The Speaker of Ontario’s legislature has loosened — but not overturned — a ban on keffiyehs.
Ted Arnott says politicians, staff and visitors will be allowed to enter the building while wearing a keffiyeh, but he is upholding his ban on the scarf inside the legislative chamber.
A keffiyeh is a checkered scarf typically worn in Arab cultures that has come to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians, and Arnott says he concluded that it is being worn to make an overt political statement, which is against the rules of the legislature.
Arnott says since his initial ruling the issue has become politicized and fostered division, so he now says the ban will not apply to people entering the legislative precinct, only within the chamber.