After sparking backlash online, the “Stand For Freedom” t-shirt that was sold at Shiekh’s USC Village location was removed from the store’s website Tuesday. A Sept. 13 post on the social platform X by user @EYakobi about the shirt being sold at USC Village has more than 400,000 views at the time of publishing, with comments both supporting and opposing the shirt.

The shirt depicted the area encompassing both Israel and the State of Palestine filled in by the colors of the Palestinian flag with the words “Stand For Freedom” around it. The shirt has been removed from Shiekh’s USC Village location, according to a University statement to the Daily Trojan.

“As soon as we became aware of the concern, we immediately notified the store operator,” the University wrote. “They, in turn, informed us that the items had already been removed.”

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Dave Cohn, the executive director of USC Hillel, said the image depicted on the shirt was “really hurtful.”

“The vision that the [Stand For Freedom] shirt implies is one that erases the Jewish character of Israel by imposing the Palestinian flag over the entire boundaries of the State of Israel,” Cohn said. “To imply that the only path to freedom for that land is one that erases the Jewish connection is a reckless suggestion.”

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, USC’s Divest From Death Coalition said the response to the shirt, both online and by the University, was “farcical.”

“Calling for freedom for the Palestinian nation from the assault of zionist settler-colonialism and [U.S.] imperialism is neither [antisemitic] nor offensive,” USC’s Divest From Death Coalition wrote. “The shirt in question was so mild as to not even specify from whom or what Palestinians should demand freedom, yet even this vague call to solidarity with a nation currently facing a genocide was apparently a horrendous eyesore.”

While Cohn acknowledged that the shirt was protected speech, he said it was still harmful to the Jewish population at USC.

“It is really hard to have that imagery confronting you in your day-to-day life, as a Jewish person … That does not mean that they don’t have a legal right to sell that product,” Cohn said. “The discussion that interests Hillel most is how our students can feel that they’re moving about campus in a safe and supportive environment. And from that point of view, I do think that it is something that causes discomfort and harm.”

In its statement, USC’s Divest From Death Coalition criticized USC’s handling of the situation compared to previous protests for their cause.

“The University sprang to such action at a [t-shirt] … the kinds of swift responses that Palestinian students and allies have received from the administration have not come in the form of apologetic tweets and alerts to retailers,” USC’s Divest From Death Coalition wrote. “[For us] it takes … an international movement of protest encampments to get the University to even acknowledge the existence of our demands.”

Shiekh’s USC Village location is less than a month old after its Aug. 30 grand opening, and is one of 128 stores in the United States. The store, formerly known as Shiekh Shoes, primarily specializes in shoes and apparel.

Shiekh did not respond to a request to comment in time for publication.