Israelis should be welcome in Birmingham

And there we have it proving my point.

I think that user believes violence from Israelis is justified

An inconvenient truth being overlooked by some posters. This thuggish group of “fans” has a great deal of form.

We cannot have local councillors, community leaders and MPs agitating for the anti Semitic ban of fans of one of Israel's premier football teams

It's surely not so much that we "cannot have" this, OP, more that we've got them

FWIW I'm another who fully supports banning violent fans - it happens regularly with other clubs - but ALL of them?
Of course the obvious answer would be to play contentious matches behind closed gates and make this very clear in advance, but doubtless the FA would oppose this because of the money involved

Exactly.

Give over. You can ban the 'fans' that have form for violent disorder.

It's quite common when the behaviour of the banned fans is the reason they are banned to only have the other fans. Especially in European matches.

It's not remotely unique to this one.

And not unprecedented, which is concerning.

They should play the match behind closed doors, if the police can't keep fans safe. You can't just ban one nation, it's racist.

If you read the full statement the police didn't just give one reason why they supported the SAG decision (because it's not simply the police who decide) and they included the past behaviour of the fans, the safety of the local community, the difficulties of policing the protests and the job of keeping the fans safe. It wasn't a one issue decision, despite certain elements of the press reporting it as if they'd just said "we can't keep them safe so they're banned".

Agree....I imagine any large group of Israelis going to Birmingham wouldn't be safe... regardless of their behaviour.

I have minimal knowledge or interest in football, but it strikes me as ridiculous and inflammatory to have only one team permitted fans to attend a match. Why can they not just televise the match and keep all the fans out? That way everybody who needs to can see it and no safety risk or policing issues.
It's a no brainer surely?
Otherwise, this sets a precedent for yet more inflated prolonged police costs as per the weekly demonstrations in central London, we just don't have funds for this stuff at this point.

The ban was stated because the police couldn't protect the Tel Aviv fans, nothing to do with the fans themselves being dangerous. It’s shocking that in a democratic society, law abiding people are banned from anywhere. FWIW, I’m in Birmingham & this makes me feel the exact opposite of safe - police giving in to thuggery and bullying from a subset of the Birmingham community. It’s shameful.

And to claim that the police, who put their personal safety on the line every time they go to work, need to “man up” is abysmal.
Do you do that?

It reinforces the idea that Israel wants separate rules for their citizens and anyone who has the right to citizenship.

No, people are objecting to a particular group of thuggish football fans with well-documented past form that have been banned by other cities.

And there we have it. The problem is folk are conflating two issues and are using this banning as a way to object to Israel as a whole, under the guise of 'safety issues' when we all know it is because Jews are not welcome. People need to not be so blatant. We see you.

There hasn't been 'forced starvation, genocide or apartheid' rather a conflict started by terrorists that has caused the deaths.

If the police can manage protests every week with frothing people shouting hate then they need to man up and do it a football match as they have done for years.

Oh I think the MP's strong views may have had an impact on council and policing decisions.

Let's hope it's overturned anyway. The police need to do their job and not support this crap.

You can think that if you wish. They're not the first fans to be banned from matches, they won't be the last, I happen to think they're professional enough to make the decisions and not be swayed, in either direction, by a loud MP.

Not surprising though? If forced starvation, genocide, apartheid and the killing of tens of thousands of innocent children gains no sympathy nothing will.

From the ME eye article linked above. I can't remember the outrage when Polish fans were banned at Aston Villa.

The ban is far from unprecedented. In November 2023 Aston Villa banned fans of another club, Legia Warsaw, from attending the match on the advice of West Midlands Police after supporters of the Polish club engaged in violence.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have a long track record of causing violence and disruption in European cities.

Amsterdam City Council recently banned Maccabi Tel Aviv from the Dutch capital after the club's fans caused mayhem by rampaging through the city in November, before and after their Europa League match against Ajax.

It's really worrying that people want to excuse thuggery from Israelis

The police are doing their job and prioritising the safety of local residents.

Oh I think the MP's strong views may have had an impact on council and policing decisions.

Let's hope it's overturned anyway. The police need to do their job and not support this crap.

I don’t need to. Only respect the independent decision of the police.

It's anti semitism and I bet my life that if it was any Israeli team looking to play there, this would have happened, football hooliganism or not. It's just a convenient excuse.