How to dress in Hebron, Palestine. In terms of clothing, it is fair to say that Hebron, Palestine can be considered as the most conservative city in the West Bank and maybe in all of Palestine. Hebron is a traditional city, whether it is for its economy, which is mostly focused on traditional Palestinian clothing, or for its social relations and customs that are still mostly preserved. This very strict social behavior and the preservation of traditional customs has, for a westerner staying in the city, a good and a bad side. Good, because it allows you to see a city which really works on preserving its cultural singularity.
If youโre interested in Palestinian culture it is definitely the place to go and I think that Hebron could easily endorse the title of the most Palestinian city of Palestine. Of course, this cultural preservation has a bad side, and it can be said that the strong traditional environment of the city, will constrain the westerner visitor to a certain behaviour and a special dress code.
However, insignificant those constraints might appear, I think it is very important to respect them, as it is important to respect the culture of every country that you visit, it is an imperative to leave any Eurocentric customs at the door. One of them, essential to abandon, is the wearing of shorts, especially short shorts above the knee. Because if it is commonly known that the women need to be careful of how they dress in Muslim countries, people often forget that men also need to be dress in an appropriate way.
Needless to say that the men dress code is less strict that the womenโs one but in my experience it is still important to respect it. I will now go into detail on the dressing requirements. As I said before, the shorts are to avoid, that doesnโt mean you canโt wear them but in my experience the fact of wearing them will definitely draw attention on you, an uncomfortable attention that will be a mix of judgement and of anger against what they see and what it often is, another disrespectful westerner in a Muslim country.
Without your shorts, you will have to adopt the trousers, I will specially recommend to buy some chino trousers, as it is light and elegant and therefore perfect to wear daily in the Palestinian heat. This last point is often a preoccupation for foreigner that come here and think that the weather is going to be unbearably hot. But being placed on a hill, even on a very hot day, the wind is always here to refresh the general temperature.
Therefore, the difficulty of covering your legs in a hot weather become acceptable, especially if as I said you opt for a chino trouser. As it is important for your legs it is also important for your arms, and clothes with sleeves, like for example shirts, even if not as imperative as the trousers it should definitely be in your bag.
Finally, regarding the traditional Palestinian clothing that you can wear like the Kufiyah or the Djellaba, I would avoid it, as it can be interpreted as a cultural appropriation or an inappropriate political statement. All in all, the dress code in Hebron is pretty strict compared to the rest of Palestine but compare to other Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, it is very easy to respect the culture and the people without changing too much your dressing habits.
