Adidas, why??? Why are you sorry that you showed an Israeli amputee in an ad?

Shalev Biton lost his leg in 2021, when an anti-tank missile was fired from Gaza at the military vehicle he was in inside Israel. Another soldier was killed.

He survived.

He learned to live with a prosthetic leg, became a runner, and years later Adidas Israel featured him in a campaign promoting its Single Shoe program, which allows amputees to buy one shoe instead of having to pay for a pair they literally cannot use.

A lovely idea.

Except Shalev once served in the IDF.

So, naturally, people lost their minds.

Suddenly this disabled athlete wasn't a disabled athlete anymore.

He was an “IDF soldier.”

A “gen*cide supporter.”

People began calling for a boycott.

And Adidas apologized "for the offense.”

“Across the Middle East, Adidas has a long-standing commitment to the communities we serve, working alongside athletes, teams and sporting communities throughout the region as well as supporting people and communities in need through product donations.”

“We will continue to listen, learn and work to ensure that our actions reflect the inclusive values we stand for,”

ARGHHHH, what are we doing?

You wanna say its about the war? It's not. This wasn't even someone injured in Gaza during this war.

He lost his leg two years before October 7, after terrorists in Gaza fired a missile into Israel.

Apparently, even being injured by Palestinian terrorism doesn't make an Israeli sufficiently innocent to appear in a shoe advertisement.

And perhaps the part making me craziest is that EVERYTHING in Israel is Adidas.

Everywhere I look there are three stripes.

My kids have Adidas.

Israeli teenagers have Adidas.

Go into any mall here: Adidas.

Soccer fields: Adidas.

Gyms: Adidas.

Sneakers, backpacks, sweatshirts, tracksuits, uniforms, everything.

Israelis have been handing this company money forever.

Apparently our credit cards aren't offensive. Just our reality.

Because that is what this increasingly feels like.

You can take Israeli money.

You can sell to Israeli families.

You can plaster your logo across Israeli malls.

But God forbid an actual Israeli human being appears in your advertisement and the internet discovers that, like an enormous percentage of Israeli adults, he served in the army.

Then suddenly everyone needs an apology.

And this particular man isn't even being celebrated for being a soldier.

He's being featured because he has one leg.

That is the whole freaking point of the campaign.

He needs one shoe.

Adidas has a program selling one shoe.

End of story.

Except apparently Israelis aren't allowed to simply be people anymore.

We have to arrive with a political disclaimer attached.

There are people all over the world who have had limbs amputated. Palestians, Israelis, and people in conflicts all over the world.

But this is so dehumanizing.

Before you can see the amputee, you have to investigate whether he served.

Before you can see the athlete, you have to determine whether his existence is sufficiently ideologically pure.

Before you can see the human being, you have to decide whether being Israeli has already made him guilty.

Adidas apologized for offending people by showing him.

An Israeli man who lost his leg after being attacked from Gaza in Israel.

In an advertisement for shoes for amputees.

What exactly are you apologizing for?

His leg?

His survival?

His nationality?

Or just the fact that for thirty seconds you accidentally treated an Israeli like a human being?

Because I'm genuinely struggling to figure out which part was offensive.

And honestly, looking around Israel at the sheer amount of Adidas we own?

Maybe Adidas should be a little more worried about offending us