Sears to Remove ‘Free Palestine’ T-Shirts

UPDATE: Following an outcry over the “Free Palestine” t-shirts, Sears has announced that the t-shirts will be removed from its website within 24 hours.

Our original story appears below:

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At Sears you can buy household appliances, tools and clothing. And you can purchase “Free Palestine” t-shirts.

One t-shirt displays a fist in the colors of the Palestinian flag, and the words “Free Palestine, End Israeli Occupation” printed on the front. The product description encourages shoppers to “Make a statement about the Arab-Israeli conflict with this powerful design.” There are other designs with similar slogans and images.

The attempt to cash in on the Palestininan-Israeli conflict is not a product of Sears and not sold directly by the classic American home-goods retailer. The Leipzig, Germany-based Spreadshirt Collection is the maker; Sears is providing it with a marketing platform on its company website.

Sears is by no means a unique venue for pro-Palestinian apparel. Similar items can be found at a number of online outlets.

The Sears site also offers for sale pro-Israel t-shirts, small Israeli flags and Israeli flag magnets, as well as photographs of Yerushalayim.