Amazon Backlash Grows Over Selling Pro-Palestinian Merchandise—'Disgusting'

An Amazon vendor selling garments bearing the pro-Palestinian "from the river to the sea" slogan has been deluged with angry reviews about the products.

Users have branded the items "disgusting," alleged they were "antisemitic" and a "hate crime" after a spokesperson for the online shopping giant told Newsweek that it would not be removing them from sale as they "do not contravene our policies," which prohibit the sale of products that "promote, incite, or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual, or religious intolerance."

"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is a chant commonly voiced at pro-Palestinian rallies. However, it is contentious because some believe it implies support for the dismantling of the Israeli state, as it references the Jordan River on Israel's eastern border and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Hamas, the militant group armed and funded by Iran, adopted the slogan following its formation in the 1980s.

Newsweek found ten instances across Amazon's U.S. and U.K. marketplaces that bore the phrase—including one that was listed a day after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, which caused the deaths of around 1,400 Israelis, many of whom were civilians.

Since then, at least five of the listings have been removed, though it is unclear whether this was done by the vendors themselves or by Amazon. Aside from new listings that have appeared, the only vendor still selling several garments with the slogan is B&S Boutique, the contact details of which could not immediately be found.

"The slogan tries to justify the genocide of Israelis instead of trying to promote peaceful coexistence," Barry Gordon, an Amazon user, wrote in a review of one of the shop's t-shirts.

"This product calls for the destruction of a race of people and must be removed, along with all similar products, immediately," another, called K. A. Shoben, said. "Absolutely disgusting."

"The world has seen how Hamas was trying to implement 'From the River to the Sea' in practice," a reviewer called Leon wrote. "This phrase undermines the prospects of a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It inflicts psychological pain on Israelis and Jews everywhere in the world, who bear the inherited trauma of previous eliminationist movements."

Other users said the listings were "shocking" and "vile" and that there was "a limit to free speech."

Not all the reviews expressed disapproval of the garments' slogan, though. One user complained that the message "rubbed off as soon as [the] package [was] opened," while another, who left a five-star review, said they would wear the t-shirt "to help others understand its important message."

Newsweek reached out to Amazon via email for comment on Wednesday.

The "from the river to the sea" chant has received renewed scrutiny as pro-Palestinian protests around the world have grown in response to Israeli military intervention in Gaza, where Hamas is based. To date, the Gaza Health Ministry says 10,300 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Associated Press.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a U.S. hate watchdog, describes the chant as "an antisemitic slogan" as it "den[ies] the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland." It says that usage of the phrase can make Jews "feel unsafe and ostracized."

Others deny the chant always amounts to hate speech, though. On Friday, Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian American, defended the use of the phrase, saying it was "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate."

On October 20, London's Metropolitan Police said that while it could "envisage scenarios where chanting these words could be unlawful, such as outside a synagogue or Jewish school, or directly at a Jewish person," in the context of a protest it "would not be an offence and would not result in arrests."

However, Suella Braverman, the U.K. home secretary with responsibility for policing, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "The slogan was taken up by Islamists, including Hamas, and remains a staple of antisemitic discourse. To hear it shouted in public causes alarm not just to Jews but to all decent people."

After the sale of merchandise with the slogan was highlighted, Charles D. Lavine, a Democratic New York state legislator, who is Jewish, wrote to the company's chairman, Jeff Bezos, to express his outrage at the items.

"The overwhelming majority of Amazon shareowners and customers would be nauseated," Lavine wrote, adding: "You may as well sell clothing bearing the words 'Kill all Jews.'" Amazon has not publicly responded to his letter.

Amazon policy states that a product or content "that promotes hate, incites violence or intolerance or advocates or discriminates against a protected group," including "national origin," is prohibited on its website.

"We understand that what one person considers offensive may not necessarily be offensive to others and that views can change over time," the company has previously said. "It is also important to recognize that something may be disagreeable but may not violate our policies."

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