Disgusting message on $65 T-shirt sparks outrage – as designer gives atrocious defence
The Australian Jewish community is outraged by the sale of T-shirts with anti-Semitic slogans in a mosque.
The T-shirts were sold outside the Elsedeaq Heidelberg Mosque in Heidelberg Heights, in Melbourne’s north-east, in November last year.
The black T-shirts were designed by activist Carla Scotto and have striking white letters with the slogans ‘bash Zionists’, ‘may God crush them’ and ‘support armed resistance’.
It also contained messages from Aboriginal activists, including a burning gravestone inscribed ‘The Colony’.
The T-shirts are also being sold nationally to raise money for indigenous Australians and for Palestinians in Gaza.
Imam Alaa Elzokm said he was not aware that Ms Scotto had promoted and sold the $65 T-shirts outside the mosque.
Imam Elzokm added that he did not approve of the T-shirts and messages, but he did not identify the sellers as members of his congregation.
On her website, Ms Scotto explained that it was entirely her decision to design and sell the T-shirts, saying: ‘No one ever hired me to do it, so f*** it, Enjoy!’
activist and graphic designer Carla Scotto was spotted selling the anti-Semitic T-shirts outside a mosque in Melbourne
“My friends and I have gone through many rounds of editing this bad boy and showing it to a few different eyeballs for constructive criticism,” Ms. Scotto wrote.
“If you feel like this is half-hearted hatred, think again.
“If you are sensitive to any part of this design, I assume you do not have the same sensitivity to the brutal Zionist violence broadcast to your phone.”
The $65 black T-shirts feature bold white lettering with the slogans ‘bash Zionists’, ‘may God crush them’ and ‘support the armed resistance’ (pictured)
All T-shirt profits would be donated to multiple relief funds According to Ms. Scotto’s December 5 newsletter, the clothing raised $1,300 for “Blak and Palestinian” people.
The T-shirts have also been distributed on social media by Huda Nur Haraco, known online as hoodsvstheworld.
Ms Haraco was pictured wearing one of the T-shirts at the mosque on the day Ms Scotto sold them.
NSW artist and children’s author Chun, whose real name is Matthew Jones, promoted the T-shirt on his Instagram, writing: “The mutual aid work of my comrade Carla has been tireless… this T-shirt is going fast.”
The T-shirt design ‘shocked’ members of Australia’s Jewish community, with many claiming the clothing was an ‘incitement to violence’.
Ofir Birenbaum, a Sydney man, saw the T-shirts being sold when he visited Melbourne.
Mr. Birenbaum said the T-shirts exposed the Jewish community to violence while misrepresenting the Muslim community.
“They were sold in a mosque, they automatically misrepresent the Muslim community and expose them to violent rhetoric,” Mr Birenbaum told the Daily Telegraph.
‘Call to bash the Zionists’ is a call to harm 97 percent of the world’s Jewish population who identify as Zionists and believe in the existence of Israel.”
CEO of the Australian Jewish Association, Robert Gregory, added: ‘Almost all Jews in Australia identify as Zionists and this is a call to physically attack them.”