Fresh Jive is the brand who made it. Did they make a public apology?

Urban Outfitters is trite dribble. I cannot stand all of their stupid clothes. And of course they thought this was ok to let onto their shelves. The powers that be were probably too busy at a hookah bar or an indie rock show.

I didn’t even know who fresh jive was until this was posted…..I guess they are achieving their goal.

hi basylefilegirl, i think you may have mistaken the word “territories” for “terrorist” – i was just explaining that there was a map of the palestinian territories on the shirt, as in their lands. i did not use the word “terrorist” anywhere in the post at all. the two words are unrelated, though i guess they share a lot of the same letters.

you guys are blowing this way out of proportion. A republican vibe? really? Because they report on controversial items in the fashion world?
And all in all, there is freedom of speech, but there’s also a free market, so when people get outraged and threaten to stop shopping at U.O. or with Freshjive, if a company is smart they will listen to their consumer’s demands – if they want to remain profitable.

this shirt is just another in a long line of retail products designed to make money off of conflict and violence. to the guest above me, and bastylefilegirl theres a reason this site is called “FASHIONista”.
obviously in your quest to be politically correct you forgot terms like “exploitation of minors” and “child soldiers”. but then freedom of speech is so much more important…

as someone who is politically aware and has even travelled to israel, i don’t find this shirt remotely offensive or outrageous. it’s just ugly.

I’ve never gotten a political vibe from any Fashionista post including this one.
I think Natalie was just reporting on a contoversial item of clothing. It’s called fashion news.
I’m sure that the powers that be at both UO and FreshJive are chucking this in the ‘really bad idea’ file.
Of course they’ll apologize but you’ll never hear what they thought was funny or ironic about it because that would really show the consumer what poor taste they really have,as if the shirt didn’t do that enough.

I think that the owner of Freshjive makes a good point on his website when he says that “if you think it is in poor taste, don’t buy it. My business deals in the graphic arts and I believe that one of the highest purposes of art is to spark discussion by challenging people to think in new ways about serious issues.” He definitely has sparked lots of discussion about this issue and has raised the awareness of what these images mean. It evens makes me want to learn the story behind this issue. Maybe that was his purpose…. And like others said above, we do have freedom of speech, and that comes from both sides of the tables, as seen by this discussion.
But, I can see why this could be upsetting since it is a sensitive subject… What are everyone else’s thoughts? What about that Yasir Arafat shirt on their website too? It kind of trivializes the issue and makes it comic- when it isn’t…

Personally, I think as an artist he (freshjive) has a point. But as a national retailer whose target demo is young women and men who are generally unattached or unaware to the Palestinian/Isreali conflict, Urban Outfitters should have considered the criticism and backlash before putting it on the shelves. I know they normally carry the line, but just as you don’t buy every piece from every line, you should think about these things before just setting up shop.
I saw that U.O. actually stopped selling keffiyehs for fear of not wanting to look like they supported terrorism, if they were worried about that so much back then, you’d think they would have thought this one through. (that keffiyeh statement is from wikipedia)

i have to say i am disappointed in the blanket dismissal and rejection of freshjive’s perspective and expression. i think the t-shirt is provactive but should not be censored which is effectively what UO has done by yanking it. i respect freshjive’s statement. what happened to giving a voice to all?

Why is a t-shirt such a big deal? If no one tried to push the envelope and be a little controversial (even if it goes too far), nothing would progress. I thought “fashionistas” would realize this. And why does everyone hate UO? Honestly, it’s one of my favorite stores. Don’t stereotype people based on where they shop.
Palestinians, like Israelis, are victims of violence. Let’s not forget who violated the Geneva Convention in the first place – Israel. The point of the shirt is to point out that there are no innocent parties in the dispute. There’s a lot of blind support for Israel in the US, and many are ready and willing to paint Palestinians in a negative light. In this case, the role is reversed, the viewer feels sorry for the Palestinian child soldier.

It’s not so much a question of free speech, it’s what appears to be blatant market capitalism based upon someone else’s bad fortune.
That’s where my main issue is founded. Mister Freshjive is just like other folks in the world, trying to make a buck. I have a hard time passing this off as mere artistic expression… he IS trying to make money by presenting a controversial subject that just so happens to involve a life and death situation.
Do I think debate and discussion should be stimulated in this country? Absolutely. Should it be sparked because some ‘artist’ chose to capitalize upon the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Hell no.

to guest at 1:58…
I’m not entirely sure of you’re aware, but until approximately the date of the Balfour Declaration, there was no sense of nation amongst the Palestinian peoples. They were tribes that incidentally really didn’t get along. I don’t mean to imply that this validates any situation, but wait, there’s more. Throughout the next few decades, many offers for partition were made to the Palestinians. I just don’t like the misrepresentation that is given by most people. I’m not saying you don’t know this, but I feel like most Americans (and people of other nationalities) just aren’t being given the whole story.

guest at 226, my husband and I were just discussing this a few nights ago, it’s almost impossible to get a complete story without a huge bias from one side or the other. if you know of a source that has a fairly unbiased assessment of the history I’d love to know about it
(sorry, I know that’s not about fashion, but if I could private message on here, I would have, but alas we cannot).

i agree about the person who doesn’t know the difference between territories and terrorists. did you actually read the text?
i’m all for getting outraged over ridiculous things, but at least READ CLEARLY. you just look like a moron.

I agree with Syako and others about it being hard to really understand the current and past information that is going on in those places, also including the Middle East. I wish I was well informed about these issues and could find somewhere that provided that comprehensive information from an unbiased standpoint.
Continuing with the discussion of the Freshjive owner, even if he is trying to ultimately make money off of his t-shirts and they are controversial, I appreciate his candid-ness on his website (even if he does tell some “to go fuck yourself”) and the way he responded by being open about the situation. I’m not defending him or his designs, but I’m just saying that its refreshing to see a company be genuinely passionate about the designs and their feedback.

zing!

“calling out the designer as a sham for trying to capitalize on a child solder is WACK!! designers are artists and they do this out of passion. i really doubt that anyone who is solely concerned about money would do graphic design (even though the shirt is butt ugly).”
I’m the one who said he was looking to make money on this. And sure, while artists-designers-whatevers are working from inspiration, you know they’re also going for shock factor with things like this. Is Mister Freshjive doing something USEFUL with the proceeds from this shirt? I really seriously doubt that. So yes, he is CAPITALIZING on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, whether or not you realize that in your idealistic mindset.

firstly, the comment that if marc jacobs had made this fashionista would love it made me laugh out loud so hard.
secondly. its just a tee shirt guys. its not like you actually care/know anything about politics so stop trying to act like you know anything other than fashion.
i like urban outfitters. why are fashionista attempting to brainwash us into hating certain co’s. i mean a couple of comments are fine but everywhere i see its ‘forver 21′ or ‘urban outfitters’.
yawm. we dont have forever 21 in the uk and im bored of reading about it all the time.

After reading the response from Freshjive, I’m amused that people jumped to the conclusion that the shirt is anti-semitic in any way. So a person is a Jew hater for stating that Palestinians are victims?
I’m also amused by this quote : “Clearly, they have Islamists and Jihad lovers on their buying staff”. when will people learn to call Islamists by the correct name – Muslims.

Is guest 2.27 trying to imply that all Muslims are Islamists or does he/she not know the difference?

I read the write up on the website and its just a bunch of BS by a guy who has no clue what he is talking about and trying to be edgy.
It’s up to the vendors to make sure they aren’t selling potentially offensive material and UO dropped the ball.
But considering the fact the UO is owned by a Christian conservative and sell Keffiyeh scarves, they really aren’t concerned for their Jewish customers anyway.

I am not sure where else on earth you can get kicked out of your home over and over again, your rights taken away, and your neighbors/friends/family members killed, and upset people by being called a victim.
The situation over there sucks. But EVERYone over there is a person. Not just the Israelis.
Free Palestine.

blah blah blah — urban outfitters is shit you can find in vintage stores & local boutiques.
as for the shirt itself — don’t hate the company. they ain’t done NOTHING but print a shirt that may be controversial but NOT to promote hate. y’all bitches take shit TOO PERSONALLY. whatever happened to freedom of speech, or creative ideas!?
y’all hipsters/organic-lovers take shit too seriously. and if you take THIS comment too seriously, then maybe you should stop judging — like what you’ve done with Fresh Jive.