European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, who spoke to the Adidas leadership to denounce the ”deeply insensitive and painful” campaign given the murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists,   said he accepted the company’s apology.

 

Internation sports apparel company Adidas has apologized for “any upset or distress caused” by including model Bella Hadid, who is considered as antisemitic and anti-Israel, in its campaign  revamping the 1972 Munich Olympic sneakers.

Adidas’ SL72 advertisements feature an Adidas-clad Hadid holding flowers, while showing off her sneakers.

But the 1972 Olympics in Munich, however, were overshadowed by a terrorist attack that left 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer dead at the hands of Palestinian terrorists of the Black September group who had infiltratred the Olympic village.

“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional — and we apologize for any upset or distress caused,” said Adidas on Thursday in a statement.

“As a result, we are revising the remainder of the campaign. We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world and will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do.”

“It was deeply insensitive and painful to see Bella Hadid, one of the most vocal and hateful inciters of antisemitism,  fronting a campaign for an Adidas shoe marking the 1972 Munich Olympics – games that were made infamous by the tragic murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorist,’’ said European Jewish Association (EJA) Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin who explained Friday that he spoke to the sports giant leadership about the issue.

“Having spoken to the comapny leadership, we appreciate the speed with which Adidas have acted. It is a recognition that a serious mistake was made. We accept their apology and their commitment to be more mindful and careful of such sensitivities going forwards,’’ Margolin, whose organization represents hundreds of Jewish communities across Europe, said.

He added, “We welcome their decision to revise the campaign going forwards to reflect the understandable concerns raised by Jews, Israelis, and large swathes of the public world-wide. We trust that this revision of the campaign will allows us all to move on from this entirely avoidable incident.”