The New Rise of Hate Groups and Racism in the U.S.

Again, the intellectual white elite, preaching to the angry uneducated poor whites about the dangers of the invading hordes. One need only look back at European history to see how successful these wonderful elitist have been. When the time came that they had ruined what they had, they set out to dominate the rest of the world…continue to do so. Going off of what the man on the video says about whites eventually becoming a ‘minority,’ even if and when whites become a ‘minority,’ the system will still benefit them because it is a system that is systematically/institutionally setup for them to benefit. Furthermore, as issues like immigration and the nomination of Barack Obama grab the headlines, there is a much more disturbing side to the debate: The new rise of hate groups and "racist intellectuals" who find crafty ways to promote fascist ideas. As one of my favorite hip hop artist Jihad once rapped: “it don’t matter what skin tone our president is, cuz he’ll always be a puppet…”

More Keffiyeh Drama Fo' Yo' Moma

Dunkin' Donuts Yanks Rachel Ray Ad

Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.

Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott.

‘‘The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,’’ Malkin yowls in her syndicated column.

‘‘Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons.’’

The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin’ Donuts decided it’d be easier just to yank the ad.

Said the suits in a statement: ‘‘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.’’

(In case you’re wondering, the stylist who selected the offending scarf was not Gretta Enterprises boss Gretchen Monahan, who appears on Ray’s TV show as a style consultant.)

For her part, Malkin was pleased with Dunkin’s response: ‘‘It’s refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists.’’

Source: Boston

Thoughts, in no particular order:

• We're letting the "right wing nut cases" rise to new levels of ridiculousness.
• Nobody really complained when Urban Outfitters and Delia's caved under pressure and proved unable to carry their respective versions of the keffiyeh for more than a week. Maybe those who appreciate the keffiyeh deserved this slap in the face.
• This is another step in exoticizing Middle Eastern culture.
  
• The prospect of a remote association with "terrorism" (though in my book I'd call the Palestinian struggle one being led by freedom fighters) terrifies corporate America.
• The commercialization of various Palestinian symbols dilutes their meaning and value.
• Popularizing the culture of resistance might be just what we need - think of the 60s when everybody was a hippy and the will of the people actually mattered!

Update (05/29, 7:00pm):

Message from the ANSWER Coalition
Boycott: Don't Shop at Dunkin' Donuts!
Say No to Anti-Arab Racism

The ANSWER Coalition and others are calling for a worldwide boycott of Dunkin’ Donuts. The boycott intends to send a powerful message to Dunkin’ Donuts and other corporations that engage in racism or pandering to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racists.

Please lend your name to the boycott by clicking this link and send a letter to Dunkin' Donuts. Be sure to circulate this call to your friends on list serves and social networking sites.

Here’s the background:

Dunkin’ Donuts has capitulated and withdrawn an advertisement for its products following the allegation by a right-wing hack, Michelle Malkin, that the spokeswoman in the ad was pictured wearing a kaffiyeh, a scarf which is a staple of clothing traditionally worn by Palestinian men.

The scarf pictured in the ad is not actually a kaffiyeh. But the anti-Arab racism of the right-wing, pro-Bush ideologues like Malkin is so extreme that they launched their campaign because they “thought” the scarf was this traditional Arab garment. Dunkin’ Donuts pulled their ad apologizing that the scarf might even resemble a kaffiyeh.

In Malkin’s twisted world anything “Arab,” even a scarf, is “terrorist.” This is the same line of thinking promoted by the Bush administration in the wake of 9/11, when thousands of Middle Eastern men living in the United States were rounded up and falsely imprisoned. Some were even tried on phony “terrorism” charges. It is the same line of thinking that was used to promote the racist war drive against Afghanistan and then Iraq.

The fact that a giant corporation like Dunkin’ Donuts quickly pulled the advertisement is a sign that the pervasive racism, chauvinism and xenophobia peddled by right-wing bigots is a real danger. This is a classic tactic of fascist intimidation and demonization of an entire population.

We demand that Dunkin’ Donuts immediately apologize to the Arab-American community for this disgraceful surrender to racism. Until that apology is issued we will refuse to shop or buy any products marketed by the Dunkin' Donuts Corporation.

Please lend your name to the boycott by clicking this link and send a letter to Dunkin' Donuts. Be sure to circulate this call to your friends on list serves and social networking sites.

IFAW: Another fun twist

7 GW Students Admit To Posting Anti-Muslim Fliers

George Washington University's school newspaper received a shocking confession on Tuesday.

The GW newspaper the Hatchet received an e-mail confession late Tuesday night from seven students admitting to hanging hundreds of controversial fliers around campus.

The students -- Adam Kokesh, freshman Yong Kwon, senior Brian Tierny, freshman Ned Goodwin, Maxine Nwigwe, Lara Masri and Amal Rammah -- said their motives were misinterpreted.

[...]

"It is to our great dismay that the student body and the media missed the clear, if subtle, message of our flier: the hyperbolic nature of the flier was aimed at exposing Islamophobic racism," the e-mail said, according to the Hatchet. "While the poster, even if taken seriously was not intended to cause any real harm, the systematic and glorified type of racism represented by this event is being imposed upon us from dangerous divisive outside forces."

The students who said they did it said they wanted to bring attention to racism against Muslims.

Read on: NBC4.com

The GW Hatchet's original story with image of flyer, letter from perpetrators

The Case for Islamophobia

No, this is not just another right-wing opine piece, it is down right islamophobic, racist, offensive and disgusting. I cannot believe the LA Times would publish something like this.

Below are excerpts that are particularly disturbing:

Now, despite friendly and long-lasting relations with many Muslims, my first reaction on seeing Muslims in the street is mistrust; my prejudice, far from having been inherited or inculcated early in life, developed late in response to events.

The fundamental problem is this: There is an asymmetry between the good that many moderate Muslims can do for Britain and the harm that a few fanatics can do to it. The 1-in-1,000 chance that a man is a murderous fanatic is more important to me than the 999-in-1,000 chance that he is not a murderous fanatic: If, that is, he is not especially valuable or indispensable to me in some way.

And the plain fact of the matter is that British society could get by perfectly well without the contribution even of moderate Muslims. The only thing we really want from Muslims is their oil money for bank deposits, to prop up London property prices and to sustain the luxury market; their cheap labor that we imported in the 1960s in a vain effort to bolster the dying textile industry, which could not find local labor, is now redundant.

In other words, one of the achievements of the bombers and would-be bombers is to make discrimination against most Muslims who wish to enter Britain a perfectly rational policy. This is not to say that the government would espouse it, other than surreptitiously by giving secret directions to visa offices around the world. But why should a country take an unnecessary risk without a compensatory benefit?

!!!!!!

I won't even begin responding to Theodore Dalrymple (his real name is Anthony Daniels) because I think there's a serious problem with his whole attitude and approach to the situation. Criticising Muslims for not doing enough to prevent and condemn terror acts is one thing, but calling for all Muslim immigrants to be deported or barred entry is another.

I can't believe that a 'respectable' newspaper would publish an article like this.

Bye-bye Imus!

"We cannot afford a precedent established that the airwaves can be used to commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism." - Rev. Al Sharpton

Don Imus got what he deserved. More importantly, I think his story is a great example of the power of the people.

Had community leaders and activists not demanded a strong stance against his racist comments, CBS would have probably stuck with the 2 weeks suspension and NBC would probably still be airing his show.

A few days ago I heard a media analyst predict that Imus would not be fired simply because his show brings in big bucks for the stations. Controversy is usually a good thing in show business.

The stations had to think twice when advertisers started pulling out from the show and the protests against Imus did not cool down.

What did bother me though was that the protests against Imus's remarks came mainly from the African-American community. Where was everybody else?

Let's hope this serves as a lesson for other media hosts: blatant racism will not be tolerated.

All Along the Watchtower

...Palestinian kids play, while crooks and racists justify their imprisonment.

The song holds true in Apartheid Israel. Bob Dylan wrote this wonderful song, with Jimmy Hendrix, Pearl Jam and Dave Mathews Band doing some amazing covers.

Enjoy the lyrics, enjoy reality- because outside "in the distance a wildcat did growl, two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl."


All Along the Watchtower

"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.


It speaks wonders to the situation in Israel. During this time of Dylan's life he faced being cheated out of what was his- "Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth" the same way Zionist settlers usurp Palestinian lands and Israeli soldiers tear apart Palestinian farms. "None of them along the line know what any of it is worth" speaks to how the systematic destruction of the Palestinian people has not destroyed or swayed their deep seated desire to return to their homes and have a nation of their own all the while only marginalizing and creating hatred and resentment and fueling the fires of violence among the next generation of children.

Its not what the Palestinian teach their kids, its rather what the Israeli's teach all Palestinian generations- ethnic superiority- Israeli peace over Palestinian justice, Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian ability to have a functioning future independent state and Israeli future over that of Palestinian past, present and future.