Birmingham police have claimed that their decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the Aston Villa match last week was due “exclusively” to the fans’ reputation:
West Midland’s Police Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce, the commander for Birmingham policing, said in an interview that the force had learnt that a “sub-section” of Maccabi fans “engage in quite significant levels of hooliganism”, and it was this concern “exclusively” that led the force to bar all supporters of the Israeli side. This contrasted with earlier indications from the force that the ban had been imposed because Israeli fans could not be protected in the city.
Does anyone believe this nonsense? He’s clearly embarrassed – quite rightly – by the obvious capitulation to Muslim and hard-left extremists. Would they do the same to the supporters of any other football team? Of course not. They’re the police: they control the streets. Except when Jews are involved, and the Islamists decide to take control.
Lord Walney rejected this new claim outright, saying it “does not fit with the clear evidence of sustained pressure from individuals and organisations driven by hatred of Israel and Jews”, and that the decision to ban Maccabi fans had brought “shame” on the UK.
“The disgusting antisemitic rhetoric outside Villa Park yesterday proved that this was never about Maccabi Tel Aviv – it is driven by an unhinged hatred of the Jewish State,” he said.
“West Midlands Police’s new assertion that the Maccabi fans were banned solely because of the threat of hooliganism does not fit with the clear evidence of sustained pressure from individuals and organisations driven by hatred of Israel and Jews.
“The force’s eleventh-hour attempt to pin the blame on the Israeli fans themselves smacks of victim blaming and leaves officers with serious questions to answer.
“West Midlands Police must comply with the Home Affairs Committee’s demand to submit all evidence related to this lamentable decision that has brought shame on the country.”…
Nadhim Zahawi, who served in ministerial roles under four Conservative prime ministers from 2018 to 2023, also hit out the force, saying: “I think the words of West Midlands Police are weasel words. This is antisemitic. It is not just anti-Israeli – it is anti-Jewish.”
He continued: “I find this utterly disgraceful. The police presence tonight tells you everything because they’re worried about the Maccabi team being attacked, that’s why they’re there, and I think they need to apologise to British Jews [and] to Israelis, because this would not happen if this team was not supported by Israelis and Jewish people.”
Anti-Israel activists plotted to hunt down players from Maccabi Tel Aviv’s football team during their visit to Birmingham, leaked WhatsApp messages seen by the JC reveal.
The Israeli side, in the UK for a European fixture, became the target of a coordinated plan involving hotel stakeouts and surveillance by protesters determined to track the team and have the match cancelled.
The fixture on Thursday went ahead as planned, without any Maccabi fans present in the stadium. Protests outside the game resulted in 11 arrests.
Chants of “death to the IDF” and “intifada revolution” were shouted by a crowd of Gaza protesters, while a smaller group of pro-Israel counter-protesters were confined to a caged basketball court by police.
Of course they were.
Mick Hartley 
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