Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) announced she plans to wear a traditional Palestinian gown when she is sworn into Congress next month.
She made the announcement in a post on Instagram featuring a photo of the thobe on Friday.
“Sneak peek: This is what I am wearing when I am sworn into Congress,” Tlaib captioned the photo, in addition to the hashtags #PalestinianThobe and #ForMyYama — which means mother in Arabic.
According to CNN, it is custom for Palestinian women to wear hand-embroidered gowns. The gowns are reportedly considered another way Palestinian women can show pride for their heritage and typically represents the city the person wearing the clothing is from.
{mosads}Last month, Tlaib won Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, making her the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress.
She also joins Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who became the first Somali-American member of Congress last month, in becoming one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
Tlaib’s announcement also arrives a week after Ruth Buffalo, who was the first Native American Democratic woman to be elected to North Dakota’s state legislature, wore traditional Native American dress to her swearing-in ceremony earlier this month.