Yorkshire Foundation sacks trustee over anti-Semitic comments

A TRUSTEE of the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation has been removed from his role over his anti-Semitic comments on social media.

Amjad Bashir, appointed to the role in March this year, accused Israel of being involved in violence, “slavery and “ethnic cleansing”. His comments came amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza, triggered by the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas.

In response to a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Bashir wrote: “Nothing can me [sic] more repugnant than what’s going on [sic] occupied Palestine at the hands of European settlers since 1948. Slavery, murder, rape, ethnic cleansing and apartheid all in the name of Jewish supremacy.”

The former Conservative MEP also wrote: “Nothing justifies any act of terrorism against the Jew, Christian or Muslim, but even you will have to admit the inhumane actions of the Zionist occupier and oppressor could be responsible for the depraved actions of Hamas.”

He argued that criticism of Israel did not amount to anti-Semiticsm

Without naming, Bashir, the YCF’s interim chair Baroness Grey-Thompson said in a statement that its board removed a trustee with “immediate effect”.

“This morning trustees of the Board for the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF) were made aware of a number of concerning social media comments made by one of its trustees”, she said in the statement on Wednesday (25).

“Given the seriousness of the issues raised, an urgent meeting was called with the YCF Board of Trustees in which it was agreed by all that the language used was both discriminatory and abusive in nature.

“Across Yorkshire Cricket, our mission is to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone – discrimination of any kind cannot be tolerated.

“During the meeting, the Board voted to remove the trustee from their position with immediate effect. As such, this individual is no longer associated with YCF or the wider Yorkshire Cricket family. I apologise on behalf of the YCF for any offence caused by these unacceptable posts.”

Bashir could not be reached for his comment.

The Conservative MEP between 2014 and 2019 was suspended by the party ahead of the 2019 general election for his anti-Semitic statement he which later regretted.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club has been at the centre of a racism scandal after former player Azeem Rafiq publicly spoke about his experiences of abuse.