Dec. 20, 2022
B’nai Brith Canada is outraged and incredulous after discovering that Amazon Canada is facilitating sales of a wide range of hateful and appalling items.
Among the items available on Amazon’s website during this holiday season are irrefutably disgusting Hitler and Nazi images, Holocaust-themed prints and Jewish ritual items presented as beachwear.
There are even wall stickers, canvas prints and posters featuring images of emaciated concentration-camp victims and the Auschwitz death camp.
Not long ago, B’nai Brith issued a media release divulging that it succeeded in encouraging Walmart Canada, another large online merchant, to stop facilitating the sale of an item that strongly resembled a tallit, which is sacred in the Jewish religion. It had been depicted frivolously as a beach towel on the Walmart website but, thankfully, it was immediately removed following our advocacy earlier this month. We appreciated Walmart’s swift action and strong corporate responsibility.
Unlike Walmart, however, Amazon has not responded in any way to B’nai Brith’s online advocacy and it has ignored a direct letter from us that implored the platform to remove these highly offensive items.
Additionally, Amazon is promoting the sale of antisemitic and anti-Zionist publications, including one that promotes a conspiracy theory that Zionists have sought and are seeking to unduly influence global affairs.
“Amazon is one of the largest and most successful online retailers in our country,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “This is a particularly profitable time of year for it. As a large multinational corporation with tremendous resources, there is no excuse for this corporation to profit off the sale of revolting items profoundly offensive and harmful to the Jewish community and people of good conscience.
“From books promoting anti-Zionist conspiracy theories to prints featured emaciated bodies in concentration camps, Amazon Canada is demonstrating exceptionally poor judgment on what it is permitting on its website. We call on Amazon to rectify this situation at once.”
Let Amazon know how you feel by emailing Joanne Pitkin, Senior Manager, Digital Policy Amazon Canada, at [email protected]. Or you can tweet @Amazonca.
