Tennessee Titans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair took a few minutes to explain his support for Palestinians when reporters asked him about his “May Cause, My Cleats” campaign on Thursday.
Al-Shaair chose the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund as the cause he is highlighting with his cleat design.
“Given the recent events in Israel and Gaza, this nonprofit provides medical aid and essential supplies to children injured and left homeless by the bombings in Gaza,” reads the description of Al-Shaair’s My Cleats cause on the Titans’ activism webpage.
Al-Shaair seems extremely vague on what those “recent events in Israel and Gaza” even are and his comments in the locker room don’t help, except to leave the impression that he thinks only Jews are to blame for the “events” there.
“So, um, for me it obvious like, I kind of use like world peace as a whole,” he said when asked about his cleat campaign, “but, uh, more specifically the things that are going on in Gaza, it’s, um, men, women, and children being bombed.”
“Like deprived of basic necessities, um, it’s just insane,” he rambled on. “And like, obviously it’s been going on for a very long time, and it’s just kind of crazy, like, that we’ve allowed something like this to go on for so long. So, I’m just trying to bring more awareness to it, as much as I can, and, you know, uh, just raise as much money, you know, to help as much as we can.”
Azeez Al-Shaair #2 of the Tennessee Titans is seen after the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 8, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
While the X video of his comments found plenty of supporters attacking Israel, many took exception to Al-Shaair’s “charity” work.
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