Don’t Like Terrorist Symbols in Pop Culture? You Racist!
Charles Johnson
Thu May 29, 2008 at 3:15 pm PDT • Views: 396
If you object to celebrities wearing well-known symbols of Palestinian terrorism, you’re a racist.
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 support for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it,” Bishara said.
UPDATE at 5/30/08 2:25:36 pm:
Also see:
The Kaffiyeh: More Than Just a Scarf
Frank says: