Pamela Geller: Urban Outfitters, Nike, and Burger King - one of these is not like the others

by Sheila Musaji

Pamela Geller as usual gets a story wrong.  Her title is AFDI/SIOA Calls for Boycott of Urban Outfitters “Auschwitz” Shirts and anti-Jewish clothing, Stop Urban’s Jew-Hatred Agitprop.  She goes on

Memo to Urban Outfitters management: fire the Jew-Haters who keep creating pieces destined to incite to violence and genocide.

The norming of evil. As the depraved left tightens its chokehold on the culture, the media, arts, and popular culture in general reveal to us their true face—monsters. This is how Hitler and his lovers overtook a country…... incrementally, step by step, mainstreaming hate, dehumanization and genocide via the culture. This is the MBO of the left/Islamic coalition in America. The banality of evil.

American clothing company Urban Outfitters is selling a holocaust T-shirt bearing the Jewish star that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis in death camps. This Urban Outfitters T-shirt is labeled “Auschwitz chic” and retails for $100. The “patchwork Star of David on the left breast pocket goes back to 1930s and 40s Europe.” The “vintage yellow color” of the shirt is Nazi yellow—obvious to students of Nazi Germany.

She goes on to give information about a petition and contact information for Urban Outfitters for people to complain and to boycott Urban Outfitters.

The Philly Post reports on what actually happened:

The ADL was concerned about a yellow t-shirt shown on Urban Outfitters’ retail website that appeared to have a blue Star of David patch on the breast pocket, recalling the Yellow Badge Jews had to wear during the Holocaust.

The Danish company that made the shirt claims it was an error, and that UO posted an image of the early sample tee. The company’s co-founder told the ADL: “First of all the graphic is not the Star of David, and I can assure you that this is in no way a reference to Judaism, Nazism or the Holocaust. However, when we received the prototype of this particular style we did recognize the resemblance, which is why we decided not to include the star patch on the final production t-shirt.” (The quoted co-founder’s name is Brian SS Jensen, which just seems unfortunate under the circumstances.) The company says it pulled the t-shirt off production lines, and the ADL has published a press release calling the matter closed.  (]Fox News didn’t get that memo yet.)

You can see the actual page that was on Urban Outfitters site for this shirt that they call a Kellog T-shirt here

The ADL wrote a letter to Urban Outfitters expressing their concern about the shirt.  The company who produced the shirts responded to their letter, and Urban Outfitters pulled the ad from their site. 

The ADL then issued a second statement which is as follows

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed a Danish fashion company’s explanation that a yellow t-shirt bearing a logo similar to a Jewish Star of David was in fact an early prototype design that was later changed, but nevertheless advertised for sale on the web site of American clothing retailer Urban Outfitters.

The clothing company Wood Wood of Copenhagen assured ADL the logo consists of “patchwork and geometric patterns” and was not a Star of David. The company said the graphic was created for Wood Wood’s spring/summer collection but was ultimately removed from the t-shirt design after concerns were raised about its resemblance to the yellow star some European Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust.

“We are deeply appreciative to Wood Wood for reaching out to us immediately after learning that this particular design had caused so much concern and to assure us that this t-shirt was never offered for sale,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor. “We are pleased that the company recognized early on the shirt’s potentially offensive imagery and changed the design so the six-pointed star-shaped logo would no longer appear.”

The t-shirt created controversy last week after it was advertised on the retail web site of Urban Outfitters. On Thursday—Holocaust Remembrance Day—ADL called on Urban Outfitters to remove the shirt from its online catalogue due to concerns that the logo too closely resembled the star Jews were forced to wear during World War II and that has become emblematic of the Holocaust.

“We hope Urban Outfitters will act immediately to remove the image from their site, so that no one else will come across the earlier prototype of the shirt, which never made it into production,” said Mr. Foxman. “We have notified them again of our concerns.”

In its statement, Wood Wood claimed that Urban Outfitters was in error in displaying the early sample t-shirt, and not the final design, which excluded the star-like logo. The company said the logo’s resemblance to the Star of David was purely coincidental.

“First of all the graphic is not the Star of David, and I can assure you that this is in no way a reference to Judaism, Nazism or the Holocaust,” Brian SS Jensen, the Co-Founder of W.W., said in a public statement the company shared with ADL. “However, when we received the prototype of this particular style we did recognize the resemblance, which is why we decided not to include the star patch on the final production t-shirt. … I am sorry if anyone was offended seeing the shirt, it was of course never our intention to hurt any feelings with this.”

The Jewish Exponent reports that it appears that Urban Outfitters is not selling the $100 item, nor did it ever have it in stock. And, sometime on April 23, the image was removed from the Urban Outfitter’s site and replaced with a plain yellow shirt.

The fashion industry site Fashionista reports that:

Urban Outfitters is obviously no stranger to controversy. Offending people is kind of their M.O. There was the Navajo disaster earlier this year, where the retailer stamped the “Navajo” descriptor on everything from underwear to flasks without regard for cultural sensitivity and copyright infringement, resulting in a lawsuit brought against Urban Outfitters by the Navajo Nation. Urban Outfitters offended the Irish when they put out Saint Patrick’s day hats that read “Irish Yoga” and depicted a stick figure puking with the caption “downward facing upchuck.”

Urban Outfitters is clearly missing a sensitivity chip, but in this case, it seems to be more of a misunderstanding that’s at fault rather than a genuine cause for outrage. It was not Wood Wood’s intent for the patchwork shape they affixed to their shirt to resemble the Star of David. Even still, they realized it could be interpreted that way, and they removed it. Unfortunately, that’s what the internet likes to do best–react quickly and with plenty of rage.

This most recent Geller incident is an example of Geller’s double standards regarding perceived bigotry and appropriate responses to that perception of bigotry.  This is the same Pamela Geller who a few years ago when some Muslims were upset about Nike tennis shoes that appeared to have the Arabic word Allah written on them, wrote an article BOYCOTT NIKE! Submits to Islam, Withdraws and Apologizes for Sneaker in which she said

What cowardice and asshattery. They should change their logo to. [sic] Just do it unless it offends Islam, then run away like a little girlie.

I saw Muhammad in my french toast at IHOP; have they started burning them down yet?  They do this all the time. They got ice cream cones banned in the UK for allah’s sake. We are talking ice cream lids with blasphemous squiggles.

Any company that cannot stand up to this thuggery and supremacism should be boycotted by infidels and kafir. Seriously, I will never buy another NIKE anything.

The blue patchwork Star on the Urban Outfitters shirt resembled a Star of David as much as the Nike shoe logo, or the Burger King ice cream lid resembled the Arabic word Allah. 

The Jewish community and the Muslim community had a right to express their concerns, and in all of these cases, the companies should be thanked for acting responsibly to correct what might be perceived as disrespectful.  I also believe that in all of these cases there was no malice involved in the use of the symbols.

SEE ALSO:

Stupid ADL / Urban Outfitters Holocaust T-Shirt (Non) Controversy http://www.jewlicious.com/

Urban Outfitters ‘Jewish Star’ T-Shirt Causes Outrage (UPDATE)  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/urban-outfitters-jewish-star-tshirt_n_1441731.html?ref=style