Amazon continues to market antisemitic paraphernalia through its online marketplace, despite rising concerns about hatred and violence toward Jews following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
The Seattle-based e-tailer allows vendors to sell Nazi-themed collectibles such as stamps, antisemitic books promoting conspiracies, flags containing fascist symbols, and literature from the Nation of Islam and its firebrand leader Louis Farrakhan.
Amazon is selling stamps and coins that feature the likeness of Adolf Hitler. Other stamps include the Nazi swastika as well as images depicting a Nazi rally through Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
Nazi listings on Amazon as of Thursday also included a flag that bears the symbol of the Arrow Cross Party, the far-right group that ruled Hungary in late 1944 and is thought to be responsible for the killings of tens of thousands of Jews and other citizens.
The Anti-Defamation League said that he Arrow Cross Party flag, which can be bought on Amazon for $24.98, is a symbol used by the party is identical to that brandished by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in the US.
“If we discover a product was undetected by our proactive checks, we address the issue immediately,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “We are in the process of investigating the listings in question.”
Another vendor on Amazon is selling a book titled “Land of the ZOG” — a reference to the antisemitic acronym that means “Zionist-occupied government.”
The concept of “ZOG” is a frequent trope employed by neo-Nazis alleging that the United States government is controlled by Jewish interests.
“Land of the ZOG” is a 1994 novel that depicts a “battle between White Nationalists of the United States and ‘their’ government”,’ according to a description on the book-selling web site Alibris.
The book has been compared to “The Turner Diaries,” the white nationalist dystopian novel that is blamed for inspiring anti-government attacks and hate crimes such as the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.
“We understand that stamp and coin collectors may seek World War Two-related coins and stamps to add to their general collections and do not object to this traditional form of collecting,” an ADL spokesperson said in a statement.
“We do have an issue with the antisemitic book, ‘Land of the ZOG’ being sold without a disclaimer, however, and will be reaching out to Amazon to ask them to add language that clearly identifies it as hate literature.”
Vendors on Amazon are also selling literature and audio books from the Nation of Islam and its leader, Farrakhan, who has said that Judaism is a “deceptive lie” and who has also made references to “Satanic Jews who have infected the whole word with poison and deceit.”
Farrakhan also is host of a podcast titled “Birth Of A Nation,” which can be accessed through Amazon-owned audio book shop Audible.
Amazon also offers books written by Elijah Muhammad, the late leader of the Nation of Islam, an organization that has been labeled as a hate group by both the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Last December Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that his company would continue to sell an antisemitic film that was endorsed by basketball superstar Kyrie Irving.
“As a retailer of content to hundreds of millions of customers with a lot of different viewpoints, we have to allow access to those viewpoints, even if they are objectionable — objectionable and they differ from our particular viewpoints,” Jassy said.
Weeks later, Amazon agreed to remove certain antisemitic-themed items after being reprimanded by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The Los Angeles-based Jewish organization lashed out at Amazon for allowing the sale of a swastika pendant that attaches to a necklace; patches that bear “pirate skull crossbones” images; a skull badge metal pin brooch; and several other items said to contain neo-Nazi overtones.
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