Birmingham activists have condemned calls from the Prime Minister and government ministers to allow Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to attend a football match between the Israeli club and Aston Villa in their home city.
Last week, Aston Villa FC confirmed the city’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) had concluded that Maccabi Tel Aviv’s supporters should be blocked from attending the game over safety concerns, following widespread rioting and anti-social behaviour from Israeli fans during recent European games.
The Birmingham Safety Advisory Group (SAG) is chaired by Birmingham City Council’s head of resilience and made up of representatives of the local authority, emergency services and event organisers.
West Midlands Police confirmed it supported the ban, classifying the fixture as “high risk” based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including “violent clashes and hate-crime offences” between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam in November 2024, where more than 60 people were arrested over violent conduct.
Notorious for violent and intimidating behaviour abroad, previous footage shows Israeli fans pulling down a Palestinian flag in central Amsterdam and shouting racist anti-Arab chants.
In March 2024, Maccabi fans lit flares and brutally assaulted a man who was carrying a Palestinian flag in Athens ahead of their team’s match against Greek team Olympiacos.
In 2023, Maccabi supporters were arrested for possession of flares and smoke bombs in Cyprus while others reportedly engaged in fights with local residents.
UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) also fined the Israeli club back in 2013 after fans displayed a banner during a match with the slogan “Feel The Terror of Tel Aviv”.
The decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans has been welcomed by Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr.
However, PM Keir Starmer and senior government ministers are working to overturn the ban, much to the dismay of Brummies and anti-racism campaigners.
At a Birmingham protest held on Saturday (18 October) in support of the ban, campaigners called on the government to trust the advice of Aston Villa Football Club and West Midlands Police.
“After over two years of protest and the unprecedented level of Palestine solidarity in the UK, our Prime Minister, with fewer and fewer allies to hand, comes to the rescue of the far-right in this country and in Israel, so they can descend onto the streets of Birmingham,” said Rob Horsfield, secretary of Birmingham Stop the War Coalition.
“Not content with labelling street protestors for Palestine ‘un-British’, this government has now effectively sided against the police with the likes of Tommy Robinson.
“Violent football fans are not welcome in Birmingham. We, the people of Birmingham, are the real Britain. Starmer should resign.”
The UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) were also involved in advising on the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and revealed Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood MP was aware the team’s fans could face a ban.
“The UKFPU supported West Midlands Police in gaining access to the full details of the previous incidents in Amsterdam via the European policing network so they had all the relevant information available to them,” the unit said in a statement.
“Following this, the Home Office were briefed last week by the UKFPU about the potential issues and options that the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) may take including restrictions on visiting fans.”
During the rally in Frederick Street outside the constituency office of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood MP, residents from across the West Midlands formed a ‘red line’ against hate, waved Palestinian flags and displayed placards criticising the Labour Party; ahead of a march through the city centre.
“Israel has mandatory conscription. Israelis therefore have all served in the IDF and been involved in a genocide. We do not want violent baby killers visiting Birmingham,” activist Salman Mirza said at the protest.
“We want our government focusing on fighting poverty in the UK and not backing a genocide, it’s incredible they have so much energy for this and not ordinary people struggling.
“There is a big difference between antisemitism and being anti-Zionist. We have zero tolerance for antisemitism and zero tolerance for genocide.”
Salma Yaqoob, former Birmingham city councillor and a patron for national Stop the War Coalition, described Maccabi Tel Aviv fans as “violent thugs” who were being protected by “the British political and media class” under the guise of antisemitism.
“Maccabee fans brazenly celebrated the killing of children, chanted the most vile racist abuse and caused mayhem in Amsterdam. Jews are not being banned. Racist hooligans are.
“West Midlands Police and Brummies are now being bullied and smeared. Instead of calling out the dangerous anti-Arab and anti-Black racism of Maccabi fans and protecting the real victims, the thugs are being indulged. Because they are Israeli. Once more the double standards when it comes to Israel are on full display. It’s time to speak up and challenge the dangerous lies.”
Yaqoob – whose family are long-term Villa fans – also raised concerns about local residents in Aston, which is home to a very large Muslim and pro-Palestinian demographic, especially in Witton where Villa Park is located.
“Birmingham is a welcoming city for all. And we want to keep it that way, not have a situation where local people can’t leave their homes because the government has decided its support for a genocidal regime abroad means it has to protect and indulge that regime’s violent football hooligans at the expense of their own citizens’ safety and dignity.”
Several anti-racism and anti-war organisations plan to come together for a mass peaceful protest outside Villa park at 6pm on Thursday 6th November, the day of the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa match.
Separately, a public meeting titled ‘Show Israel the Red Card’, organised by the West Midlands Solidarity Campaign (WMPSC) will be taking place at 7pm on Monday 20th October at the BRIG cafe inside The Warehouse in Allison Street (Digbeth).
