Rashida Tlaib’s thobe inside Congress puts Palestine on the map

Rashida Tlaib, one of the first Muslim women and the first of Palestinian origin to be elected to Congress, made headlines during the past week when she took her oath of office wearing the traditional Palestinian dress thobe.

Hundreds of women joined Tlaib by publishing photos wearing their version of the Thobe on twitter and other social media platforms through the hashtag “#TweetYourThobe”.

Many had also shared videos and photos of Tlaib while entering Congress and during the swearing-in ceremony dressed in in the traditional Palestinian thobe, with many expressing their pride.

Days prior to the swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 3, Tlaib had announced that she intended to wear the traditional Palestinian thobe.

Susan Muaddi Darraj, an American writer of Arab origin, had launched the hashtag campaign since Tlaib announced her intention to wear the thobe.

Later on, she had to change it to a “private event” on Facebook, for privacy reasons. Until Thursday, only 500 person joined it. But those numbers then multiplied hastily with the spread of Tlaib’s photos wearing her Palestinian dress inside Congress, according to Darraj.

The traditional dress is originally a Canaanite heritage, where ancient Canaanites excelled in dyeing cotton and woolen fabrics, including clothes, before it became a will inherited throughout generations.

Fatema, Tlaib’s mother said that: “Wearing the traditional Palestinian dress during the swear-in is equivalent to the whole world for her”.

She carried a copy of the Quran on which her daughter had used during the ceremony swear-in.