Usman Khawaja’s emotional message on supporting Palestine has moved the internet

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja released an emotional message on social media to support Palestine after wearing shoes that said ‘All Lives Matter’ in the colours of the Palestinian flag.

He requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket Australia (CA) to permit him to support Palestine on-field.

Earlier, during the first Test match played in Perth against Pakistan, Usman wore a black armband.

ICC charged the Australian opener, calling the armband a personal promotion.

During a practice session before the Perth Test, the Kangaroos opener wore shoes with a pro-Palestinian slogan on them, but Cricket Australia and the ICC took action against him, after which he participated in the game with a black armband against Israeli atrocities.

An emotional Usman Khawaja addresses why he's speaking up for human rights issues this summer ☮️ #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/3QDjUWpjgG

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 22, 2023

In his message Usman Khawaja said, “I don’t have any agendas other than trying to shine a light on what I feel, passionately, really strongly about. I’m trying to do in the most respectful way possible what around my shoes was really.”

“I thought about it for a while where I was going to write. I made sure that I didn’t want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs, and communities, hence why I’ve kept religion out of this. I want it to be really broad and open, mind speaking, because I’m talking about humanitarian issues.”

“I’m talking about Article One or the Unified Declaration of Human Rights. That is the crux of it. The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard. You know, I told Nick just this morning that. When I’m looking at my Instagram I’m seeing kids, innocent kids, videos of them dying, and passing away. That’s what’s hit me the hardest”.

I just imagine my young daughter in my arms is the same thing, I get emotional talking about it right now again, and for me, that’s the reason I’m doing this. I don’t have any hidden agendas. If anything, you know, this brings up more negativity towards me. People come and start attacking me. I don’t get anything out of this. I just feel like it’s my responsibility to speak up on this”.

“We live in such a beautiful country. I’m blessed to be able to go to Australia. I can walk outside. I have to worry about a thing. My kids can do the same. I just want that for the rest of the world. And that’s the reason I’m saying this”.