A Jewish woman was appalled after finding a “Free Palestine” note tucked into her Hanukkah-themed gift her boyfriend bought from Bloomingdale’s — which has now launched an investigation.
New Yorker Arielle Harris shared her story on TikTok Monday, showing off the holiday pajamas she received on the first night of Hanukkah that were emblazoned with the Star of David and Menorahs.
But to her shock, when she opened the package, she discovered a note written on a store-branded card had been placed on top of the receipt.
The note read: “Free Palestine.”
“At first I was like ‘ha, what, ‘Free Palestine’?” Harris told The Post.
Her boyfriend, Andrew Jones, was just as confused — and said his “heart dropped” when he read the note stowed in the gift he purchased.
The couple panicked and called their family for advice. Harris explained that they were already on edge in the wake of the antisemitic Bondi Beach massacre in Australia, but still endeavored “to bring awareness and had to speak out.”
“This never should have happened, and Bloomingdale’s needs to answer for their employees,” Harris said in her video, which was viewed nearly 110,000 times as of Tuesday evening.
She noted that Jones hadn’t opened the package before giving it to her.
“Craziest part is how many commenters think I faked this. Typical denials of antisemitism,” Jones wrote in a separate post on X.
Jones told The Post that they spoke with “a pretty senior executive” at Bloomingdale’s on Tuesday, who offered “a heartfelt apology” and extended a full refund.
Harris added that the executive told them that the fulfillment center where their gift was originally shipped is in the process of opening every package to make sure there was nothing else awry.
“They had a substantial response and are taking action to figure out who did this and how it slipped through the cracks,” she said.
Even so, the couple said that they are still far from satisfied — and said the scornful note made the gift “feel violating” as if “a cat peed on it.”
“Our nice moment, private celebration was totally turned upside down by this note,” Jones said.
Harris added that the outpouring of support online is helping them move forward.
“Given everything that’s happened, everyone we know is being positive, it’s giving us hope. It’s been nice to see all these messages, and we’ve gone on with our day. It’s a sad thing and a sad reality, but it’s not going to stop us from living our life and enjoying this Jewish holiday,” she said.
A spokesperson for Bloomingdale’s confirmed to The Post that the company contacted the couple and assured them that the “matter is currently under investigation.”
“This was an unauthorized and unacceptable act,” the spokesperson said.
“Antisemitism, or discrimination in any form, has absolutely no place in our business and does not align with our values or our care for our customers. Please know we are treating this with the utmost seriousness.”
Some Jewish leaders even weighed in on the controversy and swiftly condemned the alleged incident.“A ‘free Palestine’ note in a Bloomingdale’s Chanukah gift. No limits. No shame,” Deborah Lipstadt, former US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, wrote on X.
The couple still isn’t sure if they’ll shop at Bloomingdale’s again in the future.
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