Urban Outfitters Slammed by ADL For Holocaust Imagery

The Anti-Defamation League is up in arms over a piece in the Urban Outfitters spring catalog. The shirt which is printed on dark yellow fabric has a patch over the breast pocket which bears a striking resemblance to the six pointed Star of David. The design is reminiscent of the identifier the Nazi’s made the Jews wear during the Holocaust.

The fact that the shirt went on sale at the same time as Holocaust Remembrance Day is just another offensive straw on the camel’s back. The ADL claims Urban Outfitters should just add this to the list of offensive products the company makes.

The ADL told FoxNews.com that the shirt conjures up images of the Holocaust and even though Urban Outfitters didn’t intend the shirt to be offensive, it was not taken that way.

Barry Morrison, the Philadelphia regional director of the ADL said,

“It’s a new low in Urban Outfitter’s consistent use of various offensive messages in what appears to be a quest for attention. We are very troubled by it. The juxtaposition of the six-pointed star on a yellow shirt brings about associations with the yellow Star of David that the Jews were forced to wear. A symbol marking Jews as subhuman — setting them apart and ultimately paving the way for their annihilation.”

Dutch clothing maker Wood Wood are the ones who manufacture the shirt. They reached out to the ADL and apologized for the imagery conjured up by their clothes. They promised to stop making the shirt.

Morrison made a public plea that Urban Outfitter seize this opportunity to apologize for the offensive shirt and to stop a long history of making offensive products.

Morrison said,

“Urban Outfitters has a long history of putting out products that are problematic. They have offended Jews, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Irish-Americans and Catholics. For St. Patrick’s Day, they released a T-shirt with the words, ‘Irish I was Drunk.’ They have also released products like ‘Ghettoopoly’ or a Jesus doll on a cross that could be dressed up in different outfits, including a costume of the devil. They have continuously crossed the line into incivility. We have asked them in the past to meet with us so we can discuss these issues, but we have never received a reply. There is a way to be successful without offending or belittling people.”

Urban Outfitters did not respond to a request for comment