American football player Azeez Al-Shaair has marked a fifth consecutive week of honouring a Palestinian child, this time writing the name of Maryam Ghanem on his eyeblack. Ghanem is a girl who was orphaned in Gaza last week. He wore the name during his team’s latest National Football League game.
Al-Shaair displayed Ghanem’s name across the black tape under his eyes during the Houston Texans’ match against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The game was played at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom, on Sunday. The eyeblack is a tape athletes wear to reduce glare.
Maryam Ghanem’s family and the Gaza strike
Ghanem is a two-and-a-half-year-old girl who, according to reports, was forced to watch her mother burn to death after an Israeli strike hit their home in the Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City on Wednesday. Local journalists reportedly rescued her after hearing her cries as flames spread through the apartment building. She was later identified as the only survivor of her family.
She was taken to hospital for treatment for severe burns. Ghanem was seen lying in a hospital bed, clutching her doll, and said, “My hand hurts.” Her father had died at the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which the article describes as genocidal, and she has now lost her mother too. Israeli air strikes continue to hit Gaza regularly despite a United States-brokered ceasefire in the territory.
Al-Shaair’s fine and his response
Al-Shaair, 29, has used his social media accounts and his eyeblack to draw attention to Palestinian deaths during the three years of the war. He has reportedly been fined and threatened with removal from games, but he has said he will not be deterred. He started the current season by wearing the name of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl who was killed in Gaza on January 29, 2024, after Israeli soldiers opened fire on her family’s stranded car.
The NFL fined him $11,491 for breaching the league’s code of conduct on player clothing and equipment during a game against the Buffalo Bills. Basketball player Kyrie Irving offered to pay the fine, and Al-Shaair later confirmed that he had been in contact with the nine-time NBA All-Star. Speaking to reporters last week, Al-Shaair downplayed the penalty. “It’s bigger to me; what’s a life worth? Is a life worth $11,000? No, I think it’s priceless,” he said.
Public support and a separate controversy
Prominent American Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman has repeatedly backed Al-Shaair. In a social media post last month, Suleiman praised the player’s visit to Jordan to meet Palestinian refugees, his time with Palestinian children in Houston, and his weekly tributes despite the fines. Suleiman also urged people in sport and entertainment to follow Al-Shaair’s example, Irving’s, and that of rapper Macklemore.
The fine came at a time when Robert Kraft, owner of the Boston-based New England Patriots, confirmed that he had pressured pop star Ed Sheeran to drop Macklemore from his US tour.
