For Sale in N.Y.: 'Jews Against Obama' T-Shirt

An Israeli man is selling T-shirts bearing the slogan "Jews Against Obama" at his Lower East Side boutique — just around the corner from Katz's Delicatessen.

A sample T-shirt advertised in the shop's display window is decorated with assorted paraphernalia, including a yellow Star of David stamped with the word "JUDE," in the style of those forced on Jews in Nazi Germany; a black-
and-white-checkered keffiyeh (a scarf known for its association with Yasser Arafat); a belt made of bullets, and a copy of the Holocaust memoir "Survival in Auschwitz" by Primo Levi.

The owner of the store, Doron Braunshtein, an Israeli immigrant who also goes by the alias "Apollo Braun," which is the name of his store, said he created the T-shirt and designed the display window.

He said he was once a supporter of Mr. Obama's, but was turned off by the senator's former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and after learning Mr. Obama once visited Pakistan.

He said he the design of the display window was no accident, and that he wants the keffiyeh to become permanently associated with anti-Obama sentiment. The Levi book is meant as a warning, he said: "You open the door for Obama, you have no idea what can come your way."

Yesterday afternoon, people who stopped to look at the shop, on Orchard Street between Stanton and Houston streets, had mixed reactions.

An editor at New York magazine, Michael Idov, called it "nauseating" and told Mr. Braunshtein he hopes it does not sell.

Another Lower East Side resident, Janet Heller, stepped inside the store to tell Mr. Braunshtein that she was offended by the Star of David.

When Mr. Braunshtein told her that he is Jewish, Ms. Heller countered, "So am I."

An older woman, Mary Becker, who held an Evian bottle and wore green designer eyeglasses, declared her approval.

"I like this T-shirt, because I don't like Obama," Ms. Becker said.

Hearing her, Mr. Braunshtein came outside carrying a version of the same shirt in blue. He gave it to her for free, noting that he's selling it for $250.

"Will you wear it?" he asked.

"Of course I will," Ms. Becker said.

An 18-year-old, Kevin Gannon, who lives above Mr. Braunshtein's shop and has made a documentary film about him, said he likes Mr. Obama but also likes the shirt.

"People get really upset, and I think that's the art form. You dig?" he said.

Mr. Braunshtein chimed in, saying he has been hit with flying pizzas and has received death threats.

"That's so beautiful, though," Mr. Gannon said.

Several Jewish leaders decried the shirts.

The executive director of the Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition, Rabbi Michael Feinberg, called them "utterly offensive and divisive."

A member of the American Jewish Congress who has criticized Mr. Obama's foreign policy, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, called the shirts "a stupid tactic." "It's a little beneath us," he said.