After the Texans’ Week 1 game against the Bills, the NFL fined linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair $11,941 for having the name “Hind Rajab” on his black eye patches. In the second week, Al-Shaair was prevented from honoring another Palestinian who was killed in the ongoing conflict with Israel.
Jonathan Jones i Athletics reports that Al-Shaair was told to remove “Wafaa Akila” from his black eye early in the game against the Bengals. Wafaa Akila, 8, was killed during an Israeli airstrike earlier this month.
Jones adds that Al-Shaair was not fined for the message in the second week.
The same thing happened during the 2025 postseason. After Al-Shaair wore black “stop genocide” eyebands during the wild-card win over the Steelers, the league told him he wouldn’t be allowed to play if he tried to do it again in the New England divisional round.
Al-Sha’air explained his reason for honoring Hind Rajab in a session with reporters last week.
“We don’t have to have all the answers to everything to know that an innocent man, an innocent woman, an innocent child losing their life is not right,” Al-Shaair said. “For example, I don’t need someone to tell me, ‘Well, you have to ask. . . . I just know that’s not right, whether they’re here in America or halfway around the world.'”
It’s a simple message that should be undeniable to anyone with any basic respect for humanity. In any armed conflict, innocent civilians should not be killed – especially not children.
