Adidas drops Bella Hadid from campaign referencing 1972 Munich Olympics

From Al Jazeera  The Telegraph  and Jewish News. It may be my imagination but I felt Al Jazeera was taking this more seriously than the Guardian and the Independent. 

Adidas has dropped vocal pro-Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid from an advertising campaign that drew criticism from Israel over its reference to the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The campaign was for the retro SL72 shoe, inspired by a design from the 1972 event, where the Palestinian Black September group took Israeli athletes hostage. . . (and) killed 11 members of Israel’s Olympic team and a West German policeman.

In the advertisement, Ms Hadid is pictured wearing the retro red trainers and holding a bouquet of flowers.

The American Jewish Committee said Adidas was wrong to pick an allegedly “anti-Israel model” for its campaign…“For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is acceptable.”

Adidas has apologised and told Jewish News it is “revising” its promotional campaign for a trainer inspired by those worn by athletes at the infamous Munich Olympics of 1972.

Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, has repeatedly made public comments in support of Palestine on her Instagram account.

In May she was photographed in Cannes in a red and white dress made of keffiyehs, a scarf which has become an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause. In a related post she said: “Palestine on my mind, in my blood and on my heart. Always…’

She has also shared the controversial and unfounded claims on her social media that Israel “beheaded children” in an attack on a tent camp in Gaza, and that Israel is “holding more hostages than Hamas” in reference to the many Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

It is down to the comment section in the Telegraph to spell out why this advert is so distasteful. 

• There’s no way that was unintentional, from the choice of model to the symbolism of the empty pair of blue and white trainers, this advert was glorifying anti-semitic terrorism. Adidas are just back pedalling now because of the backlash.
• Reply: And the red flowers. All a design.
• To re-launch the 72 Munich Olympic trainer is an appalling misjudgment. To have Hadid front it beggars belief.
• Red flowers with black centres, vivid green stems and thick white tape wrapping them, Adidas think we are all too dumb to notice

• The Munich terrorists did not just murder Jewish athletes, they tortured them, castrated at least one of them. Animals. And repeated on a grander scale last October. That people march in support of such degenerates is beyond me.

• You couldn’t make it up. A Palestinian who perpetuates blood libel claims against Israel, modelling the Munich trainers.