The fashion chain, Zara, has confirmed that its uniform policy prohibits the wearing of Free Palestine badges, or any similar badges including logos or slogans.

This follows a complaint from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), who had been informed of an incident in a Zara store at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex.

Two Jewish customers were shopping in Zara, and were served by a female shop assistant wearing a badge featuring a Palestinian flag and the slogan “Free Palestine”. After the transaction at the till, one of the Jewish customers remarked on the badge and made some comments about the Israeli hostages. The shop assistant shouted at her, calling her “rude”.

The customers found a manager, explained what had happened and why they were upset, and asked the manager to tell the staff member to remove the badge, as it was a political emblem. Although the store manager asked the shop assistant to remove the badge, she apparently refused to do so.

UKLFI wrote to Zara’s Managing Director and Head of Legal, explaining that the Palestine Flag, along with the “Free Palestine” slogan, is extremely upsetting for Jewish people to see, particularly when it is worn by shop staff. The slogan “Free Palestine” is related to the expression, “from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,” a phrase that can be understood as calling for the elimination of the State of Israel and ethnic cleansing of Jews who live there.

The implication is that the shop condones wearing the badge, supporting the Palestinian cause, and also opposing the State of Israel.

UKLFI also pointed out that if the shop assistant is wearing the badge, this would breach the Equalities Act 2010 as it would create a hostile and intimidating atmosphere in the shop for Jewish and Israeli customers.

Zara’s legal director has now told UKLFI that its uniform policy was being breached by the shop assistant wearing the badge: “We wanted to confirm to you that Zara’s uniform policy prohibits the wearing of such badges including any logos or slogans.  On receiving the customer complaint, details of the incident were reported to the store teams to ensure that our uniform policy is upheld at all times.”

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented “We hope that Zara will ensure that all staff are aware of its dress code and will not try to express their political views at work by wearing badges and symbols, which inevitably upset certain customers.”