Full story
Prada names Saint Levant
Prada faced backlash after naming Marwan Abdelhamid, who performs as Saint Levant, as its newest global ambassador and featuring him wearing a necklace shaped like a map of “Palestine” that omitted any trace of Israel.
“The appearance of Palestinian singer Marwan Abdul Hamid, known as 'Saint Levant,' at Prada's Milan men's fashion show became material for a broad attack on social media after the Italian brand posted a clip of him described as an ambassador for the brand, in which he wore a necklace that pro-Israel accounts described as a map of 'historic Palestine”
The Daily Wire said the promotional clip showed Abdelhamid wearing a necklace that “pointedly omitted any trace of Israel,” and it also cited past remarks in which he described Gaza as suffering a “genocide” and accused Israel of a decades-long “occupation.”
New Lines Magazine said Prada revealed the ambassador on June 24 and that the post on its official Instagram page drew “over 120,000 likes in just a few days.”
The controversy centered on the silver map of historic Palestine around his neck, with debate over who gets to claim the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, as described by New Lines Magazine.
Reactions and boycott calls
In coverage of the backlash, Al-Jazeera Net described a broad attack on social media after Prada posted a clip of Saint Levant wearing a necklace that pro-Israel accounts described as a map of 'historic Palestine.'
Al-Jazeera Net also reported that supporters of Israel argued the necklace displayed a “fake map of Palestine,” and said this meant promoting the 'extermination of Israel' while calling to boycott the brand’s products.
The Daily Wire framed the campaign as anti-Israel messaging, quoting HonestReporting’s post that “It is a political statement,” and it said Prada’s choice was criticized as laundering politics into culture as “style.”
Al-Jazeera Net further said the reaction expanded into explicit calls to boycott Prada, with pro-Israel accounts urging consumer pressure by linking purchases to positions related to Israel and anti-Semitism, as claimed in the article.
Broader context and stakes
The Daily Wire said Prada named Bella Hadid its first-ever Global Beauty Ambassador in March 2026, and it described her as having “spent years stirring outrage” with posts and appearances tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“On June 24, Prada revealed that its latest brand ambassador was global music sensation Marwan Abdelhamid, known to most as Saint Levant”
It also said Hadid has repeatedly chanted “From the river to the sea” at rallies dating back years, and it connected that to the broader debate around Israel’s destruction as characterized by Jewish groups and the IHRA’s antisemitism definition in the article.
New Lines Magazine tied the necklace debate to the wider question of how to visualize a slice of land that stretches for just 80 miles, give or take, at its widest point, and it said Israelis and their supporters have said they will boycott the brand.
Al-Jazeera Net said the campaign against Prada and Saint Levant extended beyond the necklace to recalling past positions attributed to Saint Levant and linking his appearance in Prada’s campaign to the Amsterdam events of late 2024, as described through reposts and commentary in the article.
