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Walmart Kids Israeli Soldier Halloween Costume Pulled After Backlash

Walmart Just Pulled This Kids Halloween Costume For Pretty Obvious Reasons
Chris York
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Walmart have discontinued an Israeli soldier Halloween costume for kids after a massive backlash.

The description of the outfit on their website - now taken down - claimed it would help children "step into their Jewish heritage".

The costume was also offered alongside a 'Sheik Fagin Nose'.

This Halloween, Walmart offers you either an Israeli soldier kid costume or an Arab sheikh hook nose costume

😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/JtlmoS0HWp

— Ahmad Alshdefat (@ahmadalshdefat) October 27, 2015

Walmart's social media pages and website were soon flooded with angry commenters, one of whom even ironically suggested they should sell "a Hitler outfit for children as well".

For the price of $27.44 (£18) the American was offering the outfit at the same time that tensions were escalating dramatically in the Middle East.

Samer Khalaf, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said: "The Israeli forces are responsible for the continued death and occupation of the Palestinian people. Such a symbol of fear, violence and a long history of dispossession should not be used for entertainment purposes."

Weeks of violence between Israelis and Palestinians have left tens dead after stabbings and confrontations with security services with fears of a third Intifada voiced by some.

6 Things To Know About Threats Of A Third Intifada
What is an intifada?(01 of06)
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Intifada derives from the Arabic word for “the shaking off,” referring to a revolt against Israeli occupation in Palestinian territory.

What makes an intifada different from day-to-day violence is the mass support of Palestinians across the West Bank, Gaza, and Arab cities in Israel.

The uprising is enabled by key leaders, and the mass mobilisation of the Palestinian people. (credit:MENAHEM KAHANA via Getty Images)
What’s happening right now?(02 of06)
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Incidents during the past fortnight have been limited to so-called lone-wolf attacks without the mass support or organisation that suggests an intifada.

But comparisons to earlier periods of intifadahave been made after the latest incident occurred on a bus - echoing tactics used during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s

In the past two weeks lone-wolf attacks have seen eight Israelis killed and dozens injured, while at least 28 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis.

Palestinians have been temporarily banned by Israel from visiting Jerusalem’s Old City for the first time since Israel took control of it in the 1967 War, fueling tensions further. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
What’s caused it?(03 of06)
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While the latest incidents of violence are new, they aren’t surprising. Young Palestinians have been long frustrated at their lack of statehood and in the failure of political leadership to establish a sustainable peace effort.

At the same time, it is understood that one of the causes of the most recent spate of attacks is the belief that Israel is attempting to alter arrangements for prayer at Jerusalem’s holy compound – known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary to Muslims.

The recent exclusion of Palestinians in the Old City have fueled these beliefs. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
What are the politicians saying?(04 of06)
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said planned new security measures would "settle its accounts with the murderers, with those who try murder and with all those who assist them".

However, he has repeatedly denied attempting to change arrangements for prayer at the holy compound despite members of his own far-right coalition undermining these sentiments.

And while Israel brands the near-daily incidents as terror attacks, the state’s army is responding in kind. Netanyahu has chaired an emergency session of his security cabinet in an effort to bring “quiet back to the citizens of Israel”.

President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has said that he does “not want either military or security escalation”. A clear suggestion that the current spate of attacks do not, in fact, present a broader uprising in the style of an intifada.

Both Israeli and Palestinian authorities have accused one another of doing nothing to protect each other’s communities. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
When were previous intifadas?(05 of06)
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The First Intifada took place between 1987 and 1993. Known as the war of the stones for the prominence of images depicting Palestinians throwing objects against the Israeli armed forces. It resulted in a successful negotiation between the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and the Israeli government.

But the Second Intifada was less successful. Prompted by the high-profile visit to the holy compound in Jeruslaem of Ariel Sharon, it differed in its use of violent gun battles, suicide bombings and terrorist activity. Rather than produce a negotiation, it resulted in the erection of the West Bank barrier to protect Israel from attack. (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
Are we entering another intifada?(06 of06)
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Mahmoud Abbas’ assertion that Palestinians do not want to escalate the current tensions suggests we may not be nearing a new period of intifada.

However, with the absence of peace talks and of a clear consensus within both Israeli and Palestinian politics, observers are now placing the violence of the past two weeks in the context of the past. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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