Because, just like the “scarf,” it is “too Arab” .
Although Will already posted on this, I think it is worth re-opening an already active discussion by shedding some light on the cyber responses to the pulling of Dunkin Donut’s online AD featuring Rachael Ray.
In a post about the DD commercial, The Huffington Post explains that townhall.com columnist, “Michelle Malkin and other conservative observers thought the scarf looked too much like a keffiyeh, what Malkin describes as “the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.” (Her actual full quote is too priceless to not include in its entirety: “The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.”)
How is a scarf worn and used by pre-Islamic Arabs (which probably includes Jews and Christians in the area) automatically read by Malkin as a “symbol of the Islamic Jihad”? One used to keep the sun and sand out of the eyes and mouths of bedouins and South Arabian desert dwellers?
Malkin also claims that accepting this commercial is a mainstreaming of violence. As much as this might shock readers, I would have to agree. Smalltown USA Ray wearing traditional bedouin garb is a violent assault on my culture.
Not allowing the ridiculousness of such a claim go unnoticed, one commentator, maggienow, on the Huffington Post sardonically observes: “I know for a fact Ray is a Palestinian terrorist ” I once watch her make a falafel on her show. Coincidence? I think not!”
Pacific231 follows suit:
“Malkin’s next targets:
The Pillsbury Doughboy. How DARE he sell CRESCENT rolls!!
Little kids who play leapfrog. MY GOD IT LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE PRAYING TO ALLAH !!”
As a result of DD’s cowardly bowing down to pressure from conservative insanity, many of the commentators have suggested boycotting the company’s products and writing the corporate offices.
*Btw, ba’lawa points to go to the person(s) who knows the person in the image.
Related posts:
- Kuffiyah Kraze: Another Mainstream Spotting
- Muhajabats in America: Over-exposed?
- Kuffiyeh Kraze Hits the West Koast
- Kuffiyah Kraze
- Kuffiyah-Spotting: Dunkin’ Zionuts
Is the person in the image Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, born in Baghdad, who wrote, “Al-jabr wa’l muqabala (from which our modern word “algebra” comes)?
UH OH, Rachel Ray’s grandma’s name was Grandma Betar:
From p. 65 of Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals For Kids:
My sister Maria makes this dish in memory of our Grandma Betar’s cooking. As children, we loved Grandma Betar and her wonderful Middle Eastern cooking. Now that we are grown, my sister is really good at keeping Grandma Betar with us all through the preparation of such recipes. Today, Maria’s own kids, Nick and Jess, love Middle Eastern dishes like this one.
The truth is out! Rachel Ray has Middle Eastern blood! What will Malkin say now? I bet she starts calling for DD to dump her.
Posted by Robin | May 28, 2008, 5:31 pmWoops, “Betar” is he half-sister’s last name, so there is no blood relation, AND it seems the name “Betar” could be Jewish……..so maybe there’s still hope for Rachel.
Posted by Robin | May 28, 2008, 6:02 pmin case you havent had enough:
http://gothamist.com/2008/05/28/rachael_ray_dun.php
check out some of the comments- crazy.
Posted by Dina | May 28, 2008, 10:17 pmAw shit. I wore one (a red and white cotten one, bought at an army surplus store in Chicago) when I was a nutty punk wanna-be in the 90′s. A LOT of fashion punks had them!!
I wore it with my Doc Martens and a big army green chemical coat (cotton). It was cool! Then my dog shredded it. Apparently he thought I was a terrorist (and here I was thinking I was just an innocently fashionable part Lebanese girl!).
Posted by Myrriad | May 29, 2008, 7:06 amNice expose on Rachel Ray’s Middle Eastern ancestry Robin!
And yes-ba’lawa points to you! That is indeed a pic of Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, creator of the modern word we know as “algebra.”
Posted by Maytha | May 29, 2008, 7:19 amExploitative Bitch! Read KABOBfestWATCH!
Posted by Programmer Buydatti | May 30, 2008, 12:25 pmHey Maytha,
I’m glad that we got to talk yesterday. It was pretty gutsy of you to wear that “Dunkin Donuts hates Arabs” shirt.
Did you get any other responses?
Email me when you can.
Posted by Justin | June 3, 2008, 7:13 pmHi Justin,
Thank you for coming on and checking out kabobfest. and thank you for willing to have an open and honest discussion about the issue. I just completed day two with the experiment and will post shortly about my experience. I was wondering if you would mind if i included our exchange in the post?
hope all is well
peace
Posted by Maytha | June 7, 2008, 6:35 amHello there. I just now realized that this specific webpage will not show correctly in my cell phone browser. Well i guess, It looks like I will simply just work with the tried and tested Internet Explorer.
Posted by Hiking | March 13, 2010, 1:18 pm