Rachel Ray Scarf Flap Shows the Danger of Nationalism Run Amok

What's in a scarf? Unfortunately, a lot, when that scarf has any resemblance to a keffiyeh. What is a keffiyeh you ask? Well it's a traditional Arab headdress, worn for hundreds of years by people who needed protection from the harsh environment of the desert. The headdress has received a great amount of notoriety from those who have worn it to make a political statement, such as PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Probably the most visible of those who wore the keffiyeh with political intent, Arafat made the scarf a trademark representing the Palestinian struggle, and many Palestinian radicals have since followed his lead.

Because of this symbolism, the keffiyeh, even though quite innocuous in its role as a utilitarian clothing item, has become a source of contempt to Jewish peoples who have felt the pain inflicted by Palestinian terrorists, and American conservatives who look at Arab peoples through a narrow radical terrorist lens. The most recent manifestation of this contempt, was the conservative attack on a recent Ad by Dunkin Donuts. The commercial drew conservative ire because Food Network star and Dunkin Donuts spokesperson Rachel Ray appeared wearing a black and white scarf that resembled a keffiyeh.

Leading the assault on the ad, Conservative Blogger and Columnist Michelle Malkin, described the wearing of the scarf as a "mainstreaming of violence", and once Dunkin Donuts pulled the ad for fear of a widespread boycott, she praised the company for not bending to "Anti-American" political correctness.

My problem with this protest, is not the attack of violent symbolism, I mean, the bible says that if you are doing something that bothers your brother, even if you don't mean any harm by it, then in the cause of decency don't do it. In the case of a Denver area restaurant that sat an African-American family under a noose hung for decoration, I objected to it because of the symbolism embodied in the noose.

Of course, I know that the noose had uses other than lynching blacks. I am well aware that in the old west hanging was a common method to punish criminals both white and black. But anyone who has looked at the pictures of black lynchings, with the hanging and the mutilation that took place, should understand the visceral impact that the noose has on African-Americans.

I assume the reaction is similar for Jews that see the keffiyeh.

What I am bothered by, is the practice of "reckless patriotism," or better yet "pseudo-patriotism". Patriotism that is actually not patriotism at all, but a form of rabid nationalism draped in the flag. In the attack of Dunkin Donuts, the finger-pointers missed one very important thing. That thing is the Truth. And the truth is, the scarf worn by Rachel Ray in the commercial, was just that, a scarf. It was not a symbol of revolt, not a insidious anti-war statement, just an ordinary run of the mill black and white paisley scarf.

Malkin talks about "Post 9-11 Vigilance" in her response to threats like Rachel Ray's "nefarious" scarf, but vigilance in the absence of truth and decency, equals McCarthyism, or at its worst National Socialism. This is the same vigilance that caused ignorant people to persecute Sikhs after 9-11, or caused a poor co-worker of mine to remove her religious head covering to avoid violence. This type of unabashed vigilance thrives on prejudice, ironically the same type of prejudice that put Jews, the people Malkin "defends", in concentration camps.