Jewish groups warned ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending match could be seen as ‘antisemitic’ | Antisemitism
Jewish communities warned West Midlands police that a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending an Aston Villa match “could be perceived as antisemitic”, documents show.
Fans of the Israeli team were banned from attending a Europa League match at Villa Park in Birmingham on 6 November, sparking outrage; Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned it as “wrong” and suggested it amounted to antisemitism.
The Guardian obtained the edited minutes of a meeting of the council-led security advisory group on 16 October (the day the ban was announced) through a freedom of information request.
Comments attributed to West Midlands police in the document state: “Jewish community groups expressed concerns that the removal of fans could be perceived as anti-Semitic rather than a public safety decision.
“This perception can undermine trust and increase reputational risk for officials and the club.”
Police also said they were aware of concerns from the Aston Villa fan base about incidents of hate crime, “particularly isolated incidents of antisemitic abuse”, according to the document.
The comments came after West Midlands deputy chief constable Mike O’Hara apologized to members of Birmingham’s Jewish community after some expressed support for the ban to MPs at a committee hearing in early December.
A spokesman for the organization later said: “The officer’s intention was not to imply that there were members of the Jewish community who openly supported the exclusion of Maccabi fans.”
Apart from two councillors, Waseem Zaffar and Mumtaz Hussain, the names of more than 25 people who attended the October 16 meeting have been redacted. Five representatives of West Midlands Police were also present.
According to the document, the organization told the group it had “significant intelligence indicating the potential for unrest” about Maccabi Tel Aviv fans “based on recent fixtures”, citing incidents in Italy, Norway and Amsterdam.
According to the minutes, the police said, “Other sports such as baseball in the Netherlands also saw disorder due to the involvement of Israeli teams.”
“These events show that Maccabi Tel Aviv’s presence can attract protest and unrest even outside the football context.”
Police also said there was a high likelihood of protest activity linked to the fixture, whether targeting the MTA. [Maccabi Tel Aviv] supporters or the MTA itself. According to the document, this is the biggest threat.”
However, the team also admitted that the risk level for the match remained at “moderate” without away fans due to community tensions and the potential for spontaneous protests.
The decision to impose the ban, which no member of the group objected to, was taken on the grounds that “the presence of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans carries a high risk” and “tensions in society could worsen”.
The West Midlands police chief has been recalled to parliament next Tuesday by the Home Affairs Committee, which is reviewing the decision to suspend fans.
Before the hearing, more details provided Chief constable Craig Guildford from West Midlands Police about the intelligence that led to the ban – including notes of an email outlining a meeting between the head of WMP’s football unit and Dutch police.
The email describes “violent clashes” before the match between Ajax and Maccabi Aviv in Amsterdam in 2024; These included claims that Muslim taxi drivers were pulled from their vehicles and anti-Muslim and anti-Gaza slogans were chanted.
On the day of the match, there was a “national mobilization of Muslim youth” who went to Amsterdam “to take revenge”, and notes reported hit-and-runs to Maccabi fans.
Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, has previously described some of the allegations made by West Midlands police as “false” and said the police were “conflating different things”.
The Times reported that Dutch police were ‘surprised’ by the allegations It was attributed to them by the WMP power.
Birmingham council leader John Cotton and other council bosses will be grilled by MPs next week.
In a letter to the chairman of the Home Affairs Committee in December, Birmingham city council’s director of city operations said there would be an independent review to “identify what could be improved from a management perspective”.
West Midlands police were contacted but declined to comment.
