Adidas faces boycott calls over campaign featuring former Israeli soldier

Adidas Undergoes Boycott Crisis After Featuring Former Israeli Combatant in New Campaign

Activists condemn campaign showcasing soldier alongside thousands of Gazan civilians injured in Israeli attacks.

A major sportswear firm has drawn sharp criticism and demands a boycott following the inclusion of a former Israeli army soldier in an advertisement for its exclusive amputee-fit shoe line.

The promotion depicts former Israeli soldier Shalev Biton trying on shoes in an Israeli retail location and then running outdoors in the same sneaker, prompting a boycott campaigns coordinator to label it an insult toward Palestinians on Sunday.

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Biton lost his leg after sustaining wounds during the 2021 Israel‑Gaza conflict, when the Israeli forces launched an eleven‑day assaults on the besieged coastal city.

Human‑rights groups and supporters of Palestine argue the immediate wave of condemnation and coordinated boycott efforts are fitting responses to the German athletic brand’s stance.

“This is not simply a lapse in taste by Adidas; it constitutes a flagrant offense to Palestinians who have been lost loved ones to Israel and have witnessed their relatives lose limbs inflicted by Israeli operations,” declared Stephanie Westbrook, a boycott campaigns coordinator for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

Westbrook cautioned that endorsing similar initiatives could normalize what she identifies as Israel’s alleged crimes against civilians and enable ongoing impunity.

“We see an Adidas initiative starring an Israeli combatant—an individual whose entire public figure is defined by military service—and who lost his limb while defending a regime that, according to her collaborators, commits genocide and imposes an illegal occupation on the land,” she added.

The World Health Organization estimates that between roughly five and six thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been incapacitated by amputation by early October 2025, covering most of the 42,000 locals who have suffered life‑changing injuries throughout the two‑year exchange.

Nearly a year after a provisional truce was proclaimed, relief agencies report persistent restrictions on medical supplies and prosthetic devices lingering due to Israel’s blockade of humanitarian entry points.

Although the commercial spot portrays the veteran returning to civic life to exercise and compete, more than a thousand Palestinian athletes have died in the ongoing war, while hundreds of survivors missing limbs have erected informal football squads seeking emotional release and physical purpose.

Authority Javier Bardem voiced his support through social platforms, disseminating graphic images and videos that galvanized anti‑branded sentiment.

Prominent literary voices, including US‑Palestinian novelrist Susan Abulhawa and Pakistani writer Fatima Bhutto, amplified the protest demands across digital networks.

Westbrook stressed that Israel’s relentless siege has dismantled healthcare infrastructure, resulting in chronic shortages of medical care and rehabilitative equipment in Gaza.

“Israel’s prolonged encirclement has effectively barred prosthetics from entering the Strip, exacerbating the current humanitarian scarcity,” added the campaign leader.

Since the Israeli offensive commenced in October 2023, UNICEF has documented that forty‑two thousand Palestinians have suffered debilitating injuries, a figure that includes eleven thousand minors—the region now recording the world’s highest per‑capita count of child amputees.

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