Across the Zimbabwe, more and more people are adopting the keffiyeh—not as a trendy accessory, but as a powerful symbol of resistance, solidarity, and shared struggle. Once primarily associated with Palestinian identity, the black-and-white checkered scarf is now being worn by Africans who see a deep connection between their own histories of oppression and the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people.
Yesterday the Palestinian Embassy in Zimbabwe hosted a solemn yet defiant commemoration of the 76th anniversary of Al-Nakba, drawing together diplomats, activists, students, and journalists to reflect on the ongoing Palestinian struggle against occupation and genocide.
The message resonated deeply with the crowd, many of whom came wearing the keffiyeh draped across their shoulders or wrapped around their heads. For them, it was a visual reminder that oppression anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
The event featured impassioned speeches from Palestinian Ambassador Dr. Tamar Almassri and Zimbabwe Palestine Solidarity Council’s Sheikh Henry Balakazi, who together painted a stark picture of historical injustice and current atrocities in Gaza.
Ambassador Almassri recounted the origins of Palestinian displacement, noting how Jewish refugees fleeing European persecution were initially welcomed in Palestine, only to later become occupiers with British colonial support.
“We received them as guests escaping discrimination and torture in Europe,” he said.
“But when the British occupation began in 1917, they allied with colonial powers and turned against us.”
He emphasized that the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which granted more than half of historic Palestine to Jewish settlers, was imposed without Palestinian consent.
“We were forced to pay for Europe’s crimes—the Holocaust happened there, yet we bore the consequences.”
Dr. Almassri described Israel as an “artificial colonial project” designed to serve Western interests in the Middle East, calling it “a tool to divide Africa and Asia and control Palestine—the spiritual heart of Islam and Christianity.”
Sheikh Henry Balakazi of the Zimbabwe Palestine Solidarity Council delivered a fiery denunciation of what he called “the live-streamed genocide” in Gaza.
“The Nakba did not end in 1948—it continues today in Israel’s starvation tactics, bombings, and apartheid,” he declared.
“Over 66,000 children in Gaza suffer severe malnutrition not by accident, but by Israeli design. This is not war—it is extermination.”
He slammed the international community’s inaction, particularly African nations considering normalization with Israel.
Activist Balakazi emphasized that support must move beyond superficial symbolism. “The time for passive mourning is over,” he said. “We must recognize that the Nakba—the catastrophe that saw the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948—did not end. It continues to this day, and so must our resistance.”
His words served as a powerful call to action. In donning the keffiyeh, many Africans are choosing to make a statement that transcends fashion. It is a declaration of shared struggle, of remembering, and of a commitment to fight for justice—not only in Palestine, but wherever people are denied their rights and dignity.
