B’nai Brith Canada reported on Monday that Walmart Canada has responded positively to its concerns that an item sacred in the Jewish religion was depicted frivolously as a beach towel for women.
The item was a tallit which was depicted in offensive fashion by a third-party seller on Walmart’s website as an “Elegant Sunscreen Scarves Sun Block Shawl Scarf Beach Shawl Towel.”
Walmart quickly acknowledged B’nai Brith’s complaint and acted rapidly to remove the item, the organization said in a statement.
B’nai Brith had alerted Walmart through its Twitter account of the offensive description. The corporation responded to B’nai Brith that it would remove the listing after it conducted an investigation. Walmart apologized for the offence.
“We appreciate Walmart’s immediate response and resolution,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “The listing and description were disturbing to members of the Canadian Jewish community and appeared to be deriding the religious significance of a tallit. Walmart showed tremendous corporate responsibility by heeding our concerns, investigating, following up, taking immediate action and removing the listing.”
“At a time when antisemitism, Jewish hatred and general forms of bigotry are surging, the last thing we need to see is a listing making light of a sacred religious object on one of Canada’s most popular commerce sites. That is why we are so pleased to see Walmart act this quickly and hope other merchants take note,” he added.
Last week, Walmart in the United States removed the same item after several posts called out attention to it.
“Walmart has a robust trust and safety program, which actively works to prevent items such as these from being sold on the site,” a spokesperson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “After reviewing, these items have been removed.”