Jewelry store under fire for earrings that look like swastikas

Greenpoint, Brooklyn, store Bejeweled is catching heat for selling these earrings that look like swastikas. The bling is a Tibetan thing, a manager insisted, and said of critics, "These people are ignorant."

A Brooklyn jewelry store came under fire from politicians Tuesday for hawking earrings that look like swastikas.

The Bejeweled shop in Greenpoint has sold out of all but one pair of the controversial accessory — studs that closely resemble the Nazi symbol.

“It’s totally outrageous,” said City Councilman Steve Levin (D-Greenpoint), who called on Bejeweled to stop selling the earrings.

“They should be sensitive to what that symbol means to Jews around the world.”

The swastika, popularized by the Nazis, is originally a symbol for eternity in Tibetan Buddhism.

A Bejeweled manager defended the Manhattan Ave. store’s decision to sell the jewelry, saying that the earrings mirror the Tibetan symbol, not swastikas.

“These people are ignorant,” said the manager, who declined to give her name. “They shouldn’t say anything if they don’t know anything about symbols. I find this offensive.”

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) called the manager’s defense “nauseating.”

“It’s sick. It’s insulting. It’s degrading,” Hikind said.

“The average person, when they see a swastika, they see it as a symbol of hate. End of story.”

Swastika Earrings at Brooklyn Shop: MyFoxNY.com