Facebook Rescues the Last Palestinian Kefiyeh Factory--For Now

As the Beeb reports, demand for the iconic shmatta beloved by the fashionably faux-rebellious and the zealously Zion-loathing dropped precipitously once the fugly terrorist leader who made it famous kicked it. Luckily, though, a facebook campaign has rallied to save the only remaining local shmatta factory. However, there will be no happy ending here, not with China fatally undercutting terror shmatta production:

"The Chinese use cheap materials and cheap labour, so the product that comes here is very cheap and there is no way to compete with it honestly," explains Jouda.

"Of course no country can ban imports, but there are ways to control them, for example, they should impose taxes on imported products. This way they will support local producers who employ a lot of people. This will help the local economy as well."

Production is currently up at the factory with eight machines producing more than 70 keffiyehs a day.

But with ageing technology and little evidence of investment in the factory's infrastructure, the Hirbawis will be aware they must do more or face the day when their looms fall silent.

A Start-up Nation it ain't.