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Someone in charge of pre-emptive damage control decided green is the color of Hamas. Hamas does use the color, but green is also, as the article notes, traditionally associated with Islam itself in Muslim communities. So much for cultural sensitivity. As James Thurber once wrote: "You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward."
"Obama clothing ban puzzles Mideast experts," by Ben Smith and Carrie Budoff Brown for Politico, July 21:
AMMAN, Jordan—An Obama campaign ban on green clothing during the candidate’s visits to Israel and Jordan has created wide puzzlement among observers of the Middle East.
In a memo to reporters, described as “a few guidelines we sent staff before departure to the Middle East,” Obama advance staffer Peter Newell laid out rules on attire for Jordan and Israel.
First among them: “Do not wear green.”
An Obama aide explained to reporters that green is the color associated with the militant Palestinian group Hamas. But while the color does appear on Hamas banners, there is no particular symbolism to wearing green clothes, experts said.
Moreover, green is more generally seen as a symbol of Islam.
“A ban on wearing green seems bizarre,” said Richard Bulliet, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Columbia University, who said the color is associated with the family of the Prophet Mohammed.
“I would hazard the guess that the campaign's concern is more with distorted—and religiously inaccurate—reporting by Obama's detractors than with any actual signal that might be conveyed,” he said, referring to false rumors that Obama is a Muslim. “You don’t want to have some blogger come along and say ‘Obama is showing his true color.’”
“I think they’re just being overcautious to a ridiculous degree,” Bulliet said.
Mohamad Bazzi, a professor of journalism at New York University and former Middle East bureau chief for Newsday, called the instruction “very strange.”
“I guess green is the ‘Hamas color’ — but it's also the color of Islam!” Bazzi said in an email from Beirut. “That's one way for the Obama campaign to alienate 1.4 billion Muslims worldwide.”
Though the campaign’s other sartorial instructions – directing women to dress demurely – are fairly standard, Bazzi said he’d never heard it suggested before that journalists not wear green while traveling in the Middle East, an observation echoed by other reporters.
“I’ve been to the Middle East with Secretaries of State and on my own, and I’ve never heard of anything like that,” said New York Sun national security reporter Eli Lake.
Obama’s trip was organized independently of the State Department, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice advised American embassies Thursday to avoid helping presidential campaigns with their foreign trips.
Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, flies a green flag, as do some other Islamist groups. But the color appears on a vast array of official symbols, including the Saudi flag. Jordan’s Queen Rania al-Abdullah has been pictured in green outfits.
Early images from Obama’s trip also suggested that the rule is being observed in the breech: One cameraman on the tarmac in Amman can be seen in a green checked shirt.
“We wanted to be as respectful as possible. We wanted to go to the highest level,” said Jen Psaki, an Obama spokeswoman in Amman, of the campaign’s full list of sartorial suggestions, which also include a ban on nail polish and tank tops for women.
Another Obama spokesman, Bill Burton, didn’t explain the admonition against wearing green, but downplayed the memo.
“It was an informal document put together by people on the ground compiling info from a range of sources,” he said. “Some reporters on our trip had asked for advice on what to wear and so it was given to travelling press.”
A spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, Ibrahim Hooper, said Muslims might take offense at the campaign’s instruction.
“Are you kidding?” Hooper asked, when told of the memo, calling the move a “misstep.”
“The color green is associated with Islam worldwide,” he said. “Whether in some particularly tiny geographic location there’s some other local association based on politics is one thing, but to ask people not to wear green – are they going to ask people if he goes to Ireland, are they going to ask them not to wear green or orange?”
The president of the Arab American Institute, James Zogby, said he didn’t think the rule would give offense, but that he did find it puzzling.
“I’ve never heard of that before,” he said, adding that nobody had ever suggested avoiding the color on his satellite television show, which airs weekly in the Arab world.
“This is an overreach on somebody’s part,” he said. “It’s not going to insult anybody, nor is it going to offend them if somebody does wear green.” [...]
Jeff Ballabon, a Republican consultant active in pro-Israel causes, was also baffled by the explanation of the link between green and Hamas. “Why didn’t he also ban the use of yellow, which is Hezbollah’s color?"
Posted by Marisol at July 22, 2008 12:07 AM
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There! See, whadid I tell ya--Barack Hussein is already instituting Shari'ah law! We Infidels are forbiden to wear green--it's right there in the Pact of Umar!--Obama is an accursed Islamizer!!
Posted by: John C![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 22, 2008 12:39 AM
Dhimmis of the World, Unite against the Obamanation of Desolation!!
Posted by: John C at July 22, 2008 12:52 AM
I wonder if Obama, who claims a bit of Irish ancestry will wear green on Paddy's day?
Posted by: Toejam at July 22, 2008 2:07 AM
Jeff Ballabon, a Republican consultant active in pro-Israel causes, was also baffled by the explanation of the link between green and Hamas. “Why didn’t he also ban the use of yellow, which is Hezbollah’s color?"
There's an awful lot of Islamic terrorist groups all across the world. If each of them gets "their" own color, Obama will be forced to go nudist for fear of appearing to endorse any of them.
Posted by: special_guest at July 22, 2008 2:32 AM
Well, well, in China, green symbolizes envy.
Um ... that fits.
Posted by: FreeSpeech at July 22, 2008 4:04 AM
Other then for a conection to Mohammed's family, what is the Muslim facination with the color green?
Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at July 22, 2008 7:08 AM
A ban on nail polish? Is nail polish unislamic now as well?
So many rules, so much control.
Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at July 22, 2008 7:11 AM
They must be afraid of offending their security detail by wearing the opposition's gang colors.
Whose up for some black headbands?
Posted by: Jan Sobieski at July 22, 2008 7:48 AM
Nobody asked the Irish what *they* thought. How come?
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at July 22, 2008 8:53 AM
Hey, do you suppose there's any connection: green being the color of Islam and, all of a sudden, the world is told we all need to "go green"?
Probably a coincidence.
Either way, I'm not gonna submit. Nuh-uh.
at July 22, 2008 9:12 AM
If issues like the color of the clothes of the people with him can border him, then he may not really be in control and confident on how he will handle the issues concerning islam. The same pressure that is making him give these directives can equally make him capitulate when under pressure from islamic nations. It all depends on what is at stake. I see this as ridiculous indeed. Making every effort to disassotiate himself from islam without being real and straight can be very dangerous.ie if that is the reason why he gave the directive.
Posted by: Nwachinemere at July 22, 2008 9:39 AM
This clown is so bizarre and so confusing that I really think he needs some sort of psychological help. If he becomes president we may see the birth of a new form of government, an Oprahmocracy where flip flopping, confusion, irrationality and general chaos become the laws of the land.
Posted by: ISLAMSFORLOSERS at July 22, 2008 11:59 AM
I've been under the impression that green was the color of Ireland (that proud Isle who rejected the Lisbon Treaty). My mistake.
Posted by: Mystical Time Traveler at July 22, 2008 1:35 PM
I do prefer Obama to McCain, but this is ridiculous. If he wants to prevent his campaign from looking Islamic, he should ban black burqhas, white imamwear & islamic skullcaps, kafiyehs (including the Saudi red, pink & white checked kafiyehs), for starters. Or else, as Jeff Ballabon pointed out, why not ban Hizbullah yellow?
I have never seen Mohammedans wear green as a symbol of their Islamicity, except maybe the Paki and Bangladeshi cricket teams.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at July 22, 2008 1:41 PM
I trust all this idiotic posturing to avoid the perception of "pro-islamic" will end Nov 4th, either way.
Posted by: Infidel33 at July 22, 2008 4:05 PM
By decreeing that his followers cannot wear green, Obama has declared himself to be a dhimmi, to the entire mohammedan world. Surely with his mohammedan background, he MUST be aware of the significance of this act. I cannot hear a plea of ignorance of the shari'ah in this case. Green is not merely the color of the false prophet's family, it is the color associated with the false prophet himself in the mohammedan world, and only applied to his family by extension. THAT is why dhimmis and kafrs are forbidden to wear it, and why it appears so much in the mohammedan world - to identify a cause or institution with the false prophet. By enforcing this prohibition himself, Obama has declared himself subservient to the mohammedans, and when he is elected, they will expect the nation to follow it's head. At least we know now that he doesn't consider himself a mohammedan, for one cannot be subservient to one's self. I reckon I'll have to have a little surprise ready for 'em when they drop by the house to pick up my jizyah payment.
Posted by: Marduk at July 22, 2008 8:57 PM
A few weeks ago, we were denouncing Rachael Ray for wearing a kaffiyeh, an article of clothing that might be mistaken as an indication of support for Palestinian militancy in general, and now we're denouncing Obama for avoiding the wearing of articles of clothing that might be mistaken for indications of support for Hamas. I'm confused. Are we supposed to be wearing whatever the hell we want to, without regard for what unwarranted conclusions others might draw, or not?
Posted by: Seamus at July 23, 2008 10:40 AM
Seamus,
The appropriate attire for dhimmi kuffar such as yourself should distinctively mark your base, vile state in life, and be quite distinct from that of fine, noble, upstanding Muslim Believers. Hope this helps clear things up.
The Islamic Fashion Police
Posted by: John C at July 23, 2008 3:43 PM
I dunno, despite Obama's negative ratings on this site, he does seem to show some evidence of "having a clue" about Islam. If Dougie Hooper thinks this insults 1.2 billion Muslims, then it would appear this is a good thing. He also declared that J'lem should be the capitol of Israel. From what I see this man is much smarter, and far more subtle, than he is given credit for. Although his words are important, equally important,and in the end the only thing that counts, are his actions. This was an unexpected action, but as far as I'm concerned it was a positive gesture and indicates a creative turn of mind that could make him a formidable leader.
Posted by: Eastview at July 23, 2008 5:04 PM
Surely Seamus speaks sarcasticly.
Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at July 24, 2008 7:58 AM
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