United Colors of Benetton assumes hate

The United Colors of Benetton announced a campaign just a few days ago to reverse hate by "contrasting the culture of hatred and promoting closeness" through the action of "the kiss, the most universal symbol of love, between world political and religious leaders." 

The UCB's media campaign has already been regarded as controversial, perhaps for the action of two men kissing in homosexual fashion,  or perhaps the controversy is due in part to the figureheads featured and the assumed followings or meanings these individuals possess. 

The less obvious and more offensive nature of the campaign series is that The UCB assumes that hatred is the governing feature between the two parties presented. By showcasing the pope with an imam, it is assumed some institutionalized, religious hatred exists between these two religious institutions. Or by showcasing Mahmood Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu The UCB is assuming that hate is the ultimate feature that is causing tensions between occupied Palestinians and militant Israelis. Thus The UCB's corporate scheme sets out to "undo" the hate.

It seems that The UCB has just further increased hate, hate for ignorance that is, by extending stereotypes often exercised by oppressors. The populations oppressors colonize seem to "hate them," and thus colonizers or those oppressed begin to justify their extreme, inhumane actions according to this "hate." Perhaps for The UCB it is convenient to assume this is the issue, that here in Palestine we just hate everything, and we hate style. So if we start wearing The United Colors of Benetton logo, we will unhate the world and look cool. 

In short, The UCB simply denote that Palestinian culture is hateful. Whereas the more proper term is, survival while Israeli culture perhaps can constitute anything from insecurity to colonialism.


Hence the difficulty The UCB avoids in really deconstructing Israeli occupation. If it decides to call it what it is, The UCB will immediately be likened to a Palestine sympathizer, after all, the truth stands when it comes to explaining Israel's systematic occupation of Palestine.


In resisting or coping with this oppression, in surviving, is this a "culture of hate?" Does a person being born Palestinian suddenly mean that their existence is a hateful action?

By reducing the meaning of these injustices, The UCB  assumes that these "conflicts" are now communicable to the world in terminology everyone can understand. Yet by improperly communicating these injustices, The UCB has not only offended the direct victims of these global affairs by minimizing the complexity of war or politics or greed; but The UCB has also offended the world for thinking humanity is not capable of understanding the blaring truths. Hate comes from ignorance so why is The UCB furthering misconceptions by ignorant explanations.  

Reducing these relationships to hate reduces the infractions caused by these leaders, the influences they have, and the politics they play. It also assumes that these leaders do not collaborate, when sometimes they do to sustain power in covert ways, like Mahmood Abbas being a puppet of Western interests in Palestine for the sake of Zionists. 

In reducing the relationships to hatred, The UCB no longer seems to look at systematic colonization as the issue, politics, or self serving agendas, but instead makes everything seem like a conflict of emotions and that everyone is in control of these emotions. 

That Mahmood Abbas and Netanyahu hate each other is not the issue; the issue is that they both are manipulating the situation for political and individual self interests. And what does this tell a Palestinian about his life, that he can control the oppression that occurs on a daily basis against his very own people? Is that hatred when he feels helpless and oppressed, and must he feel guilty about it?

Why is there no portrait of Bush and the Iraqi people, or the banks and the Americans who lost their homes to foreclosures, or the police who beat youth who can't afford to continue on in this corporate, greedy world?

The United Colors of Benetton are doing what NGOs and other clothing and music lines have been doing for years now, marketing global pain for the sake of profit. Nelson Mandela influenced a clothing line in South Africa, how about a clothing line for the world? After all, it is cool to Occupy Wall Street. It is swag to start championing a cause. It is the hipster thing to do these days--wander around looking for a purpose  without fully internalizing the complexities of life. 

Injustices make you different, and when you champion them you become self righteous.  That is so boss.

This is the marketing scheme of the 2010s. The United Colors of Benetton, like other entities, have gone ahead to reduce the world's pain into simple misunderstandings, because it is the cool thing to do. If this is hip, consider ignorance hipper. Is that the style you choose to wear?


NOTE: The United Colors of Benetton was one of the first chain stores here in Ramallah and was way too expensive. It closed years ago, although I spotted a warehouse with the same logo not too far, that perhaps carries just close out merchandise. Affordable clothing is love, expensive name brands--now that is hate.