Walk along Oxford Street in London, mosey down King Street in Manchester or slink around the Victoria Quarter in Leeds and you are sure to see people wearing the keffiyeh (or shemagh, as it is better known in the UK after British soliders who wore them in WWII – albeit not as a fashion accessory).
The shemagh has become a fashion hit overnight, with most high street retailers selling them and men and women, boys and girls wearing them around their necks in an array of colours.
But it seems that our taste for shemaghs is not shared by our American cousins. Dunkin Donuts’ spokeswoman Rachel Ray recently wore a shemagh in an ad campaign. And boy, will she live to regret it. The blogosphere went beserk, led by the irratating Michelle Malkin, a Fox News Channel contributor. According to Malkin:
Many folks out there remain completely oblivious to the apparel’s violent symbolism and anti-Israel overtones. Left-wing bloggers responded with complete scorn, deliberate mischaracterizations of the debate, and then outrage when Dunkin’ Donuts commendably showed sensitivity to the concerns and pulled the ad.
Commendable sensitivity – or just realising in an instant that it might affect sales? Nor is it just Dunkin Donuts who’ve found themselves in trouble. Urban Outfitters stocked them in the US until a pro-Israel faction accused the retailers of marketing terrorism even as Palestinians argued that turning the keffiyeh into a fashion accessory for hipster wannabes trivialized their cause.
