Conservative Bloggers Link Rachael Ray Ad to Terror Symbolism [1]
Submitted by Anne Landman [2] on
Dunkin' Donuts pulled an online ad [3] for frozen lattes featuring domestic maven Rachael Ray after receiving complaints from right-wing bloggers, including conservative FOX News commentator Michelle Malkin [4], that a black-and-white paisley scarf Ray wore in the ad too closely resembled a traditional Arab headdress called a kaffiyeh [5]. Malkin wrote that the scarf resembled "a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos," and that "the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not-so-ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities and left-wing icons." Amahl Bishara, a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters about the Middle East said [3], "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East -- by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm ... To reduce their meaning to support for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it."