Is the Palestinian Thobe Making a Fashion Comeback?

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TRENDING | Congresswoman Rashida Thaib sparked controversy when she wore a 'thobe' or a Palestinian traditional embroidered gown, to her swearing-in ceremony. What is the history of this garment? It's more than meets the eye. Our Erica Jackson has the story.

Story:
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was be sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives on January 3rd 2017, taking her oath on a two-volume Quran that belonged to one of the founding fathers of America, Thomas Jefferson.

'It’s important to me because a lot of Americans have this kind of feeling that Islam is somehow foreign to American history,' Tlaib told the Detroit Free Press.

'Muslims were there at the beginning...Some of our founding fathers knew more about Islam than some members of Congress now,' said Tlaib, who was one of the first two Muslim women sworn in to Congress, along with Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar.

Tlaib, 42, is the Detroit-born daughter of Palestinian immigrants who hailed from the West Bank village of Beit Ur al-Foqa, near Ramallah. In a nod to her ancestral heritage, Tlaib has already announced that she will wear a traditional handwoven Palestinian gown, called a thobe, during her swearing-in ceremony.

'Sneak peek: This is what I am wearing when I am sworn into Congress,' she wrote in the caption of an Instagram photo of the black and red patterned garment.

Tlaib was among 100 freshmen to take the oath of office shortly after the U.S. House and Senate gavel into session at noon (1700 GMT) on the 3rd. She joins the most diverse Congress in U.S. history.

New representatives are traditionally sworn-in over a Bible, but it is only a custom and no specific book is called for by law.

Tlaib said that she was not trying to make a religious point in swapping out the Bible for the Quran, and acknowledged that those upset by the move would be angry simply due to the fact that she is a Muslim anyway.

'I believe in secular government (and) my swearing in on the Quran is about me showing that the American people are made up of diverse backgrounds and we all have love of justice and freedom,' she said.

'My mere existence, that I’m even of Muslim faith, is going to be a problem for them with or without me swearing in on any Quran,' she added.

A copy of George Sale’s 1734 translation of the Quran into English that belonged to Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States, is to be used in the oath taking ceremony.

The two-volume work resides in the Library of Congress and was previously used in the swearing in of Rep. Keith Ellison, the first ever Muslim Congressman.

Last month, Tlaib announced that she would not participate in an annual trip to Israel sponsored by pro-Israel AIPAC lobby and pledged her support to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, saying she would organize her own delegation to the West Bank.

Minnesota's Ilhan Omar, the second Muslim woman elected to Congress, also endorsed the BDS movement against Israel.

Tlaib and Omar join the so-called 'blue wave' of candidates ushering Washington's new era of divided government, as Democrats seize control of the U.S. House aiming to serve as a check on Donald Trump's disruptive presidency at least until the 2020 election.

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