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 eye black strips. In Week 2, Al-Shaair was prevented from honoring a different Palestinian who was killed in the ongoing conflict with Israel.
Jonathan Jones of The Athletic reports that Al-Shaair was told to remove “Wafaa Akila” from his eye black 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 Week 2.
The same thing happened during the 2025 postseason. After Al-Shaair wore “stop the genocide” on his eye black strips during the wild-card win over the Steelers, the league told him he wouldn’t be permitted to play if he tried to do it again in the divisional round at New England.
Al-Shaair 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. “Like, I don’t need anybody to gaslight me into saying that, ‘Well, you gotta ask. . . .’ I just know that’s not right, whether they’re here in America or somewhere halfway across the world.”
It’s a simple message that should be undeniable to anyone who has any basic regard for humanity. In any armed conflict, innocent civilians should not be killed — especially not children.
