Story thread · 3 reports / 2 sources

Who is Azeez Al Shaair? The NFL captain who defies the league to speak out on Palestine and Hind Rajab

thenationalnews.com · 9h · first reportShare

Azeez Al Shaair vowed to continue staging protests to highlight Palestinian suffering – and he was as good as his word ahead of the Houston Texans' 20-6 defeat to Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night. The 29-year-old linebacker had already been fined twice since January for writing pro-Palestine messages on his eye black during games, and now faces a third sanction after displaying the name “Wafaa Akila” at the weekend. Eight-year-old Wafaa was killed alongside her father by an Israeli air strike on September 6 which had targeted their vehicle as they drove to pick up supplies following her first day of school. Azeez had previously written “Hind Rajab” – the name of a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza by Israeli forces in 2024 – on his eye black for his team’s season opener against the Buffalo Bills last weekend. The NFL forbids players from displaying messages not approved by the league, and he was fined around $11,500 for the gesture. “What’s a life worth?” Al Shaair told N