Arteixo (Spain): Fashion retailer Zara on Tuesday distanced itself from the comments - that many believed were anti-Palestinians and condemnable like anti-Semitism, made by one of its top designers.
Vanessa Perilman, Zara's head designer for its women's department, got into an online argument with model Qaher Harhash, who is Palestinian, over his advocacy for the people in Gaza.
Perilman in Direct Message to Qaher Harhash on Instagram reportedly not only supported Israeli barbarism in Gaza but also mocked the latter for being a model.
A backlash soon began and messages supporting hash-tags “#BoycottZara" and "#ZaraMustApologize" started flooding the social media sites after Qaher Harhash shared the screenshots of Perilman’s DM.
Sensing that the boycott appeal could cost it dearly, Zara distanced itself from Perilman’s anti-Palestinian comments.
In a statement to NBC News, the company that owns the Zara brand, Inditex, said it “does not accept any lack of respect to any culture, religion, country, race or belief."
"Zara is a diverse company and we shall never tolerate discrimination of any kind. We condemn these comments that do not reflect our core values of respect for one another, and we regret the offense that they have caused”, the Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia in Spain, said.
Perilman on the other hand in a DM to Qaher Harhash apologised for her comments and also deleted all the posts in question.
Qaher Harhash however refused the aplogies expressed by Perilman.
"For me an apology means to fully acknowledge the pain or suffering you caused someone. She came into my DM's wrote hateful comments, why should I accept a half assed apology?" he wrote.
"If Zara wants to make a statement with me, they also need to address Islamophobia. When certain fashion designers said anti-Semitic things, they were fired from their jobs. So far, Vanessa Perilman hasn't been fired”, he said.
The company however did not mention any plans to fire or discipline Perilman as demanded by Qaher Harhash and others.
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