“The right to freedom of expression requires them to respect his right to express his opinion however offensive they might think it to be.” – Wim Trengove
Telford Vice / Cape Town
EXPECT to see David Teeger’s name at the top of the list when South Africa’s men’s under-19 World Cup squad is announced on Friday. That prediction, as banal as it is, will fuel competing fires that have leapt cricket’s boundaries.
Some will celebrate the continuation of Teeger’s tenure as captain, should it be confirmed. Others will be disgusted that he remains in the squad. Both sides of the argument will be driven by South Africans who have been fighting this fight for weeks. The ongoing altercation could spill over into contending demonstrations and protests at or near matches in the under-19 World Cup, which will be played in South Africa from January 13 to February 4.
On Thursday an independent investigation cleared Teeger of breaching CSA’s and Gauteng’s codes of conduct — which are identical — for making this statement: “But more importantly, yes, I’ve been awarded this award, and yes, I am now the rising star, but the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel … So I’d like to dedicate this award to the South African family that married off one son whilst the other is still missing. And I’d like to dedicate it to the state of Israel and to every single soldier fighting so that we can live and thrive in the diaspora.”
Teeger said this in Johannesburg on October 22 after being presented with the Rising Star Award at the Jewish Achiever Awards function. His comments were published by Jewish Report four days later. Three weeks after Teeger spoke, the Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA) lodged a complaint with CSA. The PSA called Teeger’s views — which alluded to Israel’s sustained bombardment of Gaza in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas — “a provocative and inflammatory political statement”.
Many were aghast at Hamas’ vicious assault on Israeli civilians, which robbed 1,200 of their lives and facilitated the taking of more than 200 hostages. Many others have voiced alarm at Israel’s response, which has killed more than 17,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 44,000. Gaza’s infrastructure has been crippled in the process, and more than 1-million people have sought shelter in United Nations facilities.
Rarely are those who cast Hamas’ actions as terrorism able to recognise Israel’s reaction as disproportionate, brutal and inhumane. Neither do most who hold up Hamas as heroes of a struggle that started in 1948, when the creation of the Israeli state forced Palestinians off their land, acknowledge that Israel should even exist.
It is an intractable struggle that the world’s best diplomatic and political minds have been unable to resolve. What chance did an 18-year-old schoolboy have of not getting it wrong, thereby angering much of South Africa’s muslim community of around 1-million? What chance did he have of his words not being seized upon and amplified by the ethno-nationalists firmly in Israel’s corner among the 52,000, or so, jews in this country? A far smaller chance, on both counts, than if he hadn’t made his impromptu but also unprompted remarks.
But, you will hear it said, freedom of speech is protected in South Africa, along with freedom of religion. That the first of those freedoms comes with responsibilities and consequences — including for 18-year-old schoolboys — is less often noted, and still less that freedom from religion — rather than of religion — in the public realm is a right every democracy should pursue.
On the face of it, Teeger is a worthy recipient of the prize he won. From July he has scored three half-centuries in seven one-day innings for South Africa’s under-19 side and a South Africa Emerging players side. He is head boy at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg, an elite institution that has produced Quinton de Kock, Graeme Smith and Ali Bacher. But none of that has mattered since October 22. How could it when this has become about so much more than mere cricket?
On December 3, Business Day, South Africa’s last remaining serious English-language daily newspaper, published a letter from Mandy Yachad, a rebel-era cricketer and religiously observant jew. “As much as I was looking forward to attending the upcoming Test between South Africa and India at Newlands, and some of the T20s and ODIs, and while I will continue to support the Proteas (including those players who have shown support to Palestine and the Palestinian people), I will not be there (nor at any other match that falls under the auspices of the CSA),” Yachad wrote. Note that he expressed his displeasure not at what Teeger had said nor the furore that had been sparked — but at CSA’s decision to investigate.
Two days later in the same newspaper, another letter, from Nezaam Luddy, a muslim former Western Province and South African Schools player, pushed back: “What Yachad fails to understand is that Teeger supported oppression by the apartheid state of Israel. If I was expected to play under Teeger’s leadership, I would have refused to do so, as he symbolises apartheid ideologies. It could be a matter of not being properly educated regarding what is occurring in Palestine, and has been occurring for more than 75 years. The reality, though, is that Teeger is a role model for our current and future children who also aspire to represent the Proteas. He is young and talented, and my hope for the outcome of the investigation is for him to be properly educated, rehabilitated and afforded the opportunity to issue an apology to all concerned.” Luddy signed off tartly with: “No-one will miss Yachad at Proteas matches.”
Teeger’s statement quoted above amounts to 78 words. Wim Trengove, the respected silk appointed to analyse it, its fallout and decide what to do about it, spent 5,462 words in the cause. Here’s a pertinent chunk: “[Teeger] spoke to the Jewish community and not to the members of other cricket teams. He spoke of matters entirely unrelated to them. They might find his statements offensive because they fundamentally disagree with him. That is entirely understandable. But it is again an occasion on which the right to freedom of expression requires them to respect his right to express his opinion however offensive they might think it to be.”
Cricbuzz asked Wendy Kahn, the national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, whether demonstrations of support for Teeger would be seen during the under-19 World Cup. “We love to support all our sports stars and wish him and the team the best of luck for the World Cup,” Kahn responded.
Asked whether there would be protests at Teeger’s presence, Nazim Adam, a PSA coordinator, said that was a “distinct possibility”. He told Cricbuzz: “Legally Trengove is correct but morally there is a challenge.” Like Yachad, he disapproved of CSA’s handling of the issue: “They didn’t want to deal with the division it has caused and the hurt and pain.”
It’s not much, but at least a muslim and a jew agree on something in this saga.
Cricbuzz
Bulletproof Truth 