John Lewis has launched an investigation after posts linked to a clothing supplier appeared to depict Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, with the retailer seemingly suspending sales of the company’s hijabs and other garments.
The items were made by Beirut-based Bokitta, which sells £35 hijabs and a £70 Premium Prayer Set, including robes and a headscarf, through the John Lewis website.
An image posted on Bokitta’s official Instagram account 11 days after the October 7, 2023 attacks showed a paraglider flying in front of a Palestinian flag, alongside a bulldozer breaking through an Israeli border fence. The image also featured a Palestinian keffiyeh in the shape of Israel.
On October 7 itself, Bokitta co-founder and design director Hala Absi shared a clip from a news report about the Hamas assault, writing: “May God protect our brothers and sisters in Palestine and grant us victory over the oppressors.”
Both posts have since been removed. John Lewis said: “We weren’t aware of these comments and are investigating.”
Bokitta’s clothing was no longer available to buy from the John Lewis website.
Adam Ma’anit, an Israeli living in the UK whose cousin Tsachi was kidnapped on October 7 and later killed by Hamas, called on John Lewis to apologise and end its relationship with Bokitta.
“John Lewis is a national treasure,” he said. “When our daughter was born we bought her buggy and baby clothes there.
“To see them entangled with a company that celebrated October 7 is a stab to the heart.
“John Lewis claims to have strong ethics. They need to prove it by severing all ties with Bokitta and issuing a public apology.”
Bokitta rejects support for violence
John Lewis is understood to have sold Bokitta’s clothing for at least three years. In September 2023, the company opened a temporary pop-up outlet at the retailer’s flagship department store in Stratford, east London.
Bokitta was founded in Beirut in 2009 by Mubde Absi and describes itself as a “contemporary hijab and clothing brand for modern and practical Muslim women”. Its website says it supports a “free Palestine” and sells a sweater bearing the Palestinian flag, with profits intended to go to Palestine.
The website also contained blog posts about the Nakba, referring to the displacement of Palestinians in 1948, which could be accessed through labels including “Jews” and “Zionist Movement”. The “Jews” label was removed after it was flagged.
Bokitta said the image featuring the bulldozer and paraglider had not been created by the company and was “shared quickly and without the scrutiny it required”.
“We recognise that it contains imagery associated with the events of 7 October, during which civilians were attacked and killed,” the company said.
“We condemn those attacks on civilians. The image should not have been shared as is, and it has been removed.
“Our intention was solidarity with Palestinian civilians, not support for any armed group or for violence against civilians.”
Bokitta said Ms Absi’s caption was “a prayer for the protection of the Palestinian people” and not an endorsement of violence.
The company added: “Bokitta and its co-founder Hala Absi support the Palestinian people’s right to freedom and dignity, and peaceful advocacy on their behalf, including boycotts. We do not support terrorism, and we condemn the deliberate killing of civilians, whether Israeli or Palestinian, before, on and since 7 October 2023.”
Ms Absi said: “I do not support terrorism, and I condemn the killing of civilians, whether Israeli or Palestinian, before, on and since 7 October 2023.”
