gypsy8522

Shanazel

Oh, good grief. My mom had red and white checked tablecloths that she used for 50 years of picnics. I wonder if she'd have been accused of being a terrorist because similar color and pattern are used in headdresses in the middle east? Really, I think some people have far too little to think about if they are scouring the donut ads for terrorists.

Reen.Blom

OMG this is sooooooo STUPID..... Im speechless...

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Aniseteph

Subliminal messages in donut ads?

Perhaps the stylist was was doing 1980's retro, those scarves were very trendy. Team with suede pixie-style ankle boots, baggy T-shirt off the shoulder and belted at the hip, and high-rise highlighted hair... aaargh!

Aisha Azar

Dear Gang,
I know that I am rather afraid to wear any of my kufiyehs out and about in the culturally oppressed little city where I live. I used to use them as scarves around my neck pretty frequently. I also used to wear man's farwah all winter that one of the guys brought back for me. It was toasty warm!! One of my friends from the UAE used to come over now and then dressed in his native thobe and headgear . I got very afraid for him and asked him to please dress in American cloths unless he was coming straight to my house and going straight home or to the mosque. I did ask if I could take his photo one day though, because he just looked so handsome there in my dining room with his beautiful brown thobe and matching kufiyeh wrapped around his head Abu Thabi style ( HIS spelling, not mine in case anyone wants to bitch me out!! Boy, am I getting paranoid!!)
Regards,
A'isha

nicknack

I think the keffiyeh has lost any meaning it may ever have had. It is worn by middle class students as a fashion statement mostly not knowing what they're wearing. The only slight exceptions I know are one friend who went to school in Dubai who used to wear one to be different, and my gentleman friend who picked one up in Egypt (he jokingly calls it his ayatollah khomeini scarf (this is the same man who walked around Marrakech wearing a linen suit and pith helmet)), apparantly airport security in France had no problem with it (probably he didn't look suspicous, just insane like any good upper middle class traveller). Also there are quite a few non Arab Middle Easterners who can be seen wearing keffiyehs casually, there are also a large number of people here who wear regular scarves wrapped in that fashion... America is strange...

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Aisha Azar

Dear Nicknack,
Actually I only started wearing mine after that one Arab female peace advocate started wearing her's. I simply can not recall her name right now. Also the Jordanian and Egyptian Arabs I party with often use one for a hip scarf when we are dancing. I think I might even have a photo of Nawal Saadawi wearing one as a scarf somewhere, unless it is some other famous Arab woman... can't recall exactly right now. (I have way too much hard copy around this office.) These are not Americans for sure!!
Regards,
A'isha

Mosaic

It seems people are becoming overly paranoid. Boogey me/women are seen around every corner. What next, if you wear a long black cape with a hood, will you be seen as some sort of terrorist next? I love my long warm cape for winter and have a lovely lightweight one for warmer days as well.

From the back the capes could be seen to be burkha to untrained or paranoid eyes LOL!

Mind you I haven't seen such paranoia here in Oz as yet and I certainly hope we never see it!
~Mosaic

gypsy8522

Any object -even if it is only a piece of cloth- does not lose its meaning to those who actually understand and value what it represents.

Although it is now subject of a fashion trend, the shemagh/kuffieh has been a part of traditional Arab dress for centuries and centuries, originally worn in the desert to keep the wind and sand off one's face and hair. And to this day it is worn by all ages, anywhere and everywhere- maybe not in Britain since it's not part of the anglo saxon culture- but in the Middle East.

America isn't strange; the media and those who fund it are.

gypsy8522

Even the most gorgeous looking guys, in proseperous and wealthy societies such as Qatar and the UAE **they're SO hot ** wear it (they call it a ghotra or shemagh and it's plain white) many of them wouldn't be caught dead in public wearing something else. It may seem odd for an outsider, but I'm sure it has a strong meaning to them.

The Palestinian kuffieh- also centuries old- it has a distinct style, which is the checkered black and white scarf. [Jordan is same style but different colour (red and white) called a "shemagh"]
It has nothing to do with religion, Palestinian Christians as well as non-Muslim non-Palestinian peace activists wear it as well. For the Palestinian people, it represents a traditional garment, a sign of plight, national identity and a homeland. For others, it has become a symbol in anti-war protests and for unity against colonial occupation and oppression across the world. If Palestinian suicide bombers wear that too, it wouldn't be surprizing, however it would be if they had worn Scotish kilts!

I have been reading on about this kuffieh craze that made people so upset- mainly those who do not like what these scarfs stand for- and from which and I have mainly noticed two types of reactions 1) saying that by non-Arabs wearing the kuffieh as a fashion statement it will hopefully become diluted and lose its significance, or 2) use media pressure to make it disapear, that's what FOX "faux" news has done. I just think it's really "creative" of them to use their typical fear instilling propaganda, this time brought to viewers in the form of a "murderous Palestinian jihad" scarf controversy in order to further their biased political agenda.

I don't think they even care if they insulted a whole set of countries/ethnicity/religion (funny how they all get lumped together, but hey, most viewers are naive and won't know the difference anyway, so it shouldn't matter).

BTW, Dunkin Donuts has so many branches in the murderous terrorist scarf-infested UAE! What a great way to bridge the gap of world understanding, really.