Muslims Wearing Things

[elfs]

After the whole kerfluffle about Juan Williams and the term "traditional Muslim garb," I have to admit that King Abudulla II of Jordan looks fine in what he's wearing:

Comments

[solarbird]

A Deerfield boy and a Trekkie. Awesome.

[tagryn]

Yeah, but...that was somewhat the point, isn't it? You generally don't see 'normal'/tolerant/assimilated Muslims walking around on U.S. airliners in full hejab or the stereotypical Taliban/bin Laden outfit, so when that is seen, it could be an indication that the person has a strong identification with Islam. Its similar to how people who walk around in army fatigues all the time get typecast as members of the Militia movement: they probably aren't, but that's the image.

The part where this all breaks down is that the 9/11 hijackers (and in all subsequent al-Qaeda operations, AFAIK) all tried to fit in and not draw attention to themselves, which included wearing typical Western clothing on board that morning, for example. Williams basically admitted his reaction is just a gut feeling on his part and not the endpoint of a rational thought-out process.

King Abdullah rocks, BTW. I'd probably skip the mushroom burger at the KK if it were me, but he does like to live on the edge.