SIR Keir Starmer was last night struggling to overturn a controversial ban on Israeli fans from a Europa League game with Aston Villa amid claims police had caved in to antisemitic hate.
Senior officers advised Labour-controlled Birmingham safety chiefs to bar fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from the November 6 game over fears of clashes with pro-Palestinian mobs.
PM Sir Keir declared the move was wrong and pledged to do everything in his power to get it reversed — amid outrage from supporters, politicians and a freed Brit Gaza hostage.
But it emerged last night that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and her officials were told of the possibility of a ban last week — but failed to intervene.
The government could find itself powerless to pull off the U-turn until Monday, and then only if police change security advice.
Key figures overseeing the ban, which is also opposed by Uefa soccer chiefs, were also revealed to have anti-Israel leanings as the backlash intensified yesterday.
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British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari, who spent 471 days held captive by Hamas in Gaza and was planning to attend the game, led the condemnation.
Emily, 29, said in a powerful statement on X: “I am a die-hard fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv. I am shocked to my core with this outrageous decision to ban me, my family and my friends from attending an Aston Villa game in the UK.
“Football is a way of bringing people together irrespective of their faith, colour or religion and this disgusting decision does the exact opposite. Shame on you.”
She added: “This is like putting a big sign on the outside of a stadium saying ‘No Jews allowed’.
“What has become of the UK where blatant antisemitism has become the norm? What a sad world we are living in.”
Andrew Fox, honorary president of Aston Villa’s Jewish Villans supporters’ club, said the decision “sends a really worrying message about British society”.
He said: “It just makes a very febrile political situation worse.
“There’s no evidence of Maccabi’s fans being particularly violent. They don’t have a track record in all of their previous European games of having a violent fan group.
“So really this is a political message rather than a safety message.”
Police recommended a ban after clashes between Maccabi fans and those of Dutch giants Ajax in Amsterdam in November.
Pro-Palestinian mobs attacked the travelling Israelis who responded by hurling abuse and tearing down a Palestinian flag.
Police advised Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group chaired by the Labour-run city council’s head of resilience, Michael Enderby.
Meanwhile, the city council’s £300,000-a-year managing director, Joanne Roney, is herself mired in a antisemitism scandal.
She faces a civil trial accused of using the jibe “massive Jewish bell***” in a row over a property dispute while in a previous job.
She is alleged to have made the antisemitic comment against property agent Ben Rose in 2022, while head of Manchester city council.
Mr Rose, who was working for a Jewish landowners’ group, filed a legal claim against the council and Ms Roney for damages and unlawful discrimination.
His claims are denied. He said in January: “As a property professional seeking nothing else but a fair and equitable outcome for my client, this is not the sort of case I ever expected to bring. However, I believe that antisemitism has no place in our society.”
I am a die-hard fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv. I am shocked to my core with this outrageous decision to ban me, my family and my friends from attending an Aston Villa game in the UK
British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari
It also emerged that a Birmingham city councillor who claims to be appointed on to the safety advisory board at Aston Villa had planned to boycott the game.
Last month, Labour councillor Waseem Zaffar MBE poured out his anti-Israel views.
He said: “We have made a difficult and deeply personal decision: we will not be at Villa Park for the visit of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“We simply cannot sit and watch a football team from a state whose government is perpetrating what we and many others view as a humanitarian crisis.
“The starvation, torture and killing of the people of Palestine carried out by the Israeli government and military have crossed many red lines for a very long time.”
A firebrand imam, meanwhile, urged Muslims before the ban was announced to show visiting Israeli fans “no mercy” on November 6.
Self-styled sheikh Asrar Rashid, who previously stoked hatred by claiming Jews were “favoured by Europe” after the Holocaust, has faced no police action despite openly inciting clashes weeks ago.
Aston Villa were not involved in the decision to ban Israeli fans.
PM Sir Keir had pledged to do “everything possible” to protect British jews in the wake of the Manchester synagogue knife horror.
He promised to increase the visible police presence and show “the other Britain — the Britain of compassion, of decency, of love”.
‘Something more sinister’
But last night he was locked in a red-tape wrangle with police accused of choosing to ban travelling Jewish football fans rather than shield them.
Labour bigwigs were last night in talks with the officers who were understood to be seeking guarantees of extra police resources before agreeing to change their security assessment.
The fan ban row has focused attention on the game, making it a huge draw for pro-Palestine protesters who have been marching on Britain’s streets for months.
There’s no evidence of Maccabi’s fans being particularly violent. They don’t have a track record in all of their previous European games of having a violent fan group.
Andrew Fox, honorary president of Aston Villa’s Jewish Villans supporters’ club
A large and costly security operation would now be necessary to shield the estimated 1,000 Israelis expected to travel to Birmingham.
Any ruling cannot be changed until the Safety Advisory Group meets again early next week.
Birmingham City Council confirmed last night that a U-turn would only be possible if West Midlands Police changed its risk assessment first.
A council spokesman said: “The Safety Advisory Group has made a decision based on a risk assessment provided by West Midlands Police.
“If there is a change in the assessment of risk in the forthcoming match between Aston Villa Football Club and Maccabi Tel Aviv, then the Safety Advisory Group will commit to review its decision as appropriate.”
Simon Foster, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, has called for an “immediate review” of the decision.
It was also criticised by Jack Angelides, the chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
He said that “small events leading up to something more sinister” amounted to antisemitism.
The UK Football Policing Unit issued a statement last night clarifying that all security options were laid out in detail before Home Office officials on October 8.
The unit said: “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. The priority is always the safety of those attending matches and the wider public. This process was supported by the Sports Ground Safety Authority.
“It is important that we respect and support the structures in place for making these decisions. If there are any adverse incidents, they are the ones held responsible.”
A government spokesman said last night: “No one should be stopped from watching a football game simply because of who they are. The Government is working with policing and other partners to do everything in our power to ensure this game can safely go ahead, with all fans present.”
A source close to Home Secretary Mahmood denied she was aware of the ban plan last week.
The source said: “The first time she knew of it was last night.
“Rather than baseless political point-scoring, the Home Secretary is working tirelessly to ensure all fans can attend the game safely.”
CALLED for a boycott of all Israeli teams. Also amplified a campaign of abuse against a rabbi serving as an IDF reservist, forcing him to flee.
URGED his followers to show “no mercy” to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans if the game went ahead. He said: “We safeguard the vulnerable from any type of exploitation.”
ACCUSED of calling a property agent a “massive Jewish b***end” in her previous job as head of Manchester City Council. A civil court trial is pending.
INITIALLY wanted tie cancelled for “public safety and community harmony”. Ban on fans will “send a signal to a nation that is responsible for a genocide”.
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THANKED those who put safety of fans, locals and the British public “above the zionist and political pressure to let Israeli hooligans and terrorists run riot”.
PETITIONED to get the game called off, held behind closed doors or moved abroad. He said Maccabi fans should not be allowed to “gather and roam in Birmingham”.
COPS DECLARED VILLA ‘NO-GO’ ZONE FOR JEWS
By Robert Jenrick, Shadow Justice Secretary
GROWING up in the ’80s, my dad took me to more than a few away games at Villa Park.
The language, chants, and antics were — at times — less than well-mannered.
But it was largely all good-natured fun. This was the rhythm of British life.
The same men who worked together all week, turning up and supporting different teams on a Saturday.
No more. The decision from West Midlands Police to ban Jewish football fans from Villa Park marks a new low in our history.
Last week, there were howls of outrage over a leaked tape which recorded me saying that, in parts of Birmingham, integration had failed. There were the inevitable accusations of racism.
And drivel about diversity being our strength.
Many, including the BBC and ITV, deliberately misquoted me. They tried to smear and silence me, day after day.
That’s what has happened time and again, for decades, to anybody who tries to tell the truth about immigration or integration.
A week on, West Midlands Police have essentially declared Villa Park a “no-go zone” for Jews. Football is our national sport.
Now, though, that shared experience has a caveat: no Jewish football fans are welcome in Birmingham.
I’ve said before that “a Britain where our Jewish friends are afraid is just not Britain”.
The same goes for football. A football in which Jewish fans aren’t welcome in the away stands, just isn’t football.
For too long, our gutless political class has failed to stand up and speak out about our failure on integration. I won’t be silenced now.
Look at Keir Starmer: today he says he’s shocked about Aston Villa, but last week he was shooting me down for raising the problem that lies behind it.
He’s a shameless coward who doesn’t care about tackling this issue.
Something has changed in parts of Birmingham and, frankly, Britain has changed too.
Our country cannot have no-go zones.
It cannot have sectarian MPs. The time has come for muscular action to make integration a reality.
Send in as many police officers as required.
Sack the Chief Constable if he won’t change his mind.
Deal with the extremist imams in Birmingham and tackle the sectarian MPs who have polluted our politics.
Read the full article here
