Kyrie Irving Wears a Keffiyeh, Declares Solidarity with Gaza

November 20, 2023

American basketball icon Kyrie Irving appeared in the post-game press conference wearing a Palestinian Keffiyeh. (Photo: Socia Media via AJA)

By Sammy Baroud

Irving has been active on Twitter as of late, putting the spotlight on the ongoing Israeli genocide against Gaza. 

American basketball icon, NBA superstar, and former NBA champion, Kyrie Irving, appeared in the post-game press conference wearing a Palestinian Keffiyeh following his game on Saturday where his team, the Dallas Mavericks, went up against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Aside from rocking the White and Black Keffiyeh – the most popular symbolic attire of the Palestinian national movement – Irving has shown his solidarity with the people of Palestine on other occasions in the past. 

Indeed, Irving has been quite vocal on the issue since the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza in May 2021.

Following a win of the Brooklyn Nets, his team at the time, he declined to take questions from the press.

“I’m not going to lie to you guys, a lot of stuff is going on in this world, and basketball is just not the most important thing to me right now,” he said at the time, adding: “There’s a lot of things going on overseas. All our people are still in bondage across the world, and there’s a lot of dehumanization going on.”

“It’s just sad to see this— going on. It’s not just in Palestine, not just in Israel. It’s all over the world, and I feel it. I’m very compassionate to it — to all races, all cultures and to see it, to see a lot of people being discriminated against, based on their religion, color of their skin, what they believe in. It’s just sad.” 

Irving has been active on Twitter as of late, putting the spotlight on the ongoing Israeli genocide against Gaza. 

“Where are all you tough talking Media Heads that get on TV and social platforms to condemn people who stand by the oppressed??,” he tweeted on October 11, four days after the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza. 

“Crimes are being committed against humanity and most of you are silent. Cat got your tongue? Or you’re afraid of actually standing for something real.” 

Irving has also retweeted many pro-Palestine tweets and information about the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. 

Irving is known to have used his media platform as an NBA star in the past to be a voice for the oppressed. He has repeatedly spoken out against police brutality against African Americans, and the ongoing oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli army, in addition to other just causes. 

This differs from many of his colleagues, particularly Lebron James. James, an NBA legend who has marketed himself as a voice for the oppressed, has exhibited obvious hypocrisy when it came to the Israeli war against the Palestinians. 

A well-known advocate for the BLM movement, James has been silent on the atrocities in Palestine. In contrast, he showed support for Israel following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation by the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas on October 7. 

“The devastation in Israel is tragic and unacceptable,” he stated in an Instagram post on October 12, adding that “the murder and violence against innocent people by Hamas is terrorism.”

Since then, over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, including over 5,500 children and over 3,500 women. This did not compel any comments, let alone clearly stated moral position from James, and other NBA stars like him.  

Irving, however, remains one of the courageous voices in US sports, who spoke out loudly and unconditionally in support for oppressed Palestinians in Gaza. 

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Sammy Baroud is a young Palestinian-American Sports Writer and an aspiring footballer. He contributed this article to the Palestine Chronicle. Follow him @sammybaroud