Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Adidas has faced backlash for featuring a former Israeli soldier who participated in Israel’s 2021 assault on Gaza to promote its Single Shoe service, just a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip, which has the world’s highest per-capita rate of child amputees.
The campaign promotes Adidas’ Single Shoe Service, which allows people who need only one shoe—including amputees and people with limb differences—to purchase a single shoe for 50 percent of the price of a full pair.
Adidas launched the initiative across 23 European countries earlier this year, saying it was developed in consultation with members of the limb-difference community.
For the Israeli market, however, the company featured Shalev Biton, a former combat soldier in the Israeli military’s Nahal Brigade who lost a leg after being wounded during Israel’s May 2021 assault on Gaza.
The decision to choose the Israeli soldier in the campaign has drawn sharp backlash from Palestinian and pro-Palestine social media users, who have questioned Adidas’ choice to spotlight an Israeli soldier wounded during an assault on Gaza while promoting a product specifically designed for people who have lost limbs.
The backlash comes against the backdrop of the enormous number of Palestinians who have suffered life-changing injuries during Israel’s war on Gaza. The World Health Organization has reported tens of thousands of severe injuries, including thousands requiring amputations, while recent reporting has described Gaza as having the world’s highest per-capita rate of child amputees.
They have therefore highlighted the stark contrast: Adidas’ campaign emphasizes accessibility for amputees through the experience of an Israeli military veteran, while Palestinians in Gaza—including large numbers of children—are living with amputations resulting from the ongoing Israeli genocide and previous Israeli assaults and facing severe shortages of prosthetic materials and medical care.
This has also prompted calls online for a boycott of Adidas. Posts criticizing the campaign have circulated widely across social media, with users accusing the company of overlooking Palestinian amputees while giving promotional visibility to a former Israeli soldier whose injury occurred during Israel’s assault on Gaza. The United Nations reported that Israeli attacks that time killed 260 people in Gaza, including 66 children.
In 2024, Adidas apologised to Palestinian-American supermodel Bella Hadid after removing her from its SL72 shoe campaign, which references the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Adidas removed Hadid’s campaign images following a pressure from pro-Israel groups from its social media accounts while leaving images of other celebrities involved, prompting accusations of “blatant racism” and calls for a boycott.
Sporticide: Israel’s Attacks on Palestinian Sports
Israel has bombed and destroyed Palestinian stadiums and sports structures and routinely denied freedom of movement to Palestinian athletes.
It has imprisoned and shot Palestinian athletes, and killed Palestinian children playing football. Palestinian athletes are regularly prevented from training and participating in competitions, at home and abroad.
As part of Israel genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, Israel is also committing sporticide. As of January 2025, Israel has killed at least 715 Palestinian athletes and footballersand destroyed or damaged all Palestinian sports facilities in Gaza, including stadiums, gyms and club facilities, some of which were used as detention and torture camps.
“The IFA is complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinian sport,” the BDS movement says.
