Social media reacted with outrage earlier this week when news began circulating that Sears was selling clothing on its website with slogans such as “Free Palestine, End Israeli Occupation.”
The clothing, which included tank tops, t-shirts, and hoodies, was being offered by Spreadshirt, a German company, and sold through Sears Marketplace, which offers a platform for third-party sellers to peddle their wares through websites managed by Sears.
City Shirts, a Minnesota-based company, was also selling “Free Palestine” T-shirts with an illustration of a map that had the West Bank and Israel as one entity.
As of Tuesday afternoon Sears had yet to release an official response to the controversy, and it was unclear how much control Sears exerts over third-party sellers on its website.
Responding to an inquiry on Tuesday from the website Jewish Breaking News, a Sears “supervisor” said they were working with their technical team to remove the offensive items.