Whatever the intention, the global surge in sales has had no impact on the fortunes of the ailing Herbawi factory. The textiles company does not export and, even at a local level, foreign competitors are holding sway. In the market stalls of Jerusalem’s Old City, a Hebron factory-made keffiyeh is a rare sight among the scarves on sale to tourists. “For sure, I prefer the local product,” says market vendor Saleh abu Ghazela, who stocks the Herbawis’ new line of pastel multi-colored checks alongside Chinese versions of the traditional color combination. “But very few customers care about the quality or ask where the scarf comes from, and I have to cater to the market’s demands.”
All of which explains why most of the looms aren’t even switched on at the Herbawis’ factory. Fifteen machines used to operate daily for 18 hours, but now only one section of the vast factory is lit and just four clacking looms turn giant reels of thread into long flats of cloth. A factory technician moves between them, snipping rogue strands and making constant adjustments to the weave. “He has been our employee for 40 years,” says Judeh Herbawi, of their last remaining staff member. “It is because of him that we stay open.” Beyond this square of light, rows of grand machinery emblazoned with the label “Suzuki Loom” stand silent in the shadows, swathed in thick, yellow factory dust. Old swatches of keffiyeh fabric are still stretched out upon these once industrious machines — and underneath the powdery dust, the distinctive pattern so symbolic of the Palestinian national cause has all but faded away.
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