Monday, June 2, 2008

A Voice of Reason (At Least in This Case) from Islam

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently called the Rachael Ray Keffiyeh kontroversy an "incredibly silly situation."

A move by Dunkin' Donuts to pull an online ad featuring Rachael Ray after columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin said it was "hate couture," was an "incredibly silly situation," said CAIR spokesman Ahmed Rehab. The ad (see entry, below) showed TV host Ray wearing a black and white scarf that some critics likened to a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress.

"It's sad that Dunkin' Donuts pandered to that kind of fear–mongering. They have businesses in the Middle East, in the Arab world. It's interesting to see how that will affect business there," said Rehab.

Dunkin' Donuts said in a statement Ray had been wearing a silk scarf with a "paisley design" selected by a stylist with no intended symbolism. It pulled the ad due to the possibility of misperception, the company said.

When asked about the ad's removal, Ray's spokesman Charlie Dougiello told Reuters: "Our comment is no comment whatsoever."

In fairness, let's give CAIR the last word: "It seems like anti-Arab, anti-Muslim bigoted expression is the last frontier of accepted bigotry," said Rehab. "There is still racism against African Americans, Latinos and other ethnicities, but the average person would think twice about making their racist feelings public. Not so with Muslims and Arabs. We need to move beyond that."

A voice of reason from a most unexpected source.

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