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When traveling to another country I like to try on their local dress, if one is still prevalent in the local culture. For example when traveling to Ukraine I sometimes put on my Vyshivanka, in Central Asia I might put on a tubeteika and in Jerusalem a kippa is more than appropriate.

Would it be disrespectful for a Westerner (who is not Muslim) to wear the thawb/thobe dress in the Arabian peninsula?

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    The Arabian peninsula is broad and includes some very liberal parts. In any case the thawb is not an Islam specific garment. In my travels in the area I have not seen anything that would give me reason to believe you would have any problems, however I will defer to someone who is Arabic or lives there.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Commented Jul 30, 2018 at 18:45
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    A kippa in Jerusalem is not even relevant to any point, Muslims, Christians and Jews leave in the city. It's important to remember that Jerusalem is at the crossroad of those three religion.
    – Kiwy
    Commented Jul 31, 2018 at 8:17
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    A kippa (yarmulke) is worn by observing Jewish people. If you wear one, people might mistake you for an observant Jew, and you'll have an awkward situation when it's found out you're just "trying on the local dress". I don't think anyone would get offended though.
    – Jonathan
    Commented Jul 31, 2018 at 8:20
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    A kippa is not a cultural item, it's a religious item. Imagine a Jew, Muslim etc. wearing a Jesus cross on their neck when in America or Europe.
    – user1803551
    Commented Jul 31, 2018 at 8:33
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    @user1803551 I've lived in Israel so I'm confident wearing a kippa is no issue. You're usually not allowed without one into synagogues for example and gentiles are free to enter those.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Jul 31, 2018 at 8:58

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Not at all! In fact, we see it as a sign of respect.

It will also help you with the heat! these things are designed for the hellish weather in this desert.

One thing to remember, be sure to use the right name in the right place, for some reason it has many names depending on the place and people might not understand it. The name "Thobe" in the UAE for example is used for ladies dresses, while Kandura anywhere else but the UAE sounds funny.

Finally, thobe is not related to Islam. It's an ancient dress for the Arabs in the peninsula, way before Islam. However, during my visits to many non Arab countries with Muslim population, I noticed that it's used occasionally, especially when attending Friday prayers.

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