Merchandise promoting intifadas, the Palestinian “resistance,” and the death of IDF soldiers is being sold on online marketplaces Etsy and eBay, in a possible violation of their rules on the sale of items that promote or glorify violence.
More than a dozen eBay vendors were offering shirts bearing the slogan “Death, Death to the IDF,” which was popularized by British punk rap duo Bob Vylan at the Glastonbury Festival in England earlier this year.
The most popular design for the “Death to the IDF” shirts featured a skull with a helmet emblazoned with an Israeli flag and marred by a bloody bullet hole.
Other versions included the image of Abu Obeida, Hamas’s Izzadin al-Qassam spokesperson who was killed in an IAF airstrike, or the red inverted triangle used in the terrorist group’s propaganda materials to denote the targeting of an enemy.
Other anti-Israel violent slogans were also present on eBay, although to a lesser degree, including shirts that said the “resistance is justified when people are occupied,” and “Globalize the Intifada.”
Dozens of products being sold on Etsy also glorified the intifadas, including “Intifada” posters with people masked in keffiyehs. Several shirts, sweaters, and stickers had designs with the slogans “globalize the Intifada,” or “long live the Intifada.”
Hats, bags, and shirts for Intifada
One shirt with the caption “Intifada in our lifetimes” featured a fleeing IDF soldier saying, “We are fighting ghosts.”
Others praised “the resistance,” often a euphemism for terrorist action by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Hats, bags, and shirts featured the slogan “Long live the resistance.”
One bestseller shirt, with more than 1,000 reviews, called for “resistance until reclamation, generation after generation, until total liberation.”
In a parody of US President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again caps, “Make Israel Palestine Again” were also available on the platform.
Both eBay and Etsy have policies against the sale or auctioning of items that promote violence. Furthermore, eBay has an offensive-materials policy against listings or content that “promote, perpetuate or glorify hatred, violence, or discrimination” and includes “Listings that imply or promote support of, membership in, or funding of a terrorist organization.”
The online auction platform also has a policy against items related to violence and violent criminals, including listings that “encourage, promote, or glorify violence” toward people or animals.
Etsy notes on its prohibited-items policy page that its platform is not a “curated marketplace,” but it prohibits certain items that present legal risks or are inconsistent with its values. Items that promote or support terrorism or terrorist groups, glorify or celebrate real-world violent incidents, or threaten or encourage credible acts of violence are not allowed on Etsy.
“We want Etsy to be a safe place for everyone,” Etsy says. “While violent content can be a legitimate part of historical, educational, or artistic expression, it should never be used to promote or glorify violent acts against others.”
Etsy and eBay did not immediately respond to requests for comment.