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‘My heart dropped’: New York couple find ‘free Palestine’ note in Chanukah gift from Bloomingdale’s
The store has apologised, offered a refund and opened an investigation
December 17, 2025 13:29
The store has apologised, offered a refund and opened an investigation
December 17, 2025 13:29A New York couple have spoken of their shock at finding a note which read “Free Palestine” enclosed in a pair of Chanukah pyjamas ordered from famed department store Bloomingdale’s.
Posting about the incident on TikTok, Arielle Harris explained how she found the note nestled between the two halves of the pyjama set, which are covered in a Star of David and menorahs design and were a gift from her boyfriend, Andrew Jones, for the first night of Chanukah.
She said: “We know this was from a Bloomingdale’s employee because it’s on a Bloomingdale’s card and my boyfriend hadn’t even opened the package before giving it to me, he just simply wrapped it.”
Concluding the video, which has now had over 12,000 likes, she said: “This never should have happened, and Bloomingdale’s needs to answer for their employees.”
Speaking to the New York Post, Jones and Harris revealed that the Jewish-founded department store is indeed taking the incident seriously, and that they’ve received “a heartfelt apology” and the offer of a full refund.
“They had a substantial response and are taking action to figure out who did this and how it slipped through the cracks,” Harris said, explaining that the Bloomingdale’s executive told them that the fulfilment centre where their gift was originally shipped is in the process of opening every package to make sure this wouldn’t happen again.
Jennifer Chadroff, director of brand communications for Bloomingdale’s, told JNS: “This was an unauthorised and unacceptable act.
“Antisemitism, or discrimination in any form, has absolutely no place in our business and does not align with our values or our care for our customers,” she added. “Please know we are treating this with the utmost seriousness.”
Despite the store’s statement, some on social media users have still accused the couple of fabricating the story.
Pushing back against these claims, Jones wrote on X: “Craziest part is how many commenters think I faked this.
“My heart dropped when this happened. Totally twisted a nice night of celebrating.”
Meanwhile, the former US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt commented: “A ‘free Palestine’ note in a Bloomingdale’s Chanukah gift. No limits. No shame.”
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