It all began when Dov Hikind’s granddaughter, a 16-year old high school student, was perusing AliExpress.com for products of interest and came across an entire section of swastika-themed symbols. As the great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who saw the number-tattooed arm of her great-grandmother OBM, she was shocked and mortified. Equally horrified was Dov who sprung into action by dispatching a letter to AliExpress and their China-based parent company AliBaba Group (one of the largest corporations in the world) requesting the immediate removal of all swastika-themed products.

“The message to them was simple,” said Hikind, who is chairman of the Coalition for a Positive America. “While the swastika originated in southeast Asia, everyone knows that symbols can be appropriated and acquire new meaning. In short, they were notified that individual sellers were profiting off of a Nazi symbol that was emblematic of the Holocaust and genocide.” Barely a day later, Brion Tingler from AliBaba’s External Affairs department, responded saying “Thank you for bringing these concerns to us. We value such communication from our stakeholders. As you would probably have guessed, merchandise with Nazi symbols violates our listing policies and will be removed once identified.”

There are many lessons here according to Hikind: “First, when we see an injustice we’re required to speak up regardless of any expectation of results. Second, this is what responsible and moral business-dealing looks like. Such swift and unequivocal action without seeking excuses is not only praiseworthy of AliBaba, but should serve as a behavioral model for other multinational companies that are ordinarily too profitable to feel obliged to deal with what can seem insignificant to its bottom line.”

Ultimately, acting morally is always best for a company’s bottom line, and AliBaba demonstrated that in spades. All those who are offended at the sight of symbols of hatred can rejoice in gratitude knowing there are at least some companies that are unwilling to profit off of hate.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)