News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
[In an ideal world, Dunkin Donuts would respond with an ad campaign
pointing out that Malkin and other regressive-rightists were lying about
them. Instead, they choose to appease these creeps. I hope the public
responds with strong criticisms of this capitulation to the NeoCons.--DC]
*****
http://tinyurl.com/65fddg
Dunkin' Donuts pulls Rachael Ray ad after complaints
By MARK JEWELL
BOSTON (AP) -- Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an online advertisement
featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white
scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic sup****t for
Muslim extremism and terrorism.
The coffee and baked goods chain said the ad that began appearing online
May 7 was pulled over the past weekend because "the possibility of
misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced
coffee."
In the spot, Ray holds an iced coffee while standing in front of trees
with pink blossoms.
Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained
that the scarf wrapped around her looked like a kaffiyeh, the
traditional Arab headdress. Critics who fueled online complaints about
the ad in blogs say such scarves have come to symbolize Muslim extremism
and terrorism.
The kaffiyeh, Malkin wrote in a column posted online last Friday, "has
come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad. Popularized by Yasser
Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in
beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed
by both ignorant (and not-so-ignorant) fa****on designers, celebrities,
and left-wing icons."
A statement issued Wednesday by Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Brands Inc.,
however, said the scarf had a paisley design, and was selected by a
stylist for the advertising shoot.
"Absolutely no symbolism was intended," the company said.
Dunkin' spokeswoman Michelle King said the ad appeared on the chain's
Web site, as well as other commercial sites.
Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who
specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said
complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings
of Arab culture and the multiple meanings that symbols can take on
depending on someone's perspective.
"I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a
kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the
complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of
the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.," Bishara said in
a phone interview. "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."
While some extremists and terrorists may wear kaffiyehs, "To reduce
their meaning to sup****t for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it,"
Bishara said.
Malkin, in a posting following up on last week's column, said of
Dunkin's decision to pull the ad, "It's refre****ng to see an American
company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic
jihad and its apologists."
Ray, host of the Food Network television program "30 Minute Meals" as
well as a syndicated daytime talk show, began appearing in ads for
Dunkin' Donuts in March 2007. When Dunkin' announced the partner****p, it
said Ray would be featured in TV, print, radio and online spots in a
campaign running through 2010.
*****
http://tinyurl.com/3lzo8q
Boycott US doughnut chain for halting scarf ad, activists urge
WA****NGTON (AFP) -- US activists have called for a worldwide boycott of
doughnuts-and-coffee chain Dunkin Donuts after it pulled an online ad
that a conservative commentator said promoted jihad.
"Dunkin Donuts has capitulated and withdrawn an advertisement for its
products following the allegation ... that the spokeswoman in the ad was
wearing a kaffiyeh, a scarf which is a staple of clothing traditionally
worn by Palestinian men," the ANSWER Coalition said in a statement.
ANSWER, which groups hundreds of anti-war and anti-racism organizations
around the United States, called for a "worldwide boycott of Dunkin
Donuts ... to send a powerful message to cor****ations that engage in
racism or pander to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racists."
The activists also urged backers to send an online letter to Dunkin
Donuts expressing outrage at the company's decision to drop the ad
"based on the possible perception that it contained an Arab kaffiyeh"
and calling for "an official apology for yielding to anti-Arab racists."
More than 7,300 letters had been sent to Dunkin Donuts in the 24 hours
since ANSWER posted its boycott call on its website, Ben Becker, a
spokesman for the coalition, told AFP.
A furore blew up earlier this month over a Dunkin Donuts online ad
featuring celebrity chef Rachael Ray wearing a black-and-white scarf
around her neck and holding an ice coffee.
Conservative columnist and commentator Michelle Malkin complained on her
blog last week that Ray was s****ting a "jihadi chic kaffiyeh" in the ad.
"I'm hoping her 'hate' couture choice was spurred more by ignorance than
ideology," Malkin wrote.
In another blog post, Malkin wrote: "Anti-American fa****on designers
abroad and at home have mainstreamed and adapted the scarves as generic
pro-Palestinian jihad or anti-war statements.
"Many folks out there remain completely oblivious to the apparel's
violent symbolism and anti-Israel overtones," she wrote.
Dunkin Donuts pulled the ad last weekend, even though it said in a
statement that the scarf had a paisley design -- not the checks of a
kaffiyeh.
"Absolutely no symbolism was intended," Margie Myers, senior vice
president of communications for Dunkin Donuts said.
"However, as of this past weekend, we are no longer using the online ad
because the possibility of misperception detracted from its original
intention to promote our iced coffee," she added.
Dunkin Donuts is present in 29 countries besides the United States,
including Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and
the United Arab Emirates, all of which have majority Muslim populations.
*****
http://tinyurl.com/4cpg38
Interfaith group blasts Dunkin' on keffiyeh
Published: 05/30/2008
An interfaith group that includes rabbis blasted Dunkin' Donuts for
yielding to pressure to pull an ad featuring a keffiyeh.
The online ad featured Rachael Ray, the celebrity cook, posing against a
background of cherry blossoms, wearing a black and white keffiyeh scarf,
and holding up iced coffee. Conservative bloggers led by Michelle Malkin
complained about the ad, saying it endorsed Arab radicalism because of
the keffiyeh's identification with Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian
leader.
Palestinian nationalists adopted the checkered keffiyeh as a symbol in
the 1960s, but its use predates that period and persists in the Middle
East. Additionally, the scarf adorning Ray is fringed, which is not
common to keffiyehs.
Dunkin' Donuts pulled the ad, saying "the possibility of misperception
detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee."
The Interfaith Alliance, a religious freedom advocacy group, blasted the
decision.
"Enough already," Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, the alliance's president, said
in a statement. "Have we really reached the point where we are
associating wearing a scarf of Middle Eastern origin with terrorist
sympathies? Should we apply this standard to everything that comes from
the Middle East? Or are we only applying this standard to our wardrobe?"
The alliance's chairman is Rabbi Jack Moline of Agudas Achim
congregation in Alexandria, Va. and its vice-chairman is Rabbi David
Gelfand of New York.
*****
http://tinyurl.com/49uba4
chicagotribune.com
RECIPE FOR A CONTROVERSY
The blogger, the chef and the terrorist
By Ahmed M. Rehab
3:27 PM CDT, May 30, 2008
How could a chirpy TV host with such edible title credits as "30 Minute
Meals" and "Tasty Travels" one day awaken to find herself in the middle
of a terrorism-related media blitz -- all because of a Dunkin' Donuts
ad, no less?
It's a tough recipe to cook up, but here are the ingredients:
* One paisley scarf that somewhat resembles the checkered pattern of a
Palestinian national garment called the "keffiyeh," -- a scarf that
could be bought at Macy's
* One right-wing blogger who lacks any sense of cultural nuance
* A public opinion climate ripe with paranoia
* A slow news day for the media
Directions: Briefly expose the scarf to the blogger, scatter over the
climate, let simmer on a slow news day, and voila!
Can you hear the world's laughter?
The blogger is Michelle Malkin, author of the universally ridiculed
book, "In Defense of Internment."
One of many to find fame and fortune in the post 9/11 hullabaloo, Malkin
has a strange but simple job: to whip up controversy. If she succeeds,
she gets attention. If she gets attention, she gets paid. She is her own
brand, and like any brand, hers must deliver on expectations to remain
competitive in an increasingly saturated market.
Malkin continuously scours the world's hot button issues hoping to raise
the heat. On Thursday, she hit the jackpot with the most unlikely of
subjects.
Enter Rachael Ray, who also has a straightforward job: to whip up meals.
She shows TV audiences how to find bliss through the art of food. Sound
controversial yet? Patience.
Ray happens to do an iced coffee ad for Dunkin' Donuts. She dons a
paisley scarf selected by the stylist for the spot.
OK, that's the end of the buildup.
No, really, that's it.
Presented with that ad, most people may wonder if the iced coffee is any
good. None is likely to wonder whether Dunkin' Donuts and Rachael Ray
were promoting terrorism.
Malkin is a notable exception. She has a hungry career to feed.
And so, Malkin's pattern-recognition sensors kick in: Palestinians!
According to her, if Ray's scarf looks like a keffiyeh, the traditional
scarf worn by Palestinians, then it must be a keffiyeh.
So what if it were?
Well, she further argues that, unbeknownst to the world, keffiyehs are
actually a symbol of terrorism, hence her insinuation that the ad
promotes terrorism.
Malkin then proceeds to educate the world about Palestinian keffiyehs,
when they are worn, by whom, and why.
Not surprisingly, she gets it all wrong: In reality, the average
Palestinian is much more likely to wear a keffiyeh than a terrorist.
Think about it: would the keffiyeh really be your preferred disguise if
you were a terrorist and wished to walk incognito into a Tel Aviv bus or
pizza parlor?
Probably not.
It is, however, your likely choice if you are an average Palestinian
going to the mall, farming your land, walking to school, or -- yes --
hurling stones at an Israeli tank in the streets of your occupied
hometown: hardly acts of terrorism.
So how does Malkin manage to discombobulate the facts? How does she find
no shame in writing off a people's national dress as "a symbol of
terrorism"?
There can only be one explanation: For Malkin, every Palestinian is a
terrorist. To sell that point, she resorts to sensationalism, minimalism
and obscene sweeping statements.
Sadly, this reductive approach is an old and tired trick when it comes
to public discourse on the Middle-East, or Muslims.
But let's not kid ourselves. Malkin's anti-Palestinian message, by
itself, is not newsworthy. It is only effective when coupled with a
climate that is highly receptive to fear-mongering. Only then can it
wreak havoc. After all, it is only because of the perception of a public
backlash that Dunkin' Donuts, with curiously weak knees, felt pressure
to yank the ad off the Internet.
Luckily most Americans know better than to drink Malkin's Kool-Aid. They
will likely remember this tale only as one of 2008's silliest.
Nonetheless, I am certain Malkin is gloating over the few prized
conformists her antics were able to mobilize.
Come to think of it, I think I will wear a keffiyeh on my way to work
tomorrow -- as I sip my iced Caribou coffee.
arehab@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
M. Rehab is the executive director of the Chicago chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations.
*****
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://tinyurl.com/2gcoqt
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"
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