Rachel Ray Wears Kaffiyeh DURING Dunkin Donuts Commercial!
“A Palestinian customer came up and asked me if I’m wearing this scarf as a fashion statement or for political reasons.
“I had no idea what he was talking about because I don’t follow politics at all. I just laughed it off.
“Two days later he called and complained about it.”
Shevonne Hunt, a freelance journalist who has reported on the keffiyeh’s popularity in Australia, said many Palestinians were annoyed the widespread use of the keffiyeh for fashion had watered down its meaning.”
So — Palestinians are claiming the keffiyeh has a political connotation, and is not just a scarf? This may trouble many of the lovely commenters who offered their two cents below.
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UPDATE: Malkin and Charles do a good job explaining the issue, and call out those who distort our anger and complaints into something that sufficiently matches their worldview of condescension towards non-leftists. (I’ve got a couple examples in my comments below, plus a few more vulgar and abusive ones which I deleted.)
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UPDATE: Dunkin has pulled the ad.
Apparently, some folks are not pleased.
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UPDATE: LGF has picked up the story.
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Click the link below, watch the video, then commence call-in campaign:
https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/BreakfastChoices/
Absolutely appalling.
Dunkin Donuts Consumer Care:
800-859-5339.
800-859-5339.
800-859-5339.
I want those phone lines catching fire, people.
(discovery by MarineGrunt, LGF reader)
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Tags: campaign, comment, Dunkin Donuts, Dunkindonuts Com, Israel, Rachel Ray
May 20th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Dude, that isn’t a Kaffiyeh, the pattern is different, see link below. The pattern is quite important and what Rachael Ray is wearing just appears to be a black and white scarf with round and paisley patterns.
http://blogs.louloumagazine.com/fleischer/wp-content/istockphoto_188061_palestinian_scarf.jpg
May 20th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Person A says that every woman shall wear garment X.
Person B says that no woman shall wear any garment that bears even a passing resemblance to garment X, because Person A is telling women what to wear.
Hmmm, the word “irony” comes to mind quickly.
May 20th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Matthew,
There are many different kaffiyeh patterns, a quick look at images around the web will reveal that. Some are fringed around the edges, some are completely white. She is wearing a kaffiyeh.
ASB, I have no clue what you are talking about here — we are discussing the kaffiyeh, not the burka, hijab, or niqab. No Islamic society orders a woman to wear a kaffiyeh.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I called the Customer Service line and politely pointed out that I have been a loyal DD customer for years. I also pointed out that while neither Dunkin Donuts nor Rachel Ray were probably not trying to make a political statement the fact remains that they do just that. I told them that this was extremely offensive and promotes terrorism by validating terrorist symbolism.
Please call. There are lots and lots of scarves in this universe for a woman to wear (or not wear). Please don’t argue over patterns. Symbolism is everything in a commercial.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Dp!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I love the Food Network but Rachel Ray sucks!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Do you honestly believe an Arab-Muslim symbol would have an Indo-Ayrian print on it? Talk about a manufactured controversy by the easily offended. It’s an ugly scarf worn by an idiot who probably doesn’t even know where Palestine is on the map never mind Arafat’s penchant for being FABULOUS.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Kurds also wear the Keffiyah. Maybe she is in solidarity with our allies and Kurdish Prime Minister Barzani who just visited VP Cheney this week?
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
“Absolutely appalling.”
Comedy gold. You people are unreal.
“I told them that this was extremely offensive and promotes terrorism by validating terrorist symbolism.”
I wish I had been there to see them trying no to laugh at you.
Pure gold. A SCARF, PEOPLE.
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:09 pm
For those of you who believe it’s “just a scarf”, I am curious to hear your comments on the following piece — found by LGF — and straight from the horses mouth. A swastika armband is not fashion, a brownshirt is not just a shirt, a hammer and sickle is not just design.
http://socialismandliberation.org/mag/index.php?aid=166
“For those who participated in the massive demonstrations against the war in Iraq, the black and white checkered cloth worn around the head and shoulders of many demonstrators was a familiar sight. This cloth is the Palestinian kaffiyeh. It is the headdress traditionally worn by Palestinian men.
The history of the use of the kaffiyeh in the struggle for justice in Palestine demonstrates why it has become a symbol for all people who struggle for unity against colonial occupation and oppression around the world.
In the early 1900s, the British occupied many countries in the Middle East, including Palestine. The Palestinians strongly fought against British occupation by uniting. They used all forms of resistance.
Once the British realized they could not exist as colonizers in Palestine without facing the resistance movement, they tried to deceive the Palestinians. They promised them independence while at the same time protecting Zionist Jewish settlers. The Zionists—mostly immigrants from Europe—were forcibly taking land and resources from the largely unarmed indigenous inhabitants of Palestine.
The kaffiyeh first became a popular symbol of Palestinian resistance in the 1930s, with the emergence of organized armed resistance to the continuing theft of land. Most of the resistance fighters were peasants who traditionally wore kaffiyehs and lived in the mountains or small villages. The fashionable fez was worn by townspeople and city dwellers.
To escape capture, resistance fighters hid in cities and towns. But, wearing kaffiyehs, they were easy to spot. The British arrested any peasant wearing the headdress to crush the resistance.
In response, all Palestinian men, whether from towns or villages, began to wear the Palestinian kaffiyeh. They also stopped carrying identification cards so resistance fighters would not be exposed. These actions by all sectors of Palestinian society signified overwhelming support for those carrying out the resistance.
In the 1960s, the kaffiyeh was renewed as a symbol of resistance as Palestinians escalated armed resistance in response to Israel’s 1967 invasion and occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The resistance captured the world’s attention when Leila Khaled and other members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—a Marxist group —wore kaffiyehs while hijacking five international airliners. These operations drew attention to the Palestinian struggle.
The kaffiyeh was made most popular by the late Yassir Arafat. He wore it draped around his head in the shape of historic Palestine throughout his years of participation in the resistance movement, then as president of the Palestinian National Authority.
The Palestinians have endured decades of brutal colonial occupation and exile. Their heroic struggle for freedom has inspired people around the world. Thousands of women and men, young and old, now wear the kaffiyeh proudly as a symbol of resistance and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.”
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:50 pm
“A swastika armband is not fashion, a brownshirt is not just a shirt, a hammer and sickle is not just design.”
I’m sure the kaffiyeh is rich and deep in symbolism related to Palestine.
Let me assure you though, a paisley scarf is JUST A SCARF.
She shows people how to make cookies for crying out loud!
This is the problem the right faces in an election - when you make everyone an enemy, for increasingly stupid reasons, they don’t tend to vote for you.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Here are links to several kaffiyeh designs, including an all-black:
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/styleguy/2008/01/global-warming.html
http://bradtriesunderstandingcriticaltheory.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/on-terrorist-chic/
You mention that Rachel Ray is just a chef — nowhere above do I accuse Rachel Ray or Dunkin Donuts of making an intentional political statement in support of terror organizations.
Nowhere do I claim to be a representative of “the right”, and nowhere do I imply that everyone — or anyone — is an enemy. You are fabricating arguments, looking for means with which to classify the bearer of a position you do not agree with. You do not wish to have a discussion, merely to dismiss, without the burden of having to present evidence. If you would like to discuss this, or any matter, respectfully, that is welcome here.
But the slander is not.
May 24th, 2008 at 10:22 am
From the first link you provided:
Actually, you often see them on our boys and girls serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Especially the Special Forces cats in beards and shades.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/910/ssh11tz5.jpg
Are they deplorable for wearing them too?
Also in only one of them is the fabulous Style Guy wearing an actual keffiyeh given to him by an old Palestinian girlfriend, the rest are just scarfs or perhaps you missed this line:
For cold weather it’s nice to have a big scarf. This cashmere scarf by Armand Diradourian for Paul Smith runs a spectrum of greens, from dark to Kelly, and it’s 28” x 78.
And once you cite LGF you lose all credibility, I belong to LGF and agree with the vast majority on most subjects but this is not one of them. Like I said Kaffiyehs do not employ paisley designs, they are checkered - ALL of them - Muslims would be loath to use an infidel design in their symbol of resistance against the infidels.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
What a bunch of BS. Who cares about the scarf! Its stupidity like this that clouds the real issues out there.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
I wear blue and brown together. Am I sending the wrong message to anyone????????
This is ridiculous.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Michelle Malkin is quite obviuosly an idiot - and who is she anyway?? I mean, really!!!!!!!!
May 29th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Is this supposed to be a Colbert Report type blog? It isn’t serious, right?
May 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Now, if Rachel Ray had been wearing a kafiyeh lapel pin in the Dunkin Donuts ad, *then* it would have been offensive. Or wait, I mean, if she *hadn’t* been wearing an American flag lapel pin…errrr, kafiyeh flag lapel . . . oh never mind. I can’t keep up with what fashion accessories are acceptable to the Repugnicans anymore. All I know is that Starbuck’s coffee rules and that I’d eat a lot more Dunkin Donuts if I wasn’t worried about getting all chubby like Rachel Ray. Michelle Malkin is a serious hottie but her politics make her a nottie.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:06 am
While I agree this is ridiculous because her scarf looks simply like a scarf, I’d like to play the devel’s advocate. We must remember symbols have always represented an important part of all cultures throughout time. Had Rachel Ray worn a swastika arm band or white hood the world would have been appalled. I am amazed that certain forms of dress have become en vogue as seen here in these photos. As an expatriate from the U.S. it disturbs me that we can be so insensitive especially after 911 and I can only attribute this to ignorance. For many of us living elsewhere in the world, we see up close what these symbols represent. These organizations and governments actively support the suppression of women, the banning of freedom of religion and speech, and the tacit acceptance of violence against innocent human beings all in the name of a cause or belief. Have we become so P.C. that we refuse to tell the truth or are we somehow hoping that our own human/democratic values are also shared by all? Read, listen and observe. Actions always speak louder than words. Remember, symbols are powerful messages!
May 31st, 2008 at 2:01 am
The scarf isn’t even a kaffiyeh at all, its a paisley scarf. Has it gotten to the point where you cant wear any black and white patterned scarves? While I agree that symbolism is significant, this is just reaching way too far. When I first heard about this issue, I swore it had to be something from the Onion or some similiar parody. But its a real issue? Seriously?
May 31st, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I was about to get engaged but didn’t want to cough up the big bucks for the traditional diamond. Instead decided to go the PC route and explain to my gal that such gems only support blood thirsty regimes in Africa.
Okay that is tall tale but not as far fetched as this RR Scarfgate garbage.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
I worked in the Kingdom of Saudi in the 80s, we used a rake for asphalt called a LUTE (? spelling ?) the muslums would not let them past customs because they sounded JEWISH….. THE BEEEAAAOTCH from FOX did she bitch about lack of armor on vehicle or bullet proof vests,you bushniks need to call the DOD….. leave the damn dounuts alone
June 11th, 2008 at 7:16 am
PHL - Thanks so much for turning us into what we hate about the left - oversensitive, whiny little prudes who have nothing better to do than point out painless, useless drivel and turn it into a cause celebre. A paisley scarf on a goofy Italian girl from NY is pandering to terrorists?
Better call our military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq - the military PX’s are selling ACTUAL keffiyahs to our servicemen and women. Not because they help you breathe in a sandstorm, mind you but because The Department of Defense is pandering to terrorists! And your tax dollars are funding it! OH NO!
Get real, buddy.