I think that the last thing Rachel Ray needs is “anything” from Dunkin’ Donuts. Maybe that’s the terrorists plot. The Rachel Ray IED. They feed her an endless supply of 32 oz Iced Coffees and apple fritters until. . . .BOOOOM

Hey! 
I’ve got a scarf very similar to that....lots of fringe and it’s a Deep Rich Dark Ruby Color. 

As far as her being a ‘Terrorist Sympathizer’????.....People really need to get over themselves.  Really! 
Not far after 9/11 had happened, some older woman started to harass my 19 year old nephew (who was working in a grocery store at the time) that he MUST have been a Terrorist....because he *looked* muslim. 
He’s Italian for Christ’s Sake! 
People really need to Get over themselves.

Just don’t take away my Dunkin Donuts Coffee and we’ll get along just fine. 

~ZZ

Obviously, she has gone off the reservation.

Oh for fuck’s sake.  SERIOUSLY?!!?!?

People have lost their damned minds.

Rachel drinks far too much caffeine. She is like a chipmunk on crack.

She clearly needs to wear more orange.

I heard about that and it’s one of the dumbest things I’ve seen, uh...this week. Calling it “Hate Couture” and she wore it out of “ignorance”. That’s ridiculous. People are seriously fucking paranoid.
Don’t people know my blue curtains are mocking the Burka? I expect my home to be fire-bombed at any moment.

HA.

That really boggles my mind.

You’re funny. :p You should storm the set of her show and pull her aside to have a chat with her about this.  I bet she’d appreciate your support.

PS - I like pre-married Rachael much better.  She went a little wonky after the whole “"my sweetie John” thing.

Clearly.  She needs you. 

As far as the scarf thing?  I might have bought one (well, not really since I am too insecure to wear anything like that unless all of my friends are wearing them) and wore it not even knowing that it is some terrorist sympathizing symbol.  Why do they believe that everyone knows these things?  Why can’t I wear one (other than because of my insecurities) without it being a terrorist sympathizing message?

Geesh, people need to get a life.  I thought she looked cute in it - not something that I’d wear, not my style, but she’s cute in it.

Is this a joke??

First of all, the word kaffiyeh/kuffiyeh just means “scarf"--generic “scarf.” Anyone in any part of the world who is wearing anything around their neck--whether it’s fringed or unfringed, knitted or crocheted, wide or narrow, patterned or solid--is wearing a kuffiyeh.

Second of all, I’m not an Arab or a Muslim, but I am Egyptian and I fail to see anything specifically Arab or Muslim about that scarf.  Is it the pattern they don’t like?  Because I wasn’t aware that paisley was a popular pattern among terrorists.  Now, if she had a Yasser Arafat thing going on with it on top of her head then maybe I could see the resemblance to a traditional Muslim scarf.  But again, I’m pretty sure Arafat doesn’t have one in paisley.

I believe the issue is more with the specific pattern and the colors, not just “it’s a scarf”.  While I believe many are making much ado about nothing (ie, I don’t think there should be this whole big ruckus), I would feel the same way if she were wearing a swastika.

Would you?

Cuz the symbolism that comes with this specific scarf, to some, mean the same as that of Hitler, who stole it from several special meanings long before him.

I hardly think that swastikas are analogous to paisley scarves. The association people are making between Rachel Ray’s paisley scarf and a traditional Palestinian kuffiyah is at best loose, and at worst contrived. I won’t repeat the differences that Dawg already pointed out, but I’d also like to add that the pattern is the most distinguishing feature of a traditional kuffiyah.  The color is variable, and so are the fringes, with kuffiyahs being either fringed, unfringed, or bordered with very small tassles.  Her scarf does not have the characterstic checkered or herringbone pattern, and she’s not wearing it on her head.

I think that ignorance does have a part in this controversy, as Dawg said, but I also firmly believe that the symbolism and hidden meanings that people see around them are sometimes actually a projection of their own desires and fears.  If you look hard enough, you can find symbols and hidden connections anywhere… like seeing the shapes of people, animals, and objects in a sky full of amorphous clouds.

Now that’s just reading too much into it.  It’s just a scarf that, unfortunately, a lot of terrorists also use to hide their faces!  If it were a person, I would’ve called it racial profiling.  But it’s just a damn scarf, so let’s get real, people!  Is our country’s mindset moving backwards instead of forward?!