The Hypocrisy of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Outrage

By Wali Khan -

Polish team, Legia Warsaw’s fans have been banned from entering Villa Park to watch their team take on Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League. Officials cited safety concerns following extensive reports of violence and disturbances caused by the team's supporters. The British Prime Minister, multiple leading politicians, and the press have rushed to the support of the football club’s supporters, rallying behind them and labelling the ban as “unprecedented”, “hateful" and “a dark day for the UK”. 

The above story is only partially accurate - it is true that Legia Warsaw fans were banned from watching their team at Villa Park amidst a spree of violence culminating in clashes that left 3 police officers injured. However, this decision did not receive widespread media backlash, the team did not receive statements of support from the Prime Minister or other leading politicians - nobody rushed to claim the decision exposed the UK’s underlying anti-Slavic sentiment. 

This incident happened in 2023. The story of this week is fascinatingly similar and highlights a strange chasm in British Politics in 2025.

Following a letter from Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), Aston Villa announced no away fans would be permitted to attend their Europa League game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, an Israeli team. This comes after West Midlands Police classified the fixture as “high risk” based on “current intelligence” and “previous incidents”, referring to violence committed by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. The evidence of this is not hard to find. Last year videos circulated of the club's supporters vandalising buildings in Amsterdam, and chanting “Death to Arabs”, as well as, “There are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left.” Amsterdam city council members said Maccabi supporters instigated violence and attacked Palestinians supporters. This was one of the incidents cited by West Midlands police when assessing the safety risk.

In another instance they were filmed singing “You’re the whores of Arabs” in one of their recurring chants about raping women. These are two cases in a long list of hooliganism, hate and violence. Yet, our media and large swathes of the political class, including the Prime Minister have flocked to the defense of the hooligans.

Rather sinisterly, the decision has been labelled anti-Semitic. While the authorities justified the move on the grounds of public safety - citing fears of hooliganism, violence, and hate speech in the local community - many public figures have instead suggested it reflects an inability to “protect Jewish people.” Instead of bringing clarity, our political class and the press have intentionally refused to draw a distinction between Maccabi hooligans and the broader Jewish community. Again, the contrast is striking: the same decision, at the same stadium directed towards Legia Warsaw fans did not result in suggestions of underlying hate of Polish people. Likewise, Old Firm derbies have repeatedly gone ahead without away supporters, yet attracted no accusations of prejudice. 

These baseless accusations of anti-Semitism are ridiculous - but more so, they are dangerous. Politicians are more interested in protecting the interests of Israel or Israeli institutions rather than Jewish people in the UK. Thus they intentionally conflate actions taken against Israel, or in this case Israeli football hooligans with actions taken against Jewish people more broadly. This instance is particularly absurd given that many Jewish Aston Villa fans will be in attendance at villa park and have been since the start of the season - clearly signalling that the issue doesn’t lie in the hooligans Jewish identity, instead it lies in their hooliganism.

Those fanning the flames of division - spreading fear within the Jewish community and cheapening real anti-Semitism - must be held to account. This is particularly poignant in the wake of the recent attack on a synagogue that left two Jewish men dead. There is no question that anti-Semitism is rising, and it is vital that we continue to protect Jewish people in the UK. But to suggest that Jews are a monolithic group, or to conflate the actions of violent hooligans - or indeed, as we have seen in recent years, the actions of the Israeli state - with the broader Jewish community, is in itself deeply anti-Semitic.

This controversy exposes the unwavering political and media allegiance to Israel that continues to distort our public discourse. Recall how swiftly Russian teams and athletes were banned from international sport following the invasion of Ukraine. Yet Israel, accused by the United Nations of committing genocide - and, most recently, killing 38 Palestinians only days after signing a so-called “ceasefire” - faces no such repercussions. Not a word from our Prime Minister, and no repercussions  from our institutions. Instead, critics are met with smears and intimidation. This hypocrisy should trouble us all. To truly protect our Jewish communities, we must insist on drawing a clear line: the actions of Israel and the reactions to those actions, must never be conflated with Jewish people as a whole. They are not, and must never be treated as, one and the same.