Walmart’s Israeli soldier Halloween costume for kids sparks uproar

Top U.S. retailer Walmart is selling an Israeli soldier Halloween costume for kids, in a move sparking anger among social media users.

The Israeli soldier costume includes a shirt, belt, hat, and pants, and is sold for $28.81, according to the Walmart website. The description on the website also says: “When Halloween time rolls around, make this item part of your child's complete ensemble.”

The costume has caused a stir on social media as it comes during a period of escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

“Walmart offers Israeli soldier costume for kids! Way to go teaching kids to dress up like murderers! Disgusting!” one Twitter user posted.

“Hey Walmart, do you realize you’re supporting the killing and occupation of innocent children with this costume?” another online user said.

Social media users have also spotted the retailer selling a “Sheik Fagin Nose” product, a fake hook nose seen used in a costume depicting Arabs.

Previous Walmart products have also sparked outrage in the past.

In June, Walmart was forced to apologize after it baked an ISIS-themed cake for a customer.

A man from the state of Louisiana, Chuck Netzhammer, asked for an explanation from Walmart after his request for a Confederate flag cake was denied, but a design based on the flag belonging to militant group ISIS was accepted.

“That's an ISIS battle flag cake that anybody can go buy at Walmart, but you can't buy a Confederate flag cake. ISIS is killing our men and boys overseas and beheading Christians,” Netzhammer said in a video posted on YouTube.”

Walmart apologized for baking the cake stating that “an associate in a local store did not know what the design meant and made a mistake. The cake should not have been made and we apologize,” ABC News reported.

In 2013, Walmart sold a Bin Laden-themed Halloween costume, describing it as “Turban Beard Adult Halloween Instant Costume,” according to the Daily Mail.

The company was pressured to remove the costume from its website, after it was considered “insulting” by U.S.-based Sikh community.

The Sikh Coalition said in a letter that the costume is offensive to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks which bin Laden conducted, the Daily Mail reported.

In comments to The Huffington Post, Rajdeep Singh, Director of Law and Policy at The Sikh Coalition, said the costume would make people who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks uncomfortable.