Heads up, hipsters: Those keffiyeh scarves, long associated with Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian resistance, are officially ‘so over.’ While the choice of keffiyeh as fashion accessory – at least when sported by sweaty, coked-up white kids mincing for Cobra Snake – has about as much political heft as a neon Che Guevara thong, the trend’s death knell has been rung not by a sudden surge in good taste but by divisive food celebrity Rachael Ray.
First Ray mortified hipsters by hosting a party at Austin’s SXSW indie rock snob-in, now she’s ruined the keffiyeh for everyone by wearing it in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial. Next she’ll want to join in the dodgeball games at McCarren Park Pool – unless she’s stopped, which the Dunkin' Donuts corporation seems determined to do; the company has yanked the commercial after getting complaints from incensed hipsters. Scratch that – incensed conservatives.
Fox News pundit Michelle Malkin led the pack decrying Ray’s keffiyeh, calling it a symbol of the “murderous Palestinian jihad.” But the company denies that their perky spokesperson was trying to subliminally link their iced coffee to Israeli opposition: “In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial.” Ray was too busy organizing a fabulous rock-throwing party in Ramallah to comment.
