Cotton On pull globes from their Typo after they name Palestine and not Israel
Australian retail giant Cotton On suddenly has the weight of the world on its shoulders after it was forced to pull globes from its Typo stationery stores after they named Palestine but not Israel.
The design represented Israel with a '2' on the map and users were referred to a key at the base of the globe for the name.
It was a move that infuriated Jewish community groups. B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League chair Dvir Abramovitch toldThe Australian it was ‘a hostile act of geographical distortion’ towards Israel.
Australian retail giant Cotton On was forced to pull globes from sale after they replaced Israel with the number '2' but named Palestine
‘Sadly, it is becoming all too routine to find items that expunge Israel off the map or replace it with the yet-to-be-established state of Palestine,’ Dr Abramovitch said.
‘Such hostile acts of geographical distortion and disinformation visualise the offensive message that Israel is an illegitimate entity that is not a member of the family of nations.
‘This is part of an international campaign to delegitimise and demonise Israel.'
The design had Israel represented by a number two on the map instead of their name
Globes had to be taken from Cotton On's Typo stores because of the row that broke out (stock image)
Typo said on its Facebook page that they were not removing any country from the globe but made the decision to recall the current globes from sale as they were 'sourcing new artwork from our supplier that has every country marked on it but with no need for a key. All countries will remain on the map, the key will not'.
However, when the company then made the decision to halt production of the globes it led to threats and complaints from the Palestinian community, who made complaints on the store’s social media accounts like Facebook.
Typo issued an apology and explanation on its Facebook page to explain their stance
In the end the company came in for some heavy criticism from both sides.
James Stanton posted said: 'Your anti Semetic (sic) approach is dusgusting (sic). There never has been an official Palestine. Your (sic) a disgrace.' While Steve Saragossi said that it was not the company's position 'to second-guess future statehood statuses'.
But not to be outdone Salma Tamimi defiantly posted: ' i will remain Palestine (sic) even if you changed the artwork TYPO!...you know why...it's a stolen land...that's why!'
Haneen Al-Quds and Steve Saragossi had different views on the controversy
James Stanton called Typo a 'disgrace' and said they were anti-semitic
However, Salma Tamimi posted that she would remain Palestinian whatever happened
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