Pro-Zionism Protesters Turned Out for Israel’s Most Racist Football Club

A pro-Zionist demonstration against the ban on fans of Israel’s most racist football club was dwarfed by a pro-Palestine protest outside Villa Park in Birmingham on Thursday night.

Aston Villa played Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League on 6 November, in a game which became a political football after Keir Starmer suggested that the banning fans of the Israeli club from the game would allow “antisemitism on our streets”.

Around 65 pro-Maccabi protesters marched in near silence to the ground escorted by police, some wearing Maccabi Tel Aviv shirts. Protesters held placards saying “keep antisemitism out of football” and “proud of our flags”.

A larger pro-Palestine demonstration, which included some Aston Villa fans, called for Israeli teams to be kicked out of Fifa and Uefa.

The match was heavily policed despite no away fans being present. Hundreds of police, kitted up in riot gear, lined the streets around the stadium. Officers from nine forces were involved in the operation. Six arrests were made at demonstrations before the match.

Mark Birbeck, founder of Our Fight, a UK pro-Israel group, told Novara Media that calls from human rights groups for Israeli teams to be banned from competitions are “part of a “vicious campaign aimed at isolating Israel”.

“I’m hearing people say, ‘Zionist baby killers not welcome here’. Young people who fight to defend their nation are being accused of all sorts of crimes. I’m not hearing anybody putting forward anything positive to how to resolve and come up with a solution to this problem.”

Asked about the Dutch police intelligence which suggested that Maccabi fans could be a source of potential flare ups based on their experience of the club’s visit to Amsterdam last year, he said: “There were some reports as well that showed people ripping down flags and chanting – then people are using that as if that is the indication that there is a threat. I think it’s very devious.”

“I think the West Midlands Police were bamboozled,” he added.

When asked about the fact that Maccabi Tel Aviv had the worst record of racist chanting in the Israeli Premier League last season, he said: “I mean, what has that got to do with it?”

When asked about the six Israel football clubs that play on settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Birbeck said whether Israel is occupying Palestinian territory is “disputed”.

At the pro-Palestine demonstration, a Villa fan who gave his name as Luke said: “I don’t think Israel should be participating in any sporting events. I don’t think we tolerated it with South Africa. We didn’t tolerate it with Zimbabwe in cricket in the 2000s. We didn’t tolerate it with Russia and Belarus recently. So I don’t know why we’re tolerating it with a team and a country that is committing genocide against people.

“I sort of get that a lot of football fans don’t want to see politics and football mixing. Unfortunately, that’s the way it is.”

Tensions rose between pro-Palestine demonstrators and Aston Villa fans near the entrance to the Trinity Road stand. Fans started singing Villa songs and police separated the two groups. Some of the Villa fans then chanted Tommy Robinson songs.

One fan said to Novara Media: “Keep politics out of football.” 

Signs reading “If you see a Zionist call the anti-terror hotline” and “No war games allowed #ZionistsNotWelcome” were seen placed around the ground early in the day.

Attention seeking provocateurs and grifting Youtubers were drawn like moths to the flame of controversy.

Danny Tommo, a longtime associate of former EDL leader Stephen Yaxley Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, posted a video on X of himself outside Villa Park saying Aston Villa is “not a club I support personally” but saying it had become a “political football, which it never should be”. He went on to complain about the “Islamist agenda in Birmingham” which is “sacred land to the English”.

Aston Villa won the match 2-0.