Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 11, 2026

Palestinian thobe

The Palestinian thobe is the traditional Palestinian woman's long tunic. It is considered the national dress of Palestinian women. It is embroidered with tatreez patterns, with different colours and patterns signifying various aspects of the wearer's social position and most importantly its unique village, town or city. The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit has curated a collection of thobes as an example of Palestinian material heritage.

Last revised
Jun 11, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
353 w
Citations
8
Source
Wikipedia ↗

Palestinian singer pictured wearing a thobe source ↗

The Palestinian thobe (Arabic: ثوبة, romanized: thawba; Palestinian Arabic: ثوبة or توبة, romanized: tōbe) is the traditional Palestinian woman's long tunic. It is considered the national dress of Palestinian women.1 It is embroidered with tatreez patterns, with different colours and patterns signifying various aspects of the wearer's social position and most importantly its unique village, town or city.2 The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit has curated a collection of thobes as an example of Palestinian material heritage.3

History

Woman from Ramallah, c. 1898–1914 source ↗

The Al Qarara Cultural Museum in the Gaza Strip, which held a collection of these garments, was destroyed in an explosion as a result of an Israeli attack in October 2023, part of an offensive that reportedly deliberately targeted civilian homes and mosques in the vicinity.45

Cultural significance

Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan and the first Palestinian-American woman elected to that body, wore a thobe to her swearing-in ceremony on January 3, 2019.6 This inspired a number of Palestinian and Palestinian-American women to share pictures on social media with the hashtag #TweetYourThobe.7 Like the ghutra, thobes were also popular during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.8

References

References

  1. Kassis, Reem (2023). We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition. Studio Press. ISBN 978-1800783287.
  2. Debre, Isabel (February 12, 2019). "Iconic Palestinian robe fashions a new political symbol". AP News. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  3. "The Palestinian museum | the Palestinian Museum".
  4. "خسائر كبيرة في قطاع الثقافة الفلسطينية جراء العدوان الإسرائيلي على غزة". 2023-10-18. Archived from the original on 2023-10-18. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  5. "استهداف البشر والحجر والكلمة.. قصص تدمير أشهر المؤسسات الثقافية في غزة - البوابة نيوز". 2023-10-18. Archived from the original on 2023-10-18. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  6. Jennings, Rebecca (January 4, 2018). "Rashida Tlaib's thobe and Ilhan Omar's hijab are making congressional history". Vox.
  7. Zrarick, Karen (January 3, 2018). "As Rashida Tlaib Is Sworn In, Palestinian-Americans Respond With #TweetYourThobe". The New York Times.
  8. Debre, Isabel (5 December 2022). "With Ghutra in fashion, World Cup fans seek adventures in attire". The Arab Weekly. Retrieved 30 November 2024.