Early this morning, Washington Free Beacon‘s Adam Kredo reported that the American department store Sears was selling anti-Semitic t-shirts saying “Free Palestine” and “End Israeli Occupation” on its website. This sparked outrage from pro-Israel groups and individuals who found Sears’ decision to sell anti-Semitic propaganda to be distasteful and problematic.
Here are some examples of the merchandise:
After Kredo published the article, a spokesperson for Sears contacted Free Beacon and said that the t-shirts “were being sold by a third-party seller via the Sears Marketplace” and that the department store was removing the merchandise. However, the spokesperson took umbrage that individuals singled out Sears instead of Amazon, WalMart, and eBay as well as noting that Sears employs nearly 200 individuals in Israel.
Not only is there no “occupation of Palestinian territories,” but also the call to free “Palestine” is deliberately anti-Semitic. According to the “Palestine” Liberation Organization and countless other anti-Israel groups, “Palestine” represents the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel is currently situated. By that logic, in order to free “Palestine,” Israel must be completely destroyed and the Zionist project of Jewish self-determination and statehood in formerly Islamic lands must fail. These calls are promulgated on college campuses from organizations such as Students for Jewish Persecution (otherwise known as Students for Justice in Palestine) and Jewish Voice for Peace as well as the professoriate.