Travelling fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv have been banned from next month’s Europa League clash with Aston Villa, due to “previous incidents including violent clashes and hate crime offences.”
The exclusion of visiting fans is the initiative of Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police.
Birmingham—England’s second city and home to Aston Villa—has a population that is around 30% muslim, according to the 2021 census, and often hosts large pro–Palestine protests. Some elected officials from the municipal council have shown support for Gaza before and since the October 7 Hamas-led pogrom.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch took to social media, branding the decision a “national disgrace.”
Starmer pledged that Jews are welcome and safe in Britain. That he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community and will use the full force of his government to prove it. Will he back those words with action and guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country? If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go.
For Reform UK, Nigel Farage condemned the decision which, he says, “takes racial discrimination to a whole new level.”
British prime minister Keir Starmer, however, put the blame on the police in his statement on X, saying
This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.
West Midlands police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster, has requested Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police to convene at the “earliest possible opportunity” and review the decision.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and other senior government officials are set to meet today in a bid to overturn the ban, which Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called “cowardly.”
