The antiquated looms that dominate the factory floor of the Herbawi textile company make an ear-splitting noise, rattling and hissing as they slowly weave together 3,500 yarns into rolls of black-and-white cotton cloth.

It takes the machines half an hour to produce 1.25 metres of fabric. That is the traditional measure for one keffiyah, the headscarf recognised around the world as the symbol of Palestinian nationalism.