Where Are The Advertising Supervisors At Sears? Obviously, They See Nothing Wrong With Promoting A Swastika?

The Shocking Piece of Jewelry Sears Was Selling on Its Website

Oct. 14, 2014 9:35am Zach Noble

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Sears does not officially support Nazis or neo-Nazis — but you could have gotten that impression if you searched “swastika ring” on its website Monday.

A screenshot of Sears.com as it appeared Monday, Oct. 13, 2014.

The retail giant is under fire for hawking a piece of jewelry emblazoned with the symbol of Adolf Hitler’s murderous regime.

“This gothic jewelry item in particular features a swastika ring that’s made of .925 Thai silver,” the item’s description read, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “These jewelry items are going to make you look beautiful at your next dinner date.”

It seems the person writing the description was aware of the swastika’s historical association, for the description included the attempted disclaimer, “Not for Neo-Nazi or any Nazi implication.”

The item was listed under the “men’s punk rock style” jewelry collection before Sears removed it, saying it was created by a third-party vendor and assuring that it did not meet Sears’ marketplace guidelines.

The company said the vendor was “being reviewed.”

The ring had been removed from Sears’ website as of Tuesday morning, though part of the page could still be seen through Google cache.

Sears’ misstep comes less than two months after Spanish clothing retailer Zara yanked a children’s top that strongly resembled the striped uniforms of Jewish concentration camp prisoners —complete with what looked like a yellow Star of David.Ad

Here We Go Again, Jewish Business Not Welcome In Belgium.

Belgium Shop Owner Refuses to Sell to Jews ‘Out of Protest’

Jul. 16, 2014 9:48am Sharona Schwartz

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A Jewish woman in Belgium said she was not allowed to purchase anything from an Antwerp store after the owner told her he would not sell to Jews, according to a Belgium news report.

Quoting the report in Joods Actueel, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service reported that the clothing store owner refused to serve her on Monday “out of protest,” though did not specify what exactly the protest was.

“When I came to the cash register to pay for a few items I was told, ‘We currently don’t sell to Jews out of protest,’” said the woman, who was identified only by her initials, B.H.

A second exchange at the shop was captured on hidden camera during which an employee confirmed the policy not to see to Jews. (Image source: YouTube)

After hearing about the woman’s experience, another individual visited the store with a hidden camera. Reports conflicted as to whether a reporter for Joods Actueel recorded the subsequent exchange or the woman’s husband.

An employee, not the owner, was in the shop during the second visit and was heard on video confirming the Jewish woman’s story.

“It was my boss and he was protesting,” the employee said, according to JTA’s translation of the exchange.

The Jewish customer told Joods Actueel that she was shocked by the experience, which reminded her of the anti-Semitism her grandfather experienced in Europe 70 years ago.

Asked if the owner really has a policy of not selling to Jews, the employee said, “Yeah, that’s what he says.”

However, the store owner later denied the policy when asked about it directly by Joods Actueel.

“On the contrary, we have many Jewish clients and we buy our products from a Jew,” said the owner, who was not named. “Why would we not sell to Jews? We’d only be hurting ourselves.”

An Antwerp police spokesman said the case was being investigated, JTA reported.

The video of the hidden camera exchange can be viewed at Joods Actueel (note: video is in Flemish with no English translation).

Does The Flyer Posted By The Separatists In The Ukraine Remind You Of Anything? Sounds Like This Country Will NOT Be A Place Where Jews Are Welcome.

See the Shock Flyer Distributed to Some Ukrainian Jews Calling on Them to Register With Separatist Government

Apr. 17, 2014 8:00am Sharona Schwartz

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The Jewish community in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine was stunned earlier this week when flyers were distributed calling on all Jews age 16 and older to register with separatists, list real estate and vehicles they own and pay a special tax, or face deportation, loss of citizenship and confiscation of their property.

The International Business Times reported that the flyer ordered Jewish citizens to register at one of the government buildings that was taken over by separatists earlier this month and that a special registration fee of $50 due May 3 was being levied.

The Israeli news site Ynet wrote that the leaflet specified what documents Jewish citizens would need for the registration process.

“ID and passport are required to register your Jewish religion, religious documents of family members, as well as documents establishing the rights to all real estate property that belongs to you, including vehicles,” the document read according to Ynet’s translation from Russian.

An image of the reported leaflet was posted on several news sites and Twitter accounts. (Photo via Twitter)

International Business Times also provided translation of excerpts from the flyer, which said the fee was a result of Jewish leaders having “supported the nationalist junta of [Stepan] Bandera in Kiev” and who are hostile “to Orthodox Donetsk republic and its citizens.” Bandera was the Ukrainian national movement leader who in the 1940s initially allied himself with Nazi Germany to fight the Soviet Union.

The Novosti Donbassa news agency reported that the paper was handed out near the Donetsk synagogue by “three unidentified men wearing balaclavas and carrying the flag of the Russian Federation,” and alleged that the aim was to incite strife which would then be blamed on separatists, International Business Times reported.

According to the news service the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, pro-Russian separatists — who earlier this month occupied several government buildings in Donetsk and declared their own state separate from Ukraine — have denied that they were behind the circulation of the intimidating document. This, despite photos of the flyer posted online which displayed a stamp of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and the name of its government chairman Denis Pushilin.

The news site tvrain.ru on Wednesday quoted Pushilin denying being behind the flyers and calling them a provocation, JTA reported.

Olga Reznikova, a Jewish woman in Donetsk told Ynet that “we do not know if the leaflet was spread by pro-Russian forces or someone else, but it did manage to create quite a fear. This reminds me of texts from darker times. Other members of the Jewish community I spoke with are not afraid, but it is unpleasant.”

“I do not intend to register, I am 32, I have lived in Donetsk my entire life and have never had to deal with anti-Semitism until I laid eyes on this piece of paper. Though I take it very seriously, I am uncertain of its authenticity,” she added.

Kiev native Alex Tenzer, who is now a director of the National Association of Immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel, told Ynet, “The Jewish-Ukrainian leadership supports Ukraine’s new government, but it’s hard to tell whether the leaflet is valid or simply a provocation.”

“The material is very anti-Semitic and reminds me of the kind of material distributed by the Nazis in WWII,” Tenzer said.

Emanuelle Shechter, who lives in Israel and was sent a copy of the leaflet from friends in Donetsk told Ynet, “They told me that masked men were waiting for Jewish people after the Passover eve prayer, handed them the flyer and told them to obey its instructions.”

TheBlaze is unable to independently verify the authenticity of the flyer.

News of the intimidating document came as Israel was bracing for a sharp rise in immigration of Jews from Ukraine who are concerned about anti-Semitism in the wake of the domestic strife.