‘I like your scarf’
Says the mom, picking her kid up from daycare
“I like your scarf”
Says the teenager in Dundas Square
“I like your scarf”
Says the woman in the grocery store as I reach for the eggs
We all smile gently as we gesture
At our own chests, our own hearts
I always wonder where they got theirs:
From family overseas
From someone’s backpack at a protest
From that one store in the east end that might still have stock
I remember getting mine
At a small shop in Bethlehem
After buying bread and walking in the cloudless day
Burying it in the most inner pocket of my backpack
So the IDF wouldn’t find it on the way home
“I like your scarf”
I say to each and every person I pass
Wearing the white and black pattern
Around their neck
Their hair
Their bag
I recognize you
I appreciate you
I hold you here with me
The trouble with wearing the Palestian scarf in our society is that it favours one side in a conflict over another, when both have a compelling (his)story which in their minds justifies participation in the ongoing conflict. Not having lived the (his)story of either of the people involved makes it extremely difficult to enable us to chose sides, something that is not overcome with a visit to Gaza or Israel. In this war, like any war there are no clean hands, for it is anormative behaviour. And in a way, for us to don a Palestinian scarf or wear a Star of David symbol is to participate in that conflict, when we should be supporting (favouring) a peaceful resolution. Moreover, wearing the Palestinian scarf in our society risks being identified with the professional protesters and anti Semetic radicals who have been seen attempting to create havoc in our society in order to win sympathy for one side.