Handmade by you
Handmade items must begin with the imagination and creativity of the member operating the Etsy shop.
The anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement has been breaking those guidelines by selling items that were made in the territories, and Etsy promptly shut down the shop.
Here is an email from the ISM whining about how they are being discriminated against by not being allowed to break the rules. Which explains a lot about why they feel so close to Hamas.
If you have wanted to buy a Palestinian-made keffiyeh or Palestinian olive oil or soap or zaatar from our Etsy store since March 9, 2015, and wondered where we are, now you know.In a followup email, ISM reproduced some correspondence between them and Etsy. Etsy's emails prohibit their being reproduced without permission, but it was clear based on ISM's own admission that the items were not handmade by the owner of the shop, which is Etsy's criterion for handmade items.
Our Etsy customers gave us the highest possible ratings on Etsy. At least 65 of you gave us five stars out of five and one four (our lowest rating), all with glowing comments about our prices, quality and service. Many expressed endorsement for the use of our fundraising to support the Palestinian economy and culture, as well as nonviolent resistance in Palestine. We are fairly sure that we were the most popular site for Palestinian products.
Etsy's complaint against us was that our items are not hand made by us. That is of course only partly true, because nearly everything that we sell requires the time and effort of our group volunteers to finish the product and make it ready for shipping.
A more telling point, however, is that there are nine other Etsy sellers offering keffiyehs for sale, and theirs are not any more handmade than ours. In fact, four of them offer the exact same product as us, from the exact same supplier in Palestine (Hirbawi factory). Why are we being singled out? We think it is precisely because we are a nonprofit supporting Palestinians and Palestinian human rights. That is the main difference between us and the other Etsy stores.
Even so, ISM is crying foul in this response:
Even if we accept that you did not deliberately discriminate against us because of our advocacy for Palestinian rights, you are practicing de facto discrimination. You suggest that if If we see a listing that might not be appropriate for Etsy, the best way is to report it via your site-wide flagging system. You are therefore relying heavily upon others to uphold your standards. If no one complains, it is unlikely that you will take action.Thanks for the advice, ISM! There are plenty of other Etsy shops selling anti-Israel propaganda items that are clearly not handmade by the sellers.
This is ripe for exploitation by persons who want to persecute others or sabotage their competition. In our case, our Palestinian advocacy is not appreciated by persons or groups who would be pleased to see Palestinians disappear from the remnants of historic Palestine where they cling to existence under horrific conditions. I can well imagine that such persons might organize in such a manner as to create a critical mass of reports in order to motivate you to close our store. It is therefore not accurate to say that our store was not suspended due to our support of Palestinians and Palestinian human rights, only that this was perhaps not your intention.
Like this:
Or this:
Or this
Or this T-shirt taken from a Latuff cartoon:
Just go to Etsy and search for "Palestine" or "Gaza." If you see items that violate their policies, you can complain. The email address is integrity@etsy.com, addressed to Alison.