Ok I believe most of you already know about this whole Rachael Ray Dunkin’ Donuts commercial that’s been pulled for its “terrorist symbolism”.

Just in case some of you still don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, the thing is, Rachael Ray wore a black-and-white scarf around her neck,that was selected by her stylist, and boom all hell broke loose. Yep it’s all because of the scarf, as insane and ridiculous as it sounds, but that’s what happened, because according to ultraconservative right-wing bloggers Michelle Malkin and Charles Johnson this isn’t just any scarf: Rachael’s “scarf” is actually the Palestinian kaffiyeh, and she is supporting Palestinian hate and terrorism by wearing it. Malkin would like to hear more from Dunkin’ Donuts before she decides whether or not to boycott the chain, because of the terrorist scarf this chef is wearing. [Via: Hollywood Crap]. Not to mention blogger Pam Geller’s post under the header “Rachel [sic] Ray: Dunkin Donuts Jihad Tool“: “Have you seen Rachel [sic] Ray wearing the icon of Yasser Arafat bastard and the bloody Islamic jihad. This is part of the cultural jihad,” [Via: Newsweek]

In response Dunkin’ Donuts put out this statement: “In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial.” [Via: Shine from Yahoo]

Just for the record, Keffiyeh (which is pronounced Kofeyyah in Arabic) has no religious or political significance whatsoever. It is simply a piece of cloth that’s been worn by Arabs over the years in the whole Arab region, to protect skin from sun and dust. It differs according to each country, difference is in style, material of cloth used, the way its wrapped around the face or neck, and the color. Yes the black-and-white Keffiyeh is the one used in Palestine, but again, it’s just a traditional thing. Yes Arafat did wear it, but it wasn’t a thing he created or something only he strictly wore, Arabs, as I mentioned, wore Keffiyeh ages before Arafat and they still wear it for traditional reasons. You can learn more about the Keffiyeh here, which interestingly has new updates relating to the Dunkin’ Donuts incident and the whole Keffiyeh-means-Palestine-solidarity thing. So the Keffiyeh is just like the American cowboy hat, the Mexican hat, and the Dutch wooden clogs, it’s as simple as that. But Malkin argues that it’s “a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos” [Via: Boston Herald], did Malkin ever notice that in many of these videos the terrorists would be also wearing a pair of blue jeans? does that make any jeans-wearing person a terrorist?

Lorraine Ali comments: “Despite the fact that the kaffiyeh is worn by millions, including Middle Eastern men, arty college students, tourists, Kanye West and even U.S. troops, who use it to keep the sand and dust at bay, the bloggers jumped on the case, exposing what they saw as the latest Mideast threat to freedom and democracy—this time in the insidious form of an iced-coffee ad.”

Dunkin’ Donuts believe that by dumping the commercial they have apologized for the unintended  claimed offense, and saved themselves from the angry anti-Arabs who called for boycott. What they don’t realise is that by such an act they have accepted portraying all keffiyeh-style scarves-wearers as terrorists or terrorism provoking individuals, whether being Arab or not; not only that, but they have “unintentionally” accused all designers who were inspired by the simple, practical, and cool style of the Arab keffiyeh, to be Arab-terrorism promoters who are playing a role in the “cultural jihad”. And it doesn’t stop here, it also means that you -regardless of your religion, origin, or profession- are not allowed to acknowledge the presence of Palestine, nor even think they are actual human beings, because they’re not, they’re just Keffiyeh-wearing terrorists,  and if you dare pick up anything from their culture, let it be a stupid scarf, then you’ll be treated as a terrorist yourself.

Lorraine adds: “This ad was pulled because anti-Arab bloggers saw it as promoting a culture they love to hate, and they used the terrorism card to push their agenda through. The amazing part is that Dunkin’ Donuts caved. They should be ashamed, …because they validated the warped idea that the mere existence of a race—and anything worn by its people—can be controversial. It’s doubtful the ad would have been pulled if a handful of critics found Ray’s garb too Hispanic or too African-American. The groups themselves would have been dismissed as bigoted or insane.”

And as Associated Content’s mmoq37 says: “Now I’m probably not as smart as the people who were able to pick up on the terrorist associations and symbolism in the commercial, but I hope that they don’t feel like they have made an accomplishment by having the ad pulled, if anything they have done more harm than good. (I can just imagine some poor woman, who shares the same bad taste in scarfs, being harassed and accosted by an angry group of ignorant people simply because they think that her scarf looks like a keffiyeh“.

Broken Mystic has a great point: “don’t people realize how racist Michelle Malkin’s remarks are? Can’t they see the racist undertones; can’t they see the dehumanization of a people, the sheer vilification of a people? According to people like her, anyone who wears that scarf is a “murderous Palestinian jihadist.” If Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t want to offend anyone in their commercials, then how come they don’t realize that they’re offending the Muslim and Arab community by agreeing with Malkin’s racist interpretation of the scarf?“.

Anti-racism organizations such as ANSWER have called for a worldwide boycott of Dunkin’ Donuts. As they explain: “The fact that a giant corporation like Dunkin’ Donuts quickly pulled the advertisement is a sign that the pervasive racism, chauvinism and xenophobia peddled by right-wing bigots is a real danger. This is a classic tactic of fascist intimidation and demonization of an entire population“.

I myself will not set foot in any Dunkin’ Donuts branch until they officially apologize for labeling our entire race as terrorists and for associating our culture and our traditional clothing with inhumane evil terrorism. And I would just like to remind Dunkin’ Donuts that the financial profits they are getting from their shops that are spread in the entire Arab region are because of Keffiyeh-wearing people, and that there are -or better say were- millions of loyal Arab customers who enjoy their services and products and welcome them in their countries, just as there are thousands of Arabs who are loyal employees at their branches. So it’s such a shame to use our land for marketing, use our money for profit and then be ashamed to show our traditional clothing in one of your many commercials.

I do understand the situation Dunkin’ Donuts people are in, and I don’t encourage offending any race, let alone allow my race to be offended and demonized in such an ignorant way. So I believe an official apology is the least they could do. And I will certainly never be ashamed of our Keffiyeh, and will always be proud to wear it, or decorate my home with it.

As Lorraine beautifully states: “Let’s face it, the real danger here is not the girly scarf charged with being a kaffiyeh, or that jihadists are purportedly using Dunkin’ Donuts as a backdoor into America’s malleable consciousness. It’s that the cries of a few commentators indulging in the worst form of racial stereotyping—and their demonization of an entire culture—was enough to spook a giant corporation.” and I couldn’t agree more…

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian Cartoonist, who brilliantly uses his talent in creating artworks that serve important political, cultural and religious issues such as the occupation of Palestine, the war on Iraq, Islamophobia and many other issues.

I personally found his work to be really impressive, and thought I’d share some of his cartoons that are dedicated to call on the world to condemn the Israeli holocaust of Gaza.

More on Latuff’s work:

* Wakeup From Your Slumber.

* The People’s Voice.

Bush’s visit to the Middle East is perfectly showing the world where Bush stands concerning each and every Arab country, and is proving -yet again- how unfair and unjust his statements, decisions, and most importantly his actions have been and continue to be regarding the region.
But still, one way or the other, Bush is made hero by his fans, and whatever he does is to them, wise, courageous, and right. Some even BELIEVE that Bush’s actually “leaving a formidable legacy behind him“!!! come again?! a formidable what?

Now I know anything I’d say contradicting this would make me look like an angry Arab who’s never happy with whatever comes from the west, but it’s not like that at all. It has to be made clear that positive change, just regulations, and laws to spread tolerance and  co-existence are all welcomed by Arabs,that yes, not the biased interference that serves anyone but the victim!

[Source: RTE, Via: EI]

Let’s take his visit to “Israel” for example. An excellent article written by Sam Bahour summarizes how Bush’s visit dealt with the Palestinian side in total ignorance, while supporting the Israeli side.

“As a matter of fact, the reality that Israel has successfully placed 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, over 50 percent of them children, in the dark and under the most draconian siege in recent history did not even make it to the margins of either leader’s speeches.” Bahour writes.

“Much more important issues were on Bush’s agenda. The need to realize and work on a “vision” for the future was in the forefront of Bush’s mind. “The parties” should now sit down and “negotiate a vision” — the parties being Israel, the fourth strongest military might in the world and a forty-year-long occupier, and the Palestinians, a stateless people who have been dispossessed by Israel for sixty years and under brutal military occupation by their colonizers for over four decades.

“Olmert was nearly jumping for joy as he praised Bush for increasing the comprehensive US aid package to Israel to a whopping $30 billion.”

I came across another wonderful article written by Mohammed Ali, describing the terrible situation in Gaza.He says: “What drives me and other Gazans crazy is that the international community can see all of the human rights violations being committed in Gaza and yet they choose not to take any action and instead remain silent. In the past I remember hearing the international community condemn such Israeli violations, but now, nothing.
One must conclude they are in favor of the Gaza siege because they support Israel’s declaration that Gaza is an “enemy entity” since Hamas took over the Strip, ignoring that there are civilians living in Gaza that cannot be blamed for anything other than residing in Gaza”.

And to show how USELESS Bush’s visit to the region is proving itself to be, the Gaza Strip remains with no running water, no enough food to feed its people, and is still suffering regular long lasting power cuts . As for peace, it’s not there either. Just this morning the Israeli army raided Gaza.

And what goes for Paletsine goes for the rest of the Middle East. To Bush, Arabs are the ones causing terror, instability, threats to the west and themselves. It’s not important that his “war on terror” brought only more terror and division among Arabs, leaving their countries suffering more pollution and destruction than ever; it’s not important that his plans to “implement democracy” in the region brought only more power to Israel and weakened other Arab countries while stripping them from their basic rights of expressing themselves lest they’ll be condemned of, again, terror; what really matters to Bush at the moment are two things: the high oil prices, and the “Iranian Issue”, yes those seem to be Bush’s main concerns.

Let’s wait and see what would Bush’s visit result in!