A record number of visitors from Muslim countries came to Israel last year, including nearly 55,000 from countries that have no diplomatic relations with the country.

According to figures provided by the Population and Immigration Authority, 72,109 citizens of Egypt and Jordan (the only Arab countries with which Israel has full diplomatic ties), Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Qatar, Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia visited Israel in 2018.

These numbers mark an increase of 15% from the previous year, when 62,658 tourists from the aforementioned countries travelled to the Jewish state.

In 2018, 12,363 Jordanians and 4,947 Egyptians came to Israel, along with 54,799 citizens of the remaining countries that do not have formal relations with Israel.

A significant number of 37,555 Indonesians visited Israel last year, marking a 5% increase from 2017. Last October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the world’s most populous Muslim nation was “very important” to Israel. Two months later, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem expressed its “most profound sympathies” to victims of a devastating tsunami that killed 280 people in Indonesia.

Perhaps surprisingly, the second-largest contingent from countries that don’t have ties with Israel came from Malaysia, a non-Arab Muslim-majority nation that made headlines earlier this year for banning Israelis from a Paralympic swimming tournament. After Israel slammed the move as “shameful,” Malaysia lost the right to host the competition, but defiantly said it would not compromise on its decision “on the ground of humanity and compassion for the Palestinian plight.” Nearly 14,000 Malaysian nationals came to Israel in 2018 — 4,000 more than the previous year.

Due to public outcry, online marketplace Redbubble has removed items featuring an image of Auschwitz from its for-sale pages.

The site, whose kitsch centres upon the user’s ability to customise items, sold clothing and household goods, cushions, tote bags, and miniskirts emblazoned with images of Auschwitz.

The items, priced between US$20-50 were branded “nauseating” and “disgusting” by the official Auschwitz Memorial charity, which reported the seller to company officials.

Auschwitz Memorial tweeted: “Do you really think that selling such products as pillows, miniskirts or tote bags with the images of Auschwitz – a place of enormous human tragedy where over 1.1 million people were murdered – is acceptable?”

Redbubble, whose HQ is in Australia, responded with an apology. “Redbubble takes a strong stance against racism and violence, including the atrocities committed in Nazi concentration camps.”

It added: “We have onsite reporting functions in place should community members discover works that breach these guidelines that have not yet been removed by our team.”

“We are grateful when any such material on the site is brought to our attention.”