A WhatsApp message spread across Israeli channels on Tuesday claimed that "H&M is calling for the elimination of Jews by selling pro-Palestinian T-shirts with the slogan 'From the river to the sea.' Jews around the world should no longer set foot in this antisemitic company's stores." The message included a photo allegedly taken at an H&M branch, but the hangers in the photo don’t look like those used by the chain, suggesting the message was meant to proliferate harmful fake news.
The Swedish clothing chain has been successfully operating in Israel since 2010, with 21 stores, an online shop, and other stores of its subsidiaries: & Other Stories and COS. In addition, it’s unlikely for fast-fashion chains to sell T-shirts featuring controversial political statements.
An online search on the subject revealed that the shirt in question is actually sold by the Emirati clothing brand The Giving Movement, a basic apparel brand founded in 2020.
The brand's owner, Dominic Nowell-Barnes, has lived in Dubai since 2017. The brand is produced in Dubai and donates $4 to support children in need and provide humanitarian aid for every shirt sold.
The company’s manufacturer is ecological, supports sustainability and works to produce the brand's items from environmentally friendly fabrics - while charging high prices.
The Palestine shirt in question, a short-sleeve T-shirt, sells for 299 shekels in children's sizes and 349 shekels in adult sizes. The company sells several other items in the same style, including captions saying "Palestine, you’re the first thing I think of in the morning, and the last thing I think of at night.”
The many Palestine shirts sold on the brand's website are the only items on the site that include a political statement. The company, which primarily sells items without prints, also sells shirts with captions with the names of countries Lebanon, Kuwait and Dubai, without additional drawings or emotional statements alongside the names. The largest number of items it sells fall under the Palestine branding.
A search of the Instagram pages of the brand owner and his partner show the shirts were recently added to the site and have since dedicated posts to sell their shirts and show their support for Rafah.
H&M Israel said in a statement that: "This isn’t an H&M item and isn’t sold in any of our stores in Israel or worldwide."