ritz, and the Carlton; for the Jews more sensible accommodations sufficed. Women of London’s smart set started sporting keffiyehs—Palestine’s high commissioner received reports that they ‘found the sheikhs of the East fascinating while the Jews were merely ordinary and so boring.’”

Not much has changed in nine decades. Over in France, the keffiyeh has been a common sight among the mass protests that have, over the past couple of days, turned into massively destructive riots. The Palestinian flag has as well. Riots in which some hoist the Palestinian flag around monuments while others deface symbols of France such as the bust of Marianne produce a curious inversion. One can’t help but remember that these folks are the most likely to accuse Jews of dual loyalty.

According to Le Monde, among the high-end shops smashed up by the rioters was Louis Vuitton’s storefront in Paris. A few years ago, Louis Vuitton was the subject of controversy for selling its own Monogram Keffiyeh—for $700. In the West, Palestinianism is indeed a luxury belief.

The Palestine Poppy, however, has one more detail that stands out. According to the Telegraph, it’s not exactly in the spirit of charity:

“The pin’s website features a video using the controversial slogan ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, widely interpreted as calling for the destruction of Israel.

“One of the charities to which profits are donated is Friends of al-Aqsa, according to its website.

“The group, which calls itself an NGO ‘demanding political change for Palestine’, was described in a 2024 report commissioned by the Home Office as a ‘far-Left and Islamist’ organisation. It was banned from a fringe event at the Labour conference in September after a backlash.

“The same report noted that Ismail Patel, the organisation’s founder, previously visited Ismail Haniyeh, the former Hamas leader, in Gaza, and praised him as a ‘martyr’.”

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the pro-Palestine movement doesn’t also respect the original poppy.

But this does: “Pro-Palestine activists scaled a Battle of Britain monument and trampled poppy wreaths as they marched through London on Saturday.”

And that was barely a week ago.

The bad news for Brits is that Palestine never goes out of style. Which is going to make it difficult to decolonize the poppy.

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