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July 26, 2005

Living la vida sploda

Cute and stupid: is there a relationship? In his quest to challenge stereotypes about Arab youth, Ricky Martin unwittingly confirms stereotypes about brainless pop stars (hat tip to OregonGuy).

Martin, whose hits include "She Bangs," "Shake Your Bon-Bon" and "Livin' La Vida Loca," posed for photos with fans, at one point draping over his shoulders a traditional Arab kaffiyeh headscarf with the slogan "Jerusalem Is Ours" written in Arabic on it.

"I had no idea that the kaffiyeh scarf presented to me contained language referring to Jerusalem, and I apologize to anyone who might think I was endorsing its message," Martin said in a statement released Monday by his New York-based publicist, Ken Sunshine.

Update: Something obscured by the linked AP photo is obvious in this Ali Jarekji/Reuters image reprinted in Metro (pg. 22 of this pdf file) and, as far as a Google news search shows, nowhere else at all. While Ricky Martin might reasonably have overlooked Arabic text he would have to be a dolt not to notice Israel has been erased in the map also printed on his scarf.

RickyMartinArabYouth.gif

But then I suppose the idea that "peace" means the elimination of Israel is just another stereotype. How does that song go?

Talk to me
Tell me your name
You blow me off like it's all the same
You lit a fuse and now I'm ticking away
Like a bomb
Yeah, Baby

Posted by Ghost of a flea at July 26, 2005 08:43 AM

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Comments

You said it: "he would have to be a dolt"

Posted by: Regret [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2005 03:08 PM

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