A London-based Egyptian jewellery designer specialising in Middle East-inspired accessories was reportedly given an ultimatum by Westfield White City shopping centre after a customer confronted her over the sale of a Palestine map necklace.
In a video posted on her Kiro brand Instagram page, Taha said a customer came into her story on 19 January and questioned her over the jewellery she was selling.
“[The lady] storms over and points at the Palestine necklace and she goes ‘Is that what they mean when they say from the river to the sea?’ so I said yeah and she said: ‘That’s not very peaceful is it?'”
The customer took photographs and videos of her story and used them to complain to Westfield that her products were “antisemitic”, Taha said.
The complaint reportedly resulted in the shopping centre’s management asking Taha to withdraw the Palestine necklace if she wanted to continue trading there.
Speaking to The New Arab, Taha said the lady was using an “incredibly accusatory and aggressive tone”, would not listen to her, and was using the interaction “as an opportunity to attack rather than understand”.
“There’s no other way to describe it except as harassment,” she added.
For the past two years, Taha held regular stalls at Westfield and had been selling her Palestine map necklace at the shopping centre long before the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October 2023.
Despite selling the pendant online since her company was established in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, she has received no other complaints from any individuals or organisations.
“I’m not going to take money from Westfield if I can’t stand on my principles – I will never be at Westfield again,” she added.
She told The New Arab that her decision was a setback for her business, but she would focus on selling her jewellery online.
“I really did enjoy meeting customers at Westfield, as without the pop-ups, I’m purely an online business. The pop-ups gave my customers an opportunity to see the jewellery in person and also allowed me to reach people who wouldn’t necessarily find me on TikTok [where my business is based],” she said.
“It is quite a significant cut to revenue. It’s also a shame because I frequently took part in the Eid Festivals that Westfield would put on which would be a significant source of revenue. I do wonder how they’ll be able to censor that event, considering a lot of those stalls are pro-Palestine,” she continued.
The New Arab also approached Westfield White City for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Taha’s online store sells map necklaces of many Middle Eastern, African and South Asian countries, including Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Bangladesh, Somalia, Algeria, Yemen and Syria, among others.
Online support
Online, many have supported Taha, condemning Westfield’s decision and pledging to buy from Taha’s online store.
“Thanks for highlighting this amazing place- just bought the Palestine necklace, 50% of the proceeds go to Medical Aid for Palestine,” one person wrote.
“No one, including European and American settlers, has an unalienable right to ethically cleanse people from their own land. Hope that helps x,” another commented on the situation.
The incident comes amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, following over 15 months of war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Health authorities in Gaza said this week that the updated death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 is 61,709. The figure includes 17,881 children and 214 newborn infants.
The head of the Gaza government media office added that only 76 percent of the bodies of Palestinians killed since October 2023 have been recovered and around 14,222 are missing.
The war has decimated the Strip’s infrastructure and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis.
