Boxing Day Test: Usman Khawaja defiant as Cricket Australia shuts down hope of pro-Palestine stand

Usman Khawaja has been banned from a planned shoes protest on Boxing Day after a series of CA meetings, but says he won’t back down.

Usman Khawaja hoped to wear shoes in Perth with pro-Palestine messages, and now CA has stepped in to ban it happening on Boxing Day.

Usman Khawaja has been banned from a human rights protest on his shoes at the Boxing Day Test after a series of meetings with Cricket Australia in recent days but has resolved not to back down, arguing “nothing worthwhile is easy”.

The Australian revealed ahead of the first game against Pakistan that Khawaja planned to wear shoes with the words “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right”.

Khawaja abandoned plans to wear them in Perth after learning he would be sanctioned, but resolved to seek permission from Cricket Australia and the ICC to wear them in the Boxing Day Test match.

That wish has been denied by local cricket authorities, but other avenues are being explored.

Khawaja is not walking away from the cause, posting to his social media account a graphic highlighting the reported deaths of 24,000 civilians, including 10,000 children in the Gaza Strip.

He thanked people at the end of the Test match for their support.

“There are a lot of kind-hearted people out there,” he wrote. “Nothing worthwhile is easy. History shows we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our past. But together we can fight for a better future.”

Khawaja finished the post with the words banned from his shoes by cricket authorities.

The batter covered the offending statements with tape during the first Test, arguing it would be a distraction, but took to social media to question critics within the game who went out of their way to attack him.

“Do people not care about innocent humans being killed?” he asked in a video. Or is it the colour of their skin that makes them less important? Or the religion they practice? These things should be irrelevant if you truly believe that ‘we are equal’.

“I’m not taking sides, human life to me is equal. One Jewish life is equal to one Muslim life is equal to one Hindu life and so on. I’m just speaking up for those who don’t have a voice.”

The father of two daughters said the issue of children being killed was “close to my heart”.

“When I see thousands of children dying without any repercussions or remorse, I imagine my two girls — what if it was them.”

Khawaja bats with a black armband on against Pakistan at Perth’s Optus Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

Khawaja countered criticism of him using the Palestinian colours for the statements, arguing that those lives are not being treated as equal to others.

The move by Cricket Australia does not mean Khawaja cannot apply to have a different form of protest on his equipment, but that will have to be cleared by the ICC before the Boxing Day Test.

Khawaja did wear a black arm band during the match and is believed to have been in breach of ICC rules which ban such gestures without permission unless they mark a personal bereavement.

The ICC’s clothing and equipment regulations state that “cricket should be used as a tool to bring people and communities around the world together and not as a platform to potentially divisive political issues, rhetoric and agendas”.

Khawaja has the full support of his team mates with Pat Cummins defending the veteran opener before the Perth Test.

“His shoes had ‘all lives are equal’, I don’t think that’s very divisive, I don’t think anyone can have too many complaints to that,” he said. “I think it’s one of our strongest points, our team, that everyone has their own passionate views and individual thoughts.

“I chatted to Uzzy briefly about it today. I don’t think his intention is to make too big of a fuss, but we support him.”