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‘He’s My Captain:’ Hundreds of Protestors Declare Support for South African Jewish Cricketer David Teeger Amid Ongoing Antisemitism Scandal
Protestors demonstrating in support of Jewish cricketer David Teeger outside the headquarters of Cricket South Africa. Photo: Ilan Ossendryver
Brandishing signs declaring “He’s My Captain,” “Stop Racism in Sport” and “No Place for Antisemitism,” hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Johannesburg headquarters of Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday to demand the reinstatement of David Teeger as captain of the national U-19 team, one week after he was stripped of the post amid accusations of antisemitism.
An observant Jew who made his professional cricket debut in 2023, Teeger was removed from the captain’s position by the CSA Board on the eve of the Cricket World Cup, which is being hosted by South Africa and begins on Friday. Explaining its decision, CSA cited “security concerns” around Teeger’s very presence, insisting that removing him from the captaincy — but not the team — allayed the risk of violent pro-Hamas demonstrations at World Cup matches that might potentially endanger the team, spectators and Teeger himself.
However, this reasoning was dismissed as a “ruse” by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) following its meeting with CSA earlier this week, charging that the body, which governs cricket operations across the country, had displayed “pure antisemitism” in removing Teeger as captain.
“They tried to get David to step down voluntarily, saying ‘it’ll be hard for you.’ He refused and that’s when they stripped him,” Zev Krengel — the SAJBD’s vice-president — stated at an online press conference on Tuesday. Krengel also emphasized that Teeger had been cleared of the charge of bringing CSA into disrepute by an independent investigation following a speech he gave at a Jewish communal awards ceremony in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel, in which he lauded “the State of Israel and every single soldier fighting so that we can live and thrive in the diaspora.”
At Tuesday’s protest, demonstrators led boisterous chants of “We want Teeger!” and “David! David!” Among the speakers at the event was South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) vice-president Avrom Krengel, who told the crowd, “We need to take back cricket and our country from people who do not represent us anymore.”
CSA remained unmoved by the protest, however. “Cricket South Africa finds the accusations of antisemitism leveled against it by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies as without any basis and rejects them with the contempt they deserve,”a spokesperson for the CSA board told CNN on Thursday.
As part of its effort to secure Teeger’s reinstatement as team captain for a tournament that involves the participation of 16 nations, the SAJBD on Wednesday wrote to Greg Barclay — chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sports’ international governing body — asserting that “CSA categorically failed to provide any credible evidence that there had been any real security threats to the upcoming tournament due to David Teeger being captain of the SA team.”
The letter went on to state that “taking into account the strong possibility of political interference on the part of the South African government being involved, one is all but forced to conclude that David Teeger was stripped of his captaincy due to his being a Jewish person who at a private Jewish communal event had expressed support for the State of Israel and its armed forces following the 7 October terror attacks against the country and the ongoing war resulting from that.”
It emphasized again that Teeger was removed “despite an independent investigation initiated by CSA itself and conducted by the eminent Advocate Wim Trengove having found that Teeger had not contravened CSA’s code of conduct.”
The ICC’s current position is that it is unable to step into the controversy.
“Team selection including captaincy is an issue for members and not the ICC,” an ICC spokesperson said on Tuesday. “An international federation is not constituted to intervene in team selections.”
The post ‘He’s My Captain:’ Hundreds of Protestors Declare Support for South African Jewish Cricketer David Teeger Amid Ongoing Antisemitism Scandal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says It Would Reduce Troops in Lebanon if Beirut Takes Steps to Disarm Hezbollah
An Israeli tank is positioned on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, March 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
Israel on Monday signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the Lebanese armed forces took action to disarm Iran-backed Shi’ite terrorist group Hezbollah.
The announcement from the Israeli prime minister’s office came a day after Benjamin Netanyahu met with US envoy Tom Barrack, who has been heavily involved in a plan that would disarm Hezbollah and withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon.
“If the Lebanese Armed Forces take the necessary steps to implement the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including a phased reduction” by the Israeli military, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
The statement did not explicitly say if Israeli forces would fully withdraw from the five positions they hold in Lebanon.
The Israeli military has maintained a presence in southern Lebanon near the border since agreeing to a United States-backed ceasefire with Hezbollah in November.
Israel was to withdraw its forces within two months and Lebanon‘s armed forces were to take control of the country’s south, territory that has long been a stronghold for Hezbollah.
This month, Lebanon‘s cabinet tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish state control over arms by December, a challenge to Hezbollah, which has rejected calls to disarm.
The prime minister’s office described the Lebanese cabinet’s decision to back the move as a momentous decision. Israel stood “ready to support Lebanon in its efforts to disarm Hezbollah,” the statement said without saying what support it could provide.
Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, has said Israel should comply with the plan for Hezbollah disarmament, which would mean the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The Israeli military continues to carry out periodic air strikes in Lebanon that it said targeted Hezbollah terrorists and facilities used by the Islamist group to store weapons.
Palestinian factions in Lebanon surrendered some weapons to the armed forces last week as part of the disarmament plan.
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Syria Says Israel Takes Some Territory Around Mount Hermon Despite Talks
Israeli forces operate at a location given as Mount Hermon region, Syria, in this handout image released Dec. 9, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Syria said on Monday that Israel had sent 60 soldiers to take control of an area inside the Syrian border around Mount Hermon, saying the operation violated its sovereignty and posed a further threat to regional security.
Israel did not immediately comment on the accusation by Syria‘s foreign ministry, which comes as the two countries engage in US-mediated talks on de-escalating their conflict in southern Syria. Damascus hopes to reach a security arrangement that could eventually pave the way for broader political talks.
Monday’s incident took place near a strategic hilltop that overlooks Beit Jinn, an area of southern Syria close to the border with Lebanon, the ministry said. Israel also arrested six Syrians there, according to residents in the area.
The area is known for arms smuggling by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group and by Palestinian jihadist factions. Previous Israeli incursions have mostly been in the southern Quneitra governorate.
The Israeli military on Sunday shared footage of what it said were troops locating weapons storage facilities last week in southern Syria.
“This dangerous escalation is considered a direct threat to regional peace and security,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel has cited its own security concerns for its military interventions inside Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December, including what it sees as its obligation to protect members of the Druze minority in southern Syria.
Hundreds of people were reported killed in clashes last month in the southern province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killings of Druze by the Syrian government forces.
In January, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli troops would remain on the summit of Mount Hermon indefinitely.
Israel has since then formed a de facto security zone, where it regularly patrols, sets up checkpoints, and carries out searches and raids in villages.
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Widespread Anti-Israel Protests Held in Australia
Demonstrators hold a placard as they take part in the ‘Nationwide March for Palestine’ protest in Sydney, Australia, Aug. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Thousands of Australians joined anti-Israel rallies on Sunday, organizers said, amid strained relations between Israel and Australia following the center-left government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
More than 40 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, Palestine Action Group said, including large turnouts in state capitals Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. The group said around 350,000 attended the rallies nationwide, including around 50,000 in Brisbane, though police estimated the numbers there at closer to 10,000. Police did not have estimates for crowd sizes in Sydney and Melbourne.
In Sydney, organizer Josh Lees said Australians were out in force to “demand an end to this genocide in Gaza and to demand that our government sanction Israel” as rallygoers, many with Palestinian flags, chanted “free, free Palestine.”
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for more than 200 Jewish organizations, told Sky News television that the rallies created “an unsafe environment and shouldn’t be happening.”
The protests follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week stepping up his personal attacks on his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese over his government’s decision this month to recognize a Palestinian state.
Diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel soured after Albanese’s Labor government said it would conditionally recognize Palestinian statehood, following similar moves by France, Britain, and Canada.
The Aug. 11 announcement came days after tens of thousands of people marched across Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge, calling for peace and aid deliveries to Gaza, where Israel began an offensive nearly two years ago after the Hamas terrorist group launched a deadly cross-border attack.