Get you up to speed: NFL’s Azeez Al-Shaair pays tribute to slain Palestinian girl Wafaa Akila
Azeez Al-Shaair, linebacker for the Houston Texans, wore eye black bearing the name of slain Palestinian girl Wafaa Akila during an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Akila, an eight-year-old, was killed in an Israeli drone strike in Gaza on September 6.
The Israeli Ministry of Health has reported that at least 21,500 children have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Azeez Al-Shaair faced a previous fine for displaying the message “Stop The Genocide” on his equipment during the last NFL season.
Azeez Al-Shaair’s decision to wear eye black with the name of Wafaa Akila has elicited support from figures such as Kyrie Irving, who offered to cover the fines incurred from previous displays. The NFL has not indicated any intention to change its policies regarding player messages, but pressure mounts for broader discussions on athlete activism and league conduct.
What remains unclear — It is not known whether Al-Shaair will continue to wear names on his eye black in future games despite the fines imposed by the NFL.
Azeez Al-Shaair honours slain Palestinian girl Wafaa Akila during NFL game
Sport|American FootballNFL’s Azeez Al-Shaair pays tribute to slain Palestinian girl Wafaa Akila
Al-Shaair wears eye black with Akila’s name despite being fined for displaying messages about Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Published On 21 Sep 202621 Sep 2026
Published On 21 Sep 202621 Sep 2026American football player Azeez Al-Shaair has persisted with his stance on raising awareness about slain Palestinian children by wearing eye black bearing the name of Wafaa Akila, an eight-year-old girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, during his latest appearance in the National Football League (NFL).
The Houston Texans’ linebacker wore the black tape across his nose during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, days after he wore the name of Hind Rajab on his eye black, which led to an $11,941 fine by the NFL as he breached the league’s code of conduct on players’ clothing and equipment during a match against the Buffalo Bills on September 13.
However, basketball player Kyrie Irving stepped in and offered to pay the fine for Al-Shaair, who later confirmed that he had been in touch with the nine-time NBA All-Star.
Al-Shaair brushed off talk of the fine while speaking to reporters last week. “It’s bigger to me; what’s a life worth? Is a life worth $11,000? No, I think it’s priceless,” he said.
In his first match appearance since being fined, Al-Shaair took the field with “Wafaa Akila” written on his eye black, a sticker or paint frequently used by NFL players to reduce glare.
On September 6, the first day of school for the eight-year-old, she was killed along with her father in an Israeli attack in western Gaza as they were making their way home.
The Israeli drone struck their car, leaving it burned and charred, with only a few pages of Akila’s school books surviving the horrific attack. A few hours earlier, a smiling Akila posed for a photo before setting off for her first day of school.
The Israeli genocide in Gaza has severely limited education for the Strip’s 660,000 children, with 90 percent of schools left damaged or destroyed.
Israel has killed at least 21,500 children since October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Akila’s death was similar to that of Rajab, aged five, who was killed in Gaza after Israeli soldiers opened fire on her family’s stranded car on January 29, 2024. A phone call by the Palestine Red Crescent Society documented her final moments and was the subject of an Oscar-nominated docudrama.
Al-Shaair shared posts about Akila, as well as her mother’s reaction to the killing, on his Instagram account on Sunday.
Following the Texans’ match against the Bengals, a social media user posted a video that showed Al-Shaair interacting with children – some sporting keffiyehs, others who were amputees and were holding posters in support of the player – on the sidelines.
‘Be like Azeez Al-Shaair’
Al-Shaair, a Black American Muslim player, has frequently spoken about the plight of Palestinians and has paid the price for it.
He was also fined in January, during the NFL’s last season, for displaying the message “Stop The Genocide” on his nose tape. While it did not specifically refer to a particular conflict, it was widely understood to be about Gaza and Sudan.
Prominent American Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman has repeatedly voiced his support for Al-Shaair.
“My brother, who went to Jordan to be with Palestinian refugees this summer, who spends time with Palestinian children with missing limbs in Houston, who is using every week of his Pro Bowl NFL career to honour a Palestinian child despite the fines,” Suleiman wrote about Al-Shaair in a social media post on Sunday.
“In the sports and entertainment arenas run by many of the same types of people who run government, choose to be like Azeez Al-Shaair, Kyrie, and Macklemore.”
The NFL’s fine on Al-Shaair comes at a time when Robert Kraft, owner of the Boston-based team New England Patriots, confirmed that he pressured pop star Ed Sheeran to drop rapper Macklemore from his tour of the United States.