Adidas Faces Boycott Over Ad Featuring Israeli Soldier — SkimNews
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- Adidas faces boycott calls for featuring former Israeli army soldier Shalev Biton in an advertisement for its single-shoe service for amputees, prompting activist Stephanie Westbrook of PACBI to call the campaign "an absolute affront to Palestinians."
- Biton lost his leg during the 2021 Israel-Gaza conflict, an 11-day assault on the besieged enclave, and the ad shows him trying on a shoe at an Israeli store before running outdoors.
- Spanish actor Javier Bardem, US-Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa, and Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto joined the online boycott calls, sharing boycott campaign images and videos on their social media accounts.
- The World Health Organization estimates 5,000–6,000 people in Gaza underwent amputations as of early October 2025 when Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire, with UNICEF reporting 42,000 Palestinians have suffered life-altering injuries since October 2023, including 11,000 children.
- Gaza has the world's highest number of child amputees per capita, with children accounting for a quarter of all amputations over the past two years, according to the International Rescue Committee.
- Westbrook said Israel's blockade prevents medicines and prosthetics from entering Gaza following the destruction of the territory's medical facilities, creating what she called a "man-made shortage."
- More than 1,000 Palestinian athletes have been killed during Israel's war on Gaza, while hundreds of aspiring footballers who lost limbs have formed amputee football teams to find respite in sport.
Why it matters: The campaign backfires because Adidas marketed an amputee-focused product using a former Israeli soldier while Gaza holds the world's highest per-capita rate of child amputees — 11,000 children among 42,000 life-altering injuries — and Israel's blockade blocks the prosthetics those amputees need, turning a shoe advertisement into a boycott flashpoint that could cost Adidas brand loyalty among pro-Palestine consumers.
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