World Jewish Congress shocked about continued sale of "I love Hitler"
T-shirts on Amazon.com
BRUSSELS/NEW YORK
24 APRIL 2008
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) strongly
criticized the continued sale by the leading US online retailer Amazon.com
of T-shirts praising Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. "I love Hitler" shirts for
children and women were still being sold on the Amazon.com website as of
Thursday, 24 April 2008, 16:00 GMT. In January 2008, Amazon had pledged to
remove offensive shirts following an article on the Czech weekly "Tyden".
"
We are shocked and disgusted that Amazon.com is seemingly unwilling to stop
the sale of such items, in spite of protests earlier this year. Not only is
the slogan in bad taste, but to target children with clothes emblazoned with
pro-Nazi slogans is particularly despicable," the WJC's Secretary-General
Michael Schneider said. "Companies have a responsibility. To make money with
items glorifying the Nazis sets a very bad example. A lack of sensibility
will ultimately do them serious damage as customers will rightly go and shop
elsewhere."
Schneider called on Amazon to remove the entire collection of shirts from
its website and to end its business relationship with the manufacturer of
the line, "Direct Collection" to avoid any repetition of this or similar
cases in the future. He added that the dramatic rise in hate speech via the
internet could only be contained if all stakeholders in society, including
businesses, took their responsibilities seriously. "Let's hope Amazon heeds
the call this time," said Schneider.
The WJC Secretary-General also called on internet operators to curb the
dissemination of anti-Semitic material. "When you see how much neo-Nazi and
anti-Semitic material comes up through search engines such Google or on
video platforms such as Youtube you are shocked," Schneider said. However,
he expressed hope that companies will enter into dialogue on this important
issue before things get worse.
The World Jewish Congress is the international organization representing
Jewish communities in over 80 countries around the world. The WJC serves as
the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people to governments and international
organizations.
Media contact
Michael Thaidigsmann
World Jewish Congress (Brussels Office)
Tel: +32 2 552 09 24
Mob: +32 485 869 584
Email: press@worldjewishcongress.org
Website: www.worldjewishcongress.org
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