Kmart: Australian grocery store removes 'Merry Ham-mas' Christmas bag

Kmart, an Australian supermarket chain, has withdrawn a festive gift from its website after receiving a complaint from a Jewish group. The gift was a Christmas food-themed bag with the pun "ham-mas" written prominently on it. The Australian Jewish Association raised concerns about the unintentional resemblance to Hamas, a banned terrorist organization in Australia and other countries, and asked for the product to be removed. Kmart's parent company, Wesfarmers, apologized and agreed to take down the item. The bag, which had instructions for preserving ham and the words "Merry HAM-MAS," no longer appears on Kmart's website. The incident was initially brought up on Twitter by the Australian Jewish Association, leading to discussions with senior management, who assured the group that the bag would be removed. In a statement, Kmart acknowledged their mistake and expressed their sincere apology for not considering the implications of the product before its release.