Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Responding to Mohamed Salah: Who Killed the ‘Palestinian Pelé’?
Palestine Chronicle Staff
20 Aug 2025
🖨️ Print Article
x
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah rebuked UEFA for not mentioning who killed Suleiman al-Obeid. (Image: Maktoob Media)

Al-Obeid, 41, was killed on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, in an Israeli attack on civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip.

Originally published in Palestine Chronicle.

When UEFA posted a tribute on Friday, August 8, 2025, to Suleiman al-Obeid — the Gaza football legend known as the “Palestinian Pelé” — they made no mention of who killed him or how he died.

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, the most high-profile Arab player in the game, appeared to notice. The following day, Saturday, August 9, 2025, he replied to UEFA’s post with a pointed and deliberate question: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”

The comment — a clear rebuke of UEFA’s omission — quickly went viral, drawing nearly one million views in less than 24 hours.

Here is the Palestine Chronicle’s answer to Salah’s question.

Who Killed Suleiman al-Obeid?

Al-Obeid, 41, was killed on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, in an Israeli attack on civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Football Association (PFA).

Born in Gaza on March 24, 1984, he began his career with Khadamat al-Shati before moving to Markaz Shabab al-Am’ari in the occupied West Bank, later returning to play for Gaza Sport.

He became a fixture in the Palestinian national team after his 2007 debut, earning 24 caps and scoring twice. His most memorable goal — a spectacular scissor-kick against Yemen — came during the 2010 West Asian Football Federation championship.

During his long career, al-Obeid scored more than 100 goals. His skill, creativity, and leadership earned him the nickname “the Palestinian Pelé,” a nod to the Brazilian great widely regarded as one of the best players in history.

The PFA said al-Obeid was trying to obtain humanitarian aid amid widespread starvation and severe shortages of food and water when he was killed. He is survived by his wife and five children.

The Cost to Palestinian Sports

Al-Obeid’s death came just days before the killing of another Gaza footballer, Mahmoud Rafeh Shaheen of Al-Tuffah Sports Club, who was also targeted by Israeli forces while waiting for aid. Shaheen was the second Al-Tuffah player killed in two weeks, following his teammate Ismail Abu Dan.

The PFA says Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has devastated Palestinian sports. 

Since October 7, 2023, over 700 athletes and sports officials have been killed, including 322 affiliated with the PFA — among them players, coaches, administrators, referees, and club board members. 

At least 288 sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed, 268 of them in Gaza. The association’s headquarters in Gaza was among the sites hit in Israeli air raids.

As Palestinian journalist and Palestine Chronicle editor Ramzy Baroud wrote in a recent editorial, “In the Palestinian case, the hypocrisy is limitless, though it began long before the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Every Palestinian effort, often backed by Arab, Muslim, and Global South associations, to hold Israel accountable for its apartheid and military occupation has been met with consistent failure. Every time, the response is the same.”

According to Baroudm, FIFA’s “go-to excuse” — that sports and politics should not mix — is “the height of hypocrisy,” given that the organization “seamlessly mixed the two following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

Baroud stressed that the “complete moral breakdown on the part of institutions like FIFA” stands in stark contrast to the growing movement of sports fans worldwide, who “refuse to be part of this moral travesty” and are now “unequivocally challenging FIFA’s continued support for Israel.”

With American backing, Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians — most of them women, children, and the elderly — and injured over 152,000, according to Palestinian authorities. 

Thousands remain missing under the rubble. The blockade-induced famine has already claimed the lives of dozens of children and continues to push thousands to the brink of starvation.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

Palestine
sports
Genocide

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

x
Craig Mokhiber
No, Israel does not have ‘a right to exist.’ Quite the contrary, actually.
04 August 2026
"Unlike the Zionist claim that 'Israel has a right to exist,' my assertion is rooted in international law.
Nicaragua
Becca Renk Foster
Nicaragua to Raise Its Voice for Palestine in Another Landmark Case at the ICJ
04 August 2026
Against the backdrop of Israel’s renewed attacks on Palestine, the World Court is set to hold public hearings in Septembe
Ramzy Baroud
The Spark in Tell: How a Village Resistance Disrupted Israel’s West Bank Strategy
29 July 2026
Palestinians have the right to defend themselves under international law and they exercised it in the town of Tell on the West Bank. 
Noah Hurowitz
Trump’s Sanctions Against the ICC Are Unconstitutional, Rights Groups Say
22 July 2026
The human rights groups’ suit came as the Trump administration vowed to destroy the International Criminal Court entirely.
Black Alliance For Peace
The Anti Fascist Football Coalition Joins the Call for the Remaining Teams in the World Cup to Withdraw and Urges People of Conscience to Fight Back Against U.S. Fascism
15 July 2026
FIFA allowed a nation that commits genocide and runs detention gulags to host the World Cup, and the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition says stayi
Djibo Sobukwe
FIFA, World Cup 2026, Sports and the Contradictions of US/EU Colonial Hegemony 
15 July 2026
Haiti qualified for the World Cup on the anniversary of its revolution, the DRC brought the spirit of Lumumba to the pitch, and Iran wore pins
Sondos Asem
Senior UAE and regional officials referred to ICC over role in Sudan atrocities
15 July 2026
Coalition of NGOs accuses foreign officials, primarily from the UAE, of aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide i
Jeremy Scahill , Jawa Ahmad
Exclusive: Internal Documents Show Trump’s “Board of Peace“ Moving to Crush Palestinian Self-Determination
24 June 2026
Gaza proposals obtained by Drop Site show Trump’s board attempting to force a Palestinian surrender that Israel could not achieve in war.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
“Don’t Worry Be Happy”: The World Cup as an International Psy-Op
17 June 2026
FIFA uses the World Cup to present the United States as a legitimate nation, but the U.S.
Black Alliance For Peace
Black Alliance for Peace Calls On International Community to Boycott the 2026 World Cup Games Scheduled for the United States
03 June 2026
The World Cup is meant to be a celebration of global unity, not a propaganda shield for a superpower waging genocide abroad and running detenti

More Stories


  • Jason Koebler
    'A.I. Is African Intelligence': The Workers Who Train A.I. Are Fighting Back
    18 Mar 2026
    Kenyan workers are still the underpaid labor behind A.I. training, moderation, and sex chatbots. The Data Labelers Association is fighting back.
  • Isaac Saney
    Economic and Information War: The Manipulation of the March 13 Events in Cuba
    18 Mar 2026
    Washington is using economic warfare to manufacture unrest in Cuba, then using that unrest to justify more aggression.
  • Pablo Meriguet
    Shield of the Americas: Trump’s New Tool for Hemispheric Military Coordination
    17 Mar 2026
    The agreement was signed by more than a dozen right-wing and far-right Latin American governments and ensures Washington’s dominance and leadership in the Americas.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 13, 2026
    13 Mar 2026
    This week’s segment is devoted to the United States latest war of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We hear the perspectives of a U.S. based activist and organizer with Black Alliance…
  • Man carrying Iranian flag
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Navid Zarrinnal’s Perspectives From Iran
    13 Mar 2026
    Navid Zarrinnal is an Iranian journalist and host of The Colony Archive podcast. He joins us from Tehran to discuss the US and Israeli aggression and explains why the left must be in solidarity with…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us