National Football League linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair wore eye black reading “Stop the Genocide” on Sunday, despite being fined for the anti-Israel message a week earlier.
Al-Shaair was fined $11,593 for displaying the same message during a pregame team huddle ahead of a wild-card playoff showdown against Pittsburgh on Jan. 12, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Houston Texans advanced to the divisional round with a 30-6 win.
(On March 15, 2024, Al-Shaair signed a three-year, $34 million contract with the Texans.)
In Sunday’s game, which the Texans lost to the New England Patriots 28-16, Al-Shaair could again be seen wearing the eye black while giving a pregame pep talk to his teammates, but not on the field.
Jerusalem has denied accusations of genocide following Hamas’s October 2023 attack, with officials calling such claims an antisemitic blood libel.
Al-Shaair, who is Muslim, has previously used the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” program to highlight Palestinian causes.
