Bowing to her commentary, Dunkin' Donuts pulled the commercial and issued an apology to any patriotic Americans knowledgeable enough to be offended by the the poorly chosen garment. Malkin, pleased by the public mea culpa from the company and the public controversy her words created, offered her satisfied approval:
It's refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists. Too many of them bend over backward in the direction of anti-American political correctness.Malkin's accusations of Ray as an unwitting terrorist-sympathizer are as preposterous as the Salem witch hunts were in the seventeenth century. The Anti-Defamation league has an entire database dedicated to symbols of terrorism, and surprise, surprise -- the keffiyeh scarf isn't one of them.
Don't get me wrong: I get Malkin's point. She correctly points out that the keffiyeh has been a lightning rod for controversy ever since PLO leader Yasser Arafat began donning one in the '70s and '80s. It's important to mention that his bore a chain-link design, not a paisley pattern like the one decorating Rachael Ray's in the controversial ad. Companies like Urban Outfitters have fanned the flames by printing anti-Israel slogans on the keffiyeh and selling t-shirts portraying young Arab men holding guns and wearing the scarf in front of the word "victim."
Although I typically don't side with liberals (and I don't in this case, either), I have to say that Malkin takes her point too far. Putting bullets or anti-Israeli language on any garment -- whether it's a scarf, a hat or even a bib -- is in poor taste and is likely to draw protest.
There are two important things to consider, however, before conservatives throw their allegiance behind Malkin's comments. Then, if they still feel obliged to express their outrage at Rachael Ray and Dunkin' Donuts for their unwitting support of Palastinian terrorism, at least they'll do so knowing all the facts.
First, the particular scarf worn by Ray in the ad is not a keffiyeh. It only resembles one. It was just a fringed scarf with black and white paisleys on it -- hardly a political statement. In fact, in this photo taken by Getty Images photographer Noel Vasquez, Cameron Diaz can be seen fondling the fringes of a similar scarf at an LA Lakers game the day after Malkin's blog post ran (May 29, 2008). And scarves are nothing new for Rachael Ray, either. As this photo by Getty Images photographer John Medina shows, Ray occassionaly will wear a scarf during public appearances (this one's from 2004). Her stylist's decision to use one that resembles a keffiyeh was bound to happen sometime. Unfortunately for Dunkin' Donuts, it just happened to be on their time.
Second, and most important, the keffiyeh is a garment of necessity and is commonly found in many Middle Eastern countries because it protects the head from prolonged sun exposure and keeps the eyes and mouth clear of dust and sand. While many Middle Eastern people may ascribe political relevance to one color or another, most are too poor to care and often buy what they can afford -- regardless of what its color may mean to someone else.
Despite the faults of her blog post and my admonishment of it, Michelle Malkin's heart does seem to be in the right place. I admire her for valiantly speaking out against a company which believed was the unwitting promoter of pro-terrorist anti-Americanism. Certainly, her patriotism cannot be questioned, but her common sense must be.
