Amazon and Etsy are slammed for selling anti-Israeli ‘hate’ merchandise ahead of Armistice Day protests

Online giants Amazon and Etsy have been criticised for selling Israel ‘hate’ merchandise ahead of Armistice Day protests.

The retail sites are selling products which ‘glorify hatred against Israel and the Jew,’ critics have warned.

T-shirts, baseball caps, jumpers and badges bearing the slogan ‘Make Israel Palestine Again’ are being sold on Etsy – an e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies.

Meanwhile, T-shirts and jumpers with the slogan ‘From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free’ are being touted on Amazon.

It comes despite a warning from Home Secretary Suella Braverman that singing the pro-arab chant may be a criminal offence in some contexts.

Online giants Amazon and Etsy have been criticised for selling Israel ‘hate’ merchandise (pictured) ahead of Armistice Day protests

A hoodie with the slogan ‘From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free’ which is being sold on Amazon

T-shirts, baseball caps, jumpers and badges bearing the slogan ‘Make Israel Palestine Again’ are being sold on Etsy – an e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies

Pro-Palestinian protesters attend a rally close to Downing Street in support of the Palestinian population of Gaza earlier this month 

Caroline Turner, director of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), said the product and slogans ‘create racial and religious intolerance.’

In letters to the retailers, UKFLI told Amazon the ‘From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free’ chant is a ‘well-known call for the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel and has been adopted by those who support the aims of Hamas, to obliterate Israel.’

READ MORE: Students quizzed at pro-Palestine protest reveal how little they know about Israel-Hamas conflict – and aren’t even aware that terror group launched bloody slaughter on October 7

And in a separate letter to Etsy, UKLFI said that the slogan ‘Make Israel Palestine Again’ implies that ‘there should no longer be a State of Israel, which as you are no doubt aware, is the aim of the terrorist group Hamas’.

Ms Turner said: ‘If the items being sold on the Etsy platform are worn by customers in a public place they could be seen to be supporters of Hamas, and they could also cause alarm and distress to Jewish and Israeli people, and those people that support Israel, which includes the UK government.

‘We do not think that there is any argument for these items to remain on sale on their website given that they are in breach of Etsy’s own policy guidelines and that selling such items and wearing the items in public can be a criminal offence.’

Amazon’s policy states that products ‘that promote hate, incite violence or intolerance or advocate or discriminate against a protected group’, including ‘national origin’, are prohibited.

While Etsy says the platform has a ‘zero-tolerance policy’ for prohibited items ‘particularly those that promote, support or glorify hatred, those that promote, support or glorify violence, or are unlawful’.

UK Lawyers for Israel say that the ‘From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free’ chant is a ‘well-known call for the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel’. Pictured: A protestor (right) holds a sign with the slogan during a march in London last month

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has warned that singing the pro-arab chant may be a criminal offence in some contexts. Pictured: A man is arrested by police during a pro-palestine protest on Saturday November 4

A spokesperson for antisemitism charity CST said: ‘Phrases like “From the River to the Sea” and “Make Israel Palestine Again” are used by those who call for the elimination of the world’s only Jewish state, and we saw in the October 7 massacre exactly what that would look like.

‘For now, such phrases are not a criminal offence and this kind of merchandise, which is deeply offensive and distressing for the Jewish community, is symptomatic of that.

‘We do generally have a good relationship with Amazon in the UK and they often remove, for example, antisemitic books, at our request.

‘We have raised this clothing issue with them, strongly, and encourage other marketplaces – such as Etsy – to do the same.’

The discovery comes just days before a major pro-Palestine protest on Armistice Day.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to join the event, raising fears it could disrupt commemorations marking the end of World War One.

Despite promising to hold the Metropolitan Police Commissioner ‘accountable’ for allowing the demonstration to go ahead, Rishi Sunak said that the protesters had the right to peacefully protest.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley arriving at the Cabinet Office in Westminster yesterday to talk with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before a major pro-Palestine protest on Armistice Day

In a statement following his talks with Sir Mark Rowley over the planned event, the Prime Minister said: ‘This weekend people around the UK will come together in quiet reflection to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. 

‘It is not hyperbole to say that we are the beneficiaries of an inheritance born of their sacrifice.

‘It is because that sacrifice is so immense, that Saturday’s planned protest is not just disrespectful but offends our heartfelt gratitude to the memory of those who gave so much so that we may live in freedom and peace today.

‘But part of that freedom is the right to peacefully protest. And the test of that freedom is whether our commitment to it can survive the discomfort and frustration of those who seek to use it, even if we disagree with them.’

Amazon declined to comment. Etsy did not respond to a request to comment.

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