Amazon and Sears hammered over merchandise bearing swastikas

An official with the Jewish Federation of Delaware called the uproar over the third-party seller’s items ‘a learning opportunity.’

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Pages for an item listed as a “sideways swastika ring for men’s fashion punk rock style” were not available on Amazon.com and Sears.com as of Tuesday morning, but according to a report from The News Journal , the rings were available until sometime Monday.

Anti-defamation groups were not at all happy about the selling of the items, which were available on the sites from a third-party vendor.

“It’s an opportunity for some growth here. It’s an opportunity for a reassertion of some sensitivity to what those symbols really stand for,” David Margules, vice president of the Jewish Federation of Delaware, told the paper. “People have a First Amendment right to buy this stuff and to display it if they want, but that doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t make it appropriate.”

Amazon hasn’t publicly said anything about the rings. The retailer didn’t reply to a News Journal request for comment, nor has it replied to numerous tweets and Facebook posts about the rings.

Sears, on the other hand, has been highly apologetic. Almost all of its Monday and early Tuesday Twitter replies were about the rings.

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