You seem to misunderstand the nature of the complaint. Who cares that US and UK soldiers are wearing keffiyahs when on the job in Iraq? It’s quite useful for its practical purposes and it might even help them to “blend” in with the local population.

The problem is not the keffiyah itself; it’s how Urban Outfitters chose to market it. Yes, keffiyahs have been around for quite a long time, before there was ever a Yasser Arafat, before anyone had heard of a Palestinian. The problem is that the use of the keffiyah in the west today has become associated with supporters of quite radical, anti-semitic, and violent ideologies who have happily slunk into the “anti-war” camp.

I cannot begin to count the number of supposedly high minded “pacifists” who I have encountered wearing these things at rallies, around college campuses, etc. who proudly support Middle Eastern “freedom fighters” and spout anti-semitic motifs while claiming to be against racism and violence. As such, it was perfectly appropriate to demand that UO remove this product and its highly misleading label from its shelves.

Ann, perhaps you see yourself as one of these? Let me remind you that being anti-war means nothing if you are not also pro-peace. If you feel you can identify with the folks in the pictures above, more power to you and your struggle for “justice”. I grew up near a neoNazi compound filled with people harbouring just such twisted logic. Maybe you should be introduced?

As for Keith Ellison swearing in on the Koran, the only people upset about that are right-wing religious moonbats.