{"id":375238,"date":"2026-10-16T23:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T23:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375238\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T23:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T23:04:14","slug":"nyc-pols-call-on-amazon-to-pull-halloween-witch-with-star-of-david-spell-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375238\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC pols call on Amazon to pull Halloween witch with Star of David spell book"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City pols are putting Amazon on blast over a Halloween display that\u2019s been ripped as fueling antisemitic tropes<\/a> for portraying a witch holding a spell book adorned with a Star of David.<\/p>\n

The City Council\u2019s \u201cAntisemitism Task Force\u201d filed a formal complaint with the e-commerce juggernaut, requesting it take down its listing for the $219 six-foot animatronic decoration from Collective Home<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it is unclear if this symbol was an attempt to depict a hexagram or another occult symbol, the Star of David is the most widely recognizable symbol of the Jewish people,\u201d the bipartisan task force wrote in an October 14 letter to Amazon. <\/p>\n

A Brooklyn homeowner told The Post she was mortified when she found out about the antisemitic imagery hidden in her Halloween decorations. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are living at a time of unprecedented and extremely alarming antisemitism, the likes of which have not been seen in our lifetimes in this City and Country,\u201d the letter noted. \u201cGiven the long history of antisemitism and the persecution of Jewish people, the use of this symbol in a context that may associate\u00a0it with sinister or threatening imagery is particularly disturbing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch imagery can reasonably be perceived as demeaning to Jewish people and hurtful to members of the Jewish community. It may also incite violaence against the Jewish community,\u201d the council members wrote.<\/p>\n

The Post reported Tuesday that one Brooklyn woman who\u00a0inadvertently planted the decoration on her front lawn was horrified to discover the seedy symbolism.<\/p>\n

The New York City Council\u2019s message to Amazon. NYCC<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very upset, this is horrible,\u201d cried the woman, who insisted, \u201cI don\u2019t want to insult any religion. I\u2019m sensitive about these things. I\u2019m a big supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her handyman unboxed and assembled the towering witch and \u201cI didn\u2019t even look at it,\u201d she told The Post, adding, \u201cI should take it up with Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council Speaker Julie Menin (D-Manhattan), Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn) and Jewish Caucus Chair Eric Dinowitz (D-Bronx) are among the eight signatories <\/a>calling for the listing to be taken down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A $219 Halloween decoration is displayed, which is being criticized for promoting an antisemitic smear. Amazon<\/p>\n

A rebranded Dr. Evil costume, featuring a signature pinky ring with a Jewish star, was listed for sale on Amazon. WATCPNO<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe urge Amazon to immediately remove this product considering its policies concerning hateful, discriminatory, and offensive content and to consider the broader implications of making such merchandise available to the public,\u201d their letter said.<\/p>\n

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City pols are putting Amazon on blast over a Halloween display that\u2019s been ripped as fueling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[586,3862,301,245,57,9,24,55,54,56,58],"class_list":["post-375238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-amazon","tag-antisemitism","tag-city-council","tag-halloween","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}