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Brooklyn Jewelry Store Sells Swastika Earrings

Swastika earrings: a thing that exists in Brooklyn.

A tipster sent a photo of the handmade jewelry sold at Greenpoint’s Bejeweled boutique to Gothamist, along with the following story:

When I asked the clerk why they had them and that they are offensive, she looked embarrassed and said people have asked for them. I said it’s not worth it to sell them, and she shrugged and said “business.” They are $5.99.

Gothamist then called the boutique to follow up:

We asked an employee at Bejeweled if she thought the swastika earrings were offensive, and she said, “No.” Were they big sellers? “Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm.” A long pause. “I think I’d have to see them first.”

It should be noted the symbol isn’t exclusively associated with Nazism — it is still used in many Eastern religions like Hinduism and Jainism. But should the store be selling these earrings when they carry an anti-Semitic connotation for so many? We certainly don’t think so.

[via Gothamist]


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  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    It’s a little shocking that the store would sell the earrings and I’m surprised there’s even a demand for them!!

    The store should be a little more sensitive to the symbol’s meaning!!

  • http://twitter.com/amandajnmaui Amanda Jernigan

    I’m not. It just solidifies my ascertains that this country is going in the wrong direction!

  • Ady3

    seriously people… go read, swastikas have existed for over 3000 years, (to put in context, before Christianity and the modern era) and are from different cultures around the world, while it might be innappropriate to wear them as earrings in a western culture so soon after WWII, it is not as absurd as one might initially assume.

  • Henry Wood

    Certainly they have a right to sell them.  I lived in Greenpoint for a little while many years ago.  Polish neighborhood.

  • Anonymous

    Meanwhile, how many hepcats are running around with commie-themed t-shirts?

  • http://newsbusters.org/ AliveStiIIKickin

    The perfect gift for your little OWS Nazi-Babe.

  • Anonymous

    Were you born dumb or did you suffer a head injury at some point? 

  • MMM31

    The counterclockwise swastika was the Nazi symbol. These are clockwise.

    Anyone can make or wear whatever symbol they want to, it’s called freedom of speech. Perhaps like certain words, this is an attempt to recalim the original meanings and defy hatred and fascism.

  • Jewbags

    Okay get over it, IF the holocaust did happen, how is it ‘too soon after’ an event that supposedly happened more than 60 years ago. Most anyone who can actually remember anything that might have happened is dead at this point, not because of the holohoax, but because of old age. If people are dying from old age that experienced hypothetical event, then it definitely not ‘too soon after’ event.

  • Guest

    Gods divine holy race does not approve this design for American cattle.

  • Luckyguy

    The Holocoust was a Zionist lie , the Holodomor was real , so was the 60 plus million dead at the hands of the Jewish USSR bolsheviks. History class lied.

  • http://profiles.google.com/wingsofabird helen holmes

    The Nazis were not as original as you might think.   That pictogram of theirs really was stolen from the Hindus where it was and still is a valid, decent symbol.   This was found in Queens I believe which is home to many folks with Hindu backgrounds.

  • Micia333

    OK. PEOPLE WAKE UP!!!!! WHO THE HELL WANTS TO BUY SWASTIKA EARRING KNOWING THAT THAT SYMBOLIZES NAZISM. I THINK IT IS PATHETIC THE WAY PEOPLE THINK IT IS FINE TO PUBLICIZE NAZISM AND MILITARISTIC IDEAS. AND BY THE WAY IT WAS 6 MILLIONS, OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF ZIONISM AND BOLSHEVISM. THE FACT THAT WE STILL GLAMORIZE NAZISM IS UNACCEPTABLE IN  SOCIETIES THE PROCLAIM TO BE CIVILIZED AND DEMOCRATIC. SHAME ON PEOPLE WHOSE CHEAP AND GREEDY MENTALITY THEY CAN SELL EVEN THEIR MOTHERS TO MAKE A BUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous

    “Okay get over it”?  What is wrong with you?

  • Anonymous

    I’m going to hope that you, Jewbags, MMM31, and Luckyguy are all the same person.  And that that the “likes” you’ve received are your own. 

  • Anonymous

    Your post isn’t as original as you might think either.  Read the article.

  • Anonymous

    i wouod wear it and actually have somthing like these. you know why? because swastika was and still is symbol of the sun in my country, it has been for AGES. it’s used in handicrafts, cross making (sometimes stilysed) and people here sees symbol of the sun at first, not anything else. although other meaning was created wuite recentrly compared to first meaning, i wouldn’t be so sensitive about those who still see first meaning.

  • Laniertiger

    Dumbed down by watching too much Fox “news”.  A typical Obama Derangement Syndrome sufferer.

  • Seoul7010

    I can understand the negative connotation inferred by the swastika, but we must consider why it is that it has such a poor reputation. The swasitka, to some, is a symbol of pain, suffering, and a violation of human rights; however, the acts of the Holocaust was an extreme form of religious persecution. And in that light, is it right for anyone who identifies with this era of pain to ask someone to not wear or make or sell a religious symbol of another group? Furthermore, the six point star was adopted as a symbol of the gang known as the Crips. So then should the six point star be considered just as offensive?

  • Seoul7010

    Fox News isn’t a proponent of anti-semitism…I believe you’re thinking of the Disney Channel or ABC…

  • Anonymous

    I truly feel sorry that you live in a fantasy world of your own construct.  Denying the Holocaust, an event supported by extensive documentation and meticulous records, is akin to denying the existence of water, birds, or trees, but then again I suppose arguing with a Holocaust denier is like rationalizing with the braindead.

  • Anonymous

    Tell us more of your truths, please!  Laughter keeps me young.  Are goats made of cheese?  Do lampshades talk to you?  Are men out to get you?  Are you a lonely soul that has no one with whom to vent your anti-semitism and irrational worries?

  • Anonymous

    The swastika is no religious symbol and cannot be protected as such; in the context of the Holocaust, it represents the orchestrated, mechanized murder of millions based on religious, ethnic, political, and social hatred.  Its offense goes way beyond just Jews.  As a symbol, it may have had previous connotations, but the association with the Nazis as the concentration of their movement, philosophies, polices, and shame has tainted it irrevocably.  Outside of sporting the swastika for non-Nazi purposes in a small, secluded group that would fully understand the supporting non-Nazi rationale, for what possible non-nefarious, non-offensive, non-disrespectful purpose could one sport this symbol in public?  It may not be illegal to sport a swastika, like in Germany today, but prepare yourself for social sanction and possible confrontation.

  • Anonymous

    Is this where Rush Limbaugh shops for his “wife”?

  • Jargon1114

    hey idiot, what’s the symbol for the mass murdering of your people? i’d like to wear that as earrings in YOUR country. if you can’t find sensitivity for the suffering of others, ms. sun, go the f back home.

  • Jargon1114

    call my 100 year old grandmother who lost her siblings to hitler and explain how the earrings are not swastikas because they are clockwise. thanks for dropping that knowledge, d bag.

  • Anonymous

    i agree that you aree idiot, bullying, even in internet, never was a sign of smart person

  • Anonymous

    Here’s how you can explain to your grandmother about the swastika: 
    http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/swastika.htm 

    Your cultural experience is not everyone’s cultural experience. And freedom of speech and cultural tolerance are cornerstones of freedom, and protecting that freedom is one of the reasons that America opposed the Nazi tyranny in the first place. Think about that before you call someone a d bag.

  • Dosee

    I was a a art gallery in Chelsea market a a jewish couple was selling slave art dolls when I point out to them the dolls were relics of america’s domestic holocaust they tried to make an excuse it was historical after about 10 minutes they agreed it was not a kosher idea

  • bozekmm

    What do you mean, “IF” it happened?

  • Jargon1114

    And your grammatical and spelling errors are signs of real genius.

  • mike

    its not a swastka its reversed totally different symbol too bad the auther didn’t know that before jumping on the anti-semetic band wagon.

  • Mrc1967

    perhaps…but thats not a swastika in the picture its reversed.

  • Guesttt

    Swastika is a very old Hindu symbol as sacred as the “Om” used during Yoga.
    Hitler used it for his party and ruined its meaning but people need to be educated about its use by Hindus and they don’t mean anti-sematism.

  • Guestt

    You are wrong and ignorant. Swastika is an ancient Hindu symbol still used by millons of hindus in India during auspicious times esp. festival of Diwali as a drwaing (Rangoli)
    Hitler hijacked it and used it for his party’s flag but we need to educate people that the symbol is harmless.

  • Berouge Company
  • Anonymous

    The article explains the misleading headline.
    This is not a swastika.  Unless you are referencing the Hindu symbol.
    The Nazi symbol rotates in the opposite direction.
    Misleading, yes.  Nazi, no.
    See wiki.

  • Anonymous

    Fox News is a proponent of knee-jerk reactions.
    Calling this symbol “anti-semitic” would qualify as one.

  • Ibreen

    really!!!! you can’t be that stupid….I know you are trying to push peoples buttons….everyone just blow him off….

  • Anonymous

    You have a severe problem. Even your signature is offensive. , The Holocaust is not hypothetical. Hitler and his goons killed Jews, Poles, gypsies, gays and the mentally disabled during this horrible time in history. And people who survived this actual event are still alive.  

  • Anonymous

    I pray that you have not reproduced. If you have, someone take his kids away now.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know which country you are from. Yes, it is used by the Hindus. But in this country, we know more about the Holocaust. That is why we are offended. Because Hitler blasphemed your symbol.

  • http://www.facebook.com/codemon Cody Hill

    Ouch! At one time a tree
    grew in Brooklyn. Apparently, the local “5 & 10″ wanted a more
    diverse offering of merch for their clientele: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkBPH2F-UTc

  • http://twitter.com/Darr247 Darr Darr

    Exactly… the nazi swastika was two S’s (from schutz staffel or something like that)… but that trinket is essentially made from two Z’s.

    Navajo used to put such symbols in their woven blankets, long before the general shape was made infamous/notorious by the nazis.

  • http://twitter.com/Darr247 Darr Darr

    The thing is, pec, the item in the picture is NOT a swastika. It’s essentially two Z’s; a nazi swastika was made from two S’s.

  • BooBoo Bear

    Please notice something that has been mentioned above. The Nazi symbol is not the same as this one., It’s facing the opposite direction. If you would check this one out it’s a Creek Indian symbol. Also an ancient Greek symbol.

  • BooBoo Bear

    We in this country, the US can remember that the Nazi swastika faces the other way.

  • Fred

    you really have NO idea what you’re talking about… the OWS movement is the only thing saving this country form the corporations that will do anything including killing millions of people in order to make money… the corporations are more like Nazi’s – most corporations continued to work in Nazi Germany until the last moments just to make more profits. You are a sad sad example of a person.

  • Anonymous

    i’m from eastern europe. it was last part of europe where christianity was enforced. swastika as it is called now was and still is symbol of the sun, used in local handicrafts. it’s like that for more than five centuries already. while i agree that for some people it’s only symbol of hitler, i don’t see the need to assault those who see original sign. lack of knowledge of history shouldn’t cause agression.

  • Anonymous

    …and english is the only language in the world 

  • Jargon1114

    No, but we are in fact discussing something occurring WITHIN the US where the primary learned language IS in fact English…  Also a country where there are 6.6 million Jewish ppl. that might just find swastikas offensive. My point is not that you are bad b/c your country wears sun swastikas. My point is that you have zero ability to feel anything for the people it does effect.

  • Jargon1114

    the point is this: you either respect other people and their hardships or you don’t.

    for example, i wouldn’t walk around with world trade center earrings on… you might because of all your “tolerance…cornerstones…blah, blah, blah” but i wouldn’t.

    i also wouldn’t burn crosses. again, you might join in just to protect whatever you are trying to justify as freedom.

    and if i knew that wearing “waetherman is a d-bag” earrings would offend you, i wouldn’t do that either.

    my grandmother deserves respect, not an excerpt from religionfacts.com.

  • Anonymous

    jargon, your point is wrong, because you have no ability to know what people are feeling. it’s simply impossible. also, the fact that the symbol meant and still meens something else for more than five centuries has nothing to do with how people within these countries feel to nazi victims. the fact that i use symbol for it’s primary meaning has nothing to do with how i feel towards those who don’t. or maybe you think that whole culture and centuries long traditions should be destroyed because somebody used symbol for different meaning? i don’t think so. i believe that only people with zero knowledge in history and zero respect for other cultures would think like that. there are so many things which means something else in other languages or cultures but that doesn mean that i would say ‘bye bye’ to mine. i just expect the same kind of respect from others. if you think that my country’s cultural background is offensive, i guess it’s your right to think so, but actually you are wrong.

  • Jargon1114

    seriously, austea, not one thing you just wrote is even a little bit valid with regard to combating my last statement. the more you write, the worse it gets… maybe it sounds better in german? i don’t know.

  • Anonymous

    of course you don’t know. it’s already clear that you have no knowledge in history and respect for other countries’ hoistory. implying that being from certain countries equals zero ability to feel anything for the people who has different cultural background was really lame. keep on talking if you like it, guess it’s trying to insult just goes together with no respect for other countries’ history…

  • Anonymous

    German national socialists turned their symbol in the S-direction to represent crossed S-letters for their “socialism.” German national socialists did NOT call themselves nazis and they did NOT call the symbol a swastika. They called the symbol a Hakenkreuz, which means hooked cross, because it was a type of cross. See the work of historian Dr. Rex Curry. If people called the German national socialist symbol by its name (hakenkreuz) and distinguished it (as alphabetical S-letters for “socialism”) from the “swastika” then these controversies would not develop based on the widespread ignorance. The term “swastika” is used deliberately to defame a foreign symbol to cover-up the German socialist symbol’s connection to the christian cross and socialism. The media are also part of the vulgus profanum who deliberately perpetuate the widespread ignorance and misuse of the terms/words.

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