Israelis should be welcome in Birmingham

I know nothing of a petition or platform, only the pragmatic decision by the police after risk assessment to prioritise the safety of local residents.

The clear duty of the Birmingham police is to protect local residents, many of whom are Muslim. They will have carried out a very in-depth risk assessment with information you are not privy too. Based upon that information, they have clearly decided that a blanket ban is prudent.

The petition isn't why they were banned though. That's a side issue that should be dealt with, but there has been absolutely nothing to suggest the Safety group would have made a different decision without the petition. He isn't the person who made the decision, any more than the people saying they must be allowed are.

The Safety group and police must not have to make, or change, decisions because of irrelevant (in terms of the decision) high profile petitions or statements. They must be allowed to make them on the same grounds as every other match decision.

It's very common in football for only the trouble making fans to be banned from away games so there is no need for the Villa fans to miss out.

But the petition doesn't just state it is about supporter behaviour, it used as a little platform to overshare the MP's feelings about the conflict as a whole even bizarrely mentioning Ireland and the threatened boycott <that word again> of the Eurovision song contest.

Why is the membership of an organisation a condition?

Hear, hear. That was the consensus amongst Jewish callers to Any Answers yesterday.
The leap to shout anti-Semism in any situation involving Israeli citizens diminishes its meaning.

Why what have the villa fans done?

Read the petition.

This. To claim otherwise is disingenuous.

The problem is the MP who brought about the petition Ayoub Khan is pro Palestine. If he was neutral to the gazan conflict their alleged concerns about safety would be believable.

His petitiion contains genocide allegations not just the pretend issues regarding safety. He has shot himself in the foot really and should have just submitted it as a public safety concern and left out his prejudices.

They have to allow supporters from both sides or none.

Wiki (!) describes fascism ......Fascism is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

That sounds like many groups out and about these days.....interesting times.

Try reading the petition. Of course it is explicitly about them being Israeli.

The reasons for calling for a ban were:
Ongoing genocide in Gaza: As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, killing thousands and devastating civilian infrastructure, sporting fixtures involving Israeli teams cannot be separated from the wider political context. Hosting such teams sends a message of normalisation and indifference to mass atrocities.
Track record of violence by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans: The club’s supporters have previously caused serious disruption and violence during matches abroad, including clashes and riots in Amsterdam. Their arrival in Aston - a diverse and predominantly Muslim community - poses a real risk of tensions within the community and disorder.
Wider European context: Across Europe, calls are growing to cut cultural and sporting ties with Israel. Ireland has even warned it will boycott Eurovision if Israel is allowed to participate. Sport cannot be an exception when human rights are at stake.

Of course Israelis are welcome, even if their country has carried out a genocide.

Football hooligans who are violent, attack local residents because they’re Arab or Muslim and generally cause chaos are not welcome. And that’s what these thugs are.

Yes because it makes it seem like some people feel Israelis are above laws and rules and thus expecting them to follow them is discrimination in itself.

OP you know full well why these particular football thugs are not welcome in Birmingham. Stop pretending it’s about being Israeli.

Because the people who were banned are fans of a football team, not a whole country. Israelis arent banned from the game. Muslim Tel.Aviv fans are banned.

Absolutely, as long as they are clearly members of an organisation with far right (or any extremist) links.

And how exactly would a democracy, which is what we are, decide who was a 'fascist'? How would they even know?

Hoppinggreen never mentioned football in their statement. Why did you?

Despite the fact that you are clearly just being facetious I will answer
We don't need to assume we just need to look at people who are members of organisations who state fascist views

People, from any community, that detonate bombs in backpacks, should be banned from pop concerts, buses, trains and planes.

Sounds a little different when some actions are substituted for others

If they all support a football team and go around causing chaos then yes. Typically, we do restrict the liberty of people known to incite violence and hate.

I thought the issue was that the police felt unable to protect Jewish fans not that the fans were going to cause trouble themselves.

The behaviour of the MTA fans was mentioned in every statement I read from the police, yet totally ignored by several others in their statements.

Any fixture MTA play is high risk because of the known behaviour of their fans. One of the issues raised by the police was keeping local residents safe from them after their actions in Amsterdam and at other matches

UEFA should have taken this in hand long ago and banned their fans for another period. It shouldn't be on individual clubs/police forces to deal with such a known issue.

They should be banned, some of their hooligan supporters are ultra right wing.

Does the same apply to SOME Afghans, Somalis, Sudanese, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Syrians or anyone else espousing Islamic fundamentalism?