Spanish multi-national clothing chain Zara has become the subject of controversy after a local franchise owner in Israel hosted a far-right leader named Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The event has angered many Arab Israelis who have now called for a boycott of the fashion chain.
Many filmed themselves burning garments sold by Zara and took to Twitter to post these videos with the hashtag #boycottZara.
They also demanded that the company should condemn the action of its local franchise.
Meanwhile, Ben-Gvir’s spokesperson said that the meeting was a “private event”.
Let’s take a closer look at the recent developments.
Why the boycott?
The trouble for Zara began when Joey Schwebel, the Canadian-Israeli chairman of Trimera Brands – a fashion distribution giant which is the Israeli franchisee for Zara – invited Itamar Ben-Gvir to his house for an event, according to Channel 12.
Trimera operates a total number of 24 Zara stores in Israel, according to a report by Reuters.
Fayez Abu Souhaiban, the mayor of the Arab-majority town of Rahat has joined the call for a boycott while slamming the company. According to a report by Times of Israel, he branded Zara as “fascist” for Schwebel’s support of Ben-Gvir.
“We have to burn these clothes and I call on fellow citizens to boycott this company,” said Souhaiban in a social media post.
He further said, “Our stance needs to be clear in relation to shops like these that support fascism.”
Many officials from the Palestinian Authority have also criticised the move by Joey Schwebel and have called out Zara for not taking any action. According to Doha News, the Palestinian chief justice has even issued a religious decree which forbids people from doing business with the firm.
Responding to the call for the boycott, Ben-Gvir reportedly said that Schwebel is facing “a boycott based on his political background.”
Schwebel has declined to comment on the matter saying, “We do not refer to personal issues of the family.”
Meanwhile the far-right party Otzma Yehudit has defended the meeting between Joey Schwebel and Ben-Gvir and has accused critics of intolerance. “There are those for whom tolerance, freedom of speech and democracy are just slogans because in practice they behave exactly the opposite,” it said.
Who is Itamar Ben-Gvir?
A member of the Knesset – the unicameral legislature of Israel – and the head of the ultra-nationalist and anti-Arab Otzma Yehudit Party, Itamar Ben-Gvir is a disciple of the extremist rabbi named Meir Kahane.
He was born to Iraqi-Jewish parents in Mevaseret Zion, a suburb of Jerusalem. At a very young age, he joined an ultra-nationalist faction called Kach which was led by Meir Kahane. According to Indian Express, in the past, Kahane had called for the removal of Arab citizens from the face of Israel and demanded the cancellation of their citizenship rights. His party was, however, later banned by the Knesset and was branded as a terrorist organisation in 1994.
Similar to the ideas of most far-right Israelis, Ben-Gvir too opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state. According to The Wall Street Journal, he has also claimed that he would dismantle the Palestinian Authority in Israel.
Ben-Gvir, who is also a lawyer by training, has, on several occasions, defended the cause of Jewish suspects accused of terrorism and hate crimes against Palestinians. In 2016, he represented two young Jewish were charged with the murder of a Palestinian family in the West Bank village of Duma.
Itamar Ben-Gvir is the head of the ultra-nationalist and anti-Arab Otzma Yehudit Party. AFP
Last year in May, the far-right leader was also reportedly accused of abetting the worst inter-communal violence that the history of Israel has ever seen in recent years.
He has also joined hands with Jewish Israeli movements and activists like Lehava and Noam.
According to TRT World, Ben-Gvir lives in a settlement near Hebron located in the occupied West Bank.
Polls have predicted that Ben-Gvir will secure up to 13 or14 seats in the 120-seat Knesset in the upcoming elections of November. This win would make his alliance the third largest in the parliament and will help him reserve a seat for himself in the ministerial post.
What are supporters of the boycott saying?
Several angry Arab Israelis have posted videos of themselves burning Zara clothes on Twitter as they demand action from the chain.
A resident of the northern Arab town of Yafa an-Naseriyye to Times of Israel, “Everyone knows who Ben Gvir is. A racist that wants to murder Arabs and supports harming them. He compares Arabs to terrorists.”
Palestinian-Israeli politician MK Ahmed Tibi, who has often used the Knesset floor to challenge Ben-Gvir, took to Twitter to call out the “ugliness” of Zara. To his post, the latter responded, “Zara, beautiful clothes, beautiful Israelis.”
Palestinian-Canadian lawyer, Diana Buttu also showed her dissent on Twitter by saying, “Yes you should boycott Zara for supporting the Israeli fascist Ben Gvir who has called a man who massacred Palestinians his “hero”. This isn’t the first time for Zara: last year their head designer made anti-Palestinian statements.”
Has Zara been boycotted before?
This isn’t the first time the popular fashion brand has been on the receiving end of backlash in Israel.
Last year, Zara faced flak after one of its head designers, named Vanessa Perilman got into an argument with a model named Qaher Harhash on the social media platform, Instagram.
As per screenshots shared later by the model, Perilman sent Harhash a message on the platform in which she slammed the model’s support for people living in Gaza.
In response to her criticism Harhash said, “Maybe if your people were educated then they wouldn’t blow up the hospitals and schools that Israel helped to pay for in Gaza.”
According to Independent, the model shared these screenshots on his Instagram stories which were rapidly shared by other users who criticised Perilman’s comments.
The incident sparked anger among many social media users who called for a boycott of Zara and set off a trend of #boycottzara on Twitter.
With inputs from agencies
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