Shoppers were today calling for Net-a-Porter and MyTheresa to be boycotted following their decision to axe Israeli fashion designer Dodo Bar Or’s clothing lines after she was accused of posting a video comparing terror group Hamas to ISIS.
Items by the designer were previously categorised and listed for sale on the luxury fashion platforms but searches to find them today only return error messages.
MyTheresa has not yet addressed the decision but Net-a-Porter confirmed it had banned Dodo Bar Or’s products, adding: ‘Discrimination, hate, and violence have no place on our platforms.’
The clip the designer is alleged to have posted, which imitates a scene from blockbuster film Independence Day, shows a caption reading ‘The West Is Next’ and ‘#Hamas=Isis #FreeGazaFromHamas’.
It followed an edited section in which a building daubed with the flags of Western states including Great Britain, France, the United States and the European Union, is destroyed by the alien spaceship, which appears surrounded by a circle of flags including those of Palestine and ISIS.
Jewish charity Campaign Against Antisemitism told MailOnline that it was ‘scandalous’ that Dodo Bar Or’s clothing line was pulled because ‘she compared a proscribed Islamist terrorist group to another proscribed terrorist group’.
They added: ‘Whose sensibilities are Net-a-Porter and MyTheresa trying to protect? Their customers, which include many in the Jewish community, are entitled to an immediate explanation.’
The apparent removal of the designer’s clothes from the websites sparked claims that she had been cancelled after a version of the video which featured her Instagram handle was circulated on social media.
The clip does not appear on her Instagram page today. Dodo Bar Or is yet to respond to requests for comment.
Hamas has been compared to ISIS a number of times by world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, since the conflict in the Middle East erupted earlier this month.
Supporters reacted furiously on social media, with one writing: ‘Ok the boycott of My Theresa and Net-a-Porter starts today folks.’
Another said: ‘If you condemn anti-Semitism at all it’s time to boycott Net-a-Porter and MyTheresa.’
A third posted: ‘Shame on you Net-a-Porter for becoming political and ruining a nice shopping experience. Luckily for us, we can literally by all of your products from somewhere else.’
Another wrote: ‘@NETAPORTER I am thoroughly disgusted that you removed Dodo Bar Or for saying Hamas is ISIS.
‘She said the same thing President Biden said. I spend over $100k a year with you, but not anymore. I have no words.’
A fifth tweeted: ‘The successful Israeli designer Dodo Bar-Or’s designs were removed from various fashion sites simply because she is an Israeli who expressed her devastation following the shocking massacre of children and adults by Hamas.
‘As an Israeli who has been shopping at Net-a-Porter, My Theresa and more, I intend to stop purchasing there. It’s a shame that they are frightened by ‘influential women’ and are dragged into Antisemitic acts.
‘What is worse is that they don’t realize that they are next in line. Hamas will come to the West and massacre them as part of their desire to take over.’
Others also wrote ‘Boycott Net-a-Porter and MyTheresa’ and one accused the latter of being ‘on the wrong side of history’.
They added: ‘MyTheresa I’m so shocked and truly disgusted that you have removed Israeli designed Dodo Bar Or because she condemned the butchery of Hamas.’
On a visit to Israel, President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘Hamas have committed atrocities that make ISIS look more rational.’
Meanwhile Netanyahu himself said: ‘We’ve never seen such savagery in the history of the state. They’re even worse than ISIS, and we need to treat them as such.’
Hamas has been proscribed as a terror group in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000 since 2021.
Dodo Bar Or has designed for a number of top stars including Katy Perry and Ashlee Simpson and her clothes are often sold for thousands of pounds.
A Women’s Black Shon Belted Shearling Coat was recently listed at a price of £2,851 while a Women’s Brown Lidor Shearling Coat was last seen for £2,328.
Despite some support, there was also a backlash from Palestinian supporters, who urged more retailers to remove her products from their stores.
One TikTok user, who reacted to the post in a video of her own, in which the designer’s Instagram handle is visible, told viewers: ‘This video that you have seen is worse than the s*** that came out after 9/11.
‘First of all it’s associating the Free Palestine movement with a vicious organisation, ISIS, which actually kills more Muslims than any other religion.
‘Second, it’s conflating Islam with the Free Palestine movement. Palestine has always been a melting pot with a large percentage of Christians, Muslims and Palestinian Jews.
‘During the segment when you heard the Adhan when the explosion started, that is a Muslim call to prayer that over one billion people respond to five times a day peacefully to reconnect with God.
‘She is actively promoting propaganda of the most vile, bilious, racist, Islamophobic kind worse than the propaganda which got people killed after 9/11.’
The designer has also faced criticism over the colourful keffiyeh-inspired kaftans with which she made her name.
The keffiyeh is a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, dating back to the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, and sales of them have been criticised in the past as ‘cultural appropriation’.
The designer, who first found fame as an actress in Israel before turning to fashion, ‘draws on her Middle Eastern heritage for inspiration’, according to her biography on her website.
A spokesperson for YOOX NET-A-PORTER said: ‘Discrimination, hate, and violence have no place on our platforms. We apply this policy consistently to all brands we stock in all markets. After content appeared that was offensive and inflammatory, the brand in question has been suspended from our sites.’
Dodo Bar Or and MyTheresa have been approached for comment.
