{"id":148599,"date":"2025-11-23T11:09:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T11:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/148599\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T11:09:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T11:09:18","slug":"uk-police-used-untrue-claims-about-israeli-fans-to-justify-soccer-game-ban-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/148599\/","title":{"rendered":"UK police used untrue claims about Israeli fans to justify soccer game ban – report"},"content":{"rendered":"

British police used false information to justify a ban on Israeli fans attending a game in Birmingham earlier this month, Dutch law enforcement told London\u2019s Sunday Times newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Aston Villa soccer club announced last month that no Maccabi fans would be allowed at the game<\/a> following a police assessment that classified the fixture as \u201chigh risk,\u201d citing \u201cviolent clashes and hate crime offenses\u201d during a Europa League match in Amsterdam between Maccabi and local team Ajax last November.<\/p>\n

According to the Sunday Times, the decision over the Birmingham game was made as a result of a confidential report in which British police claimed that Israeli fans threw \u201cinnocent members of the public into the river,\u201d that 500-600 \u201cintentionally targeted Muslim communities\u201d and that the violence forced the deployment of 5,000 police officers.<\/p>\n

However, Dutch law enforcement told the newspaper the examples used to justify the ban were false.<\/p>\n

Amsterdam police spokesman Sebastiaan Meijer told The Times that the only person thrown into the canal during the violence last year appeared to have been a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan, who was told he could only get out of the freezing water if he said \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Regarding the claim that hundreds of Israeli fans deliberately targeted the Muslim community, Dutch police said that in fact there were small groups that got into fights and that they did not have a figure for the number involved. Meijer said that while Maccabi fans were involved, it was \u201cnot a lot and not in a very alarming way.\u201d<\/p>\n

????Shame and disgrace: a Jew was thrown into the river in Amsterdam, and was not allowed to leave until he said “FREE PALESTINE”.<\/p>\n

Where is the POLICE?! pic.twitter.com\/1U4LCmdU9o<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Eli Afriat ???????????? (@EliAfriatISR) November 8, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Furthermore, Dutch police said that around 1,200 officers were deployed in the city as the violence broke out, rather than the 5,000 claimed in the British police assessment.\n<\/p>\n

Meijer also said he was \u201csurprised\u201d by other allegations, including that 200 Maccabi fans were \u201clinked\u201d to the Israel Defense Forces, saying that not only would the police force not had intelligence of that kind, but in any case Israel has conscription, meaning that the claim was essentially meaningless.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost young men in Israel have some connection to the IDF but we did not investigate it and we don\u2019t have a number for that. Of course not. I read [the allegation]. I was really surprised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The British police report claimed that the Israeli fans were \u201chighly organized, skilled fighters with a serious desire and will to fight with police and opposing groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Amsterdam police does not recognize the claim,\u201d read the response from Dutch law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIn this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, November 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)<\/p>\n

The Times said that West Midlands Police, responsible for the Birmingham area, refused to respond to a request for comment for a number of days, before eventually saying on Saturday that its \u201cevaluation had public safety at its heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met with Dutch police on October 1, where information relating to that 2024 fixture was shared with us. Informed by information and intelligence, we concluded that Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters \u2014 specifically the subgroup known as the Maccabi Fanatics \u2014 posed a credible threat to public safety,\u201d West Midlands Police told the newspaper.<\/p>\n

When asked if they stood by the claims in the report and their supposed source, British police told the newspaper that they had worked off a \u201crange of factors,\u201d including Dutch law enforcement, without detailing who the meetings had been held with.<\/p>\n

In response to the Times report, British lawmaker Nick Timothy wrote<\/a> in the same newspaper that \u201cfundamental questions must be asked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, West Midlands police did fear the eruption of serious disorder they would struggle to contain, but the threat lay largely with Islamist agitators and local thugs who hate Israel and Jews. This is given credence by the number of officers deployed \u2014 more than 700 \u2014 when the match went ahead without away supporters,\u201d Timothy wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond, West Midlands police felt political and social pressure from those who want to ban and boycott all things Israeli,\u201d he charged, citing the influence of so-called \u201cGaza independent\u201d lawmakers and councilors elected on a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel ticket.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPolice officers secure a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstration outside Villa Park in Birmingham, central England, on November 6, 2025, ahead of the UEFA Europa League league-stage football match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. (HENRY NICHOLLS \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

The decision to ban Israeli fans from the game sparked criticism, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who set about trying to reverse the move, though Maccabi Tel Aviv later announced it would decline tickets for its fans anyway, citing safety concerns. A British Jewish communal organization said it was told it could not receive the Israeli-designated tickets.<\/p>\n

Birmingham, the UK\u2019s second-largest city and home to a significant Muslim population, has been the scene of regular pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rallies over the last two years.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Maccabi-Aston Villa game, signs were hung near the stadium reading \u201cno war games allowed\u201d and \u201cGive Zionism the Red Card,\u201d and \u201cIf you see a Zionist call the anti-terror hotline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAnti-Israel signs seen ahead of an Aston Villa \u2013 Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer game in Birmingham, UK, November 6, 2025. (Screenshots via X, via Deen1fied on Instagram)<\/p>\n

Officials said 10 Israelis were injured in the violence in Amsterdam last year, which the victims said was perpetrated largely by local Muslims and Arabs, with hundreds more besieged in their hotels and fearing they could be attacked when trying to reach their flights home.<\/p>\n

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said<\/a> at the time that the attacks on the Israeli fans were a \u201cpoisonous cocktail\u201d of antisemitism and hooligan behavior. Halsema said that after the game, groups of men on scooters engaged in \u201chit-and-run\u201d attacks on Maccabi fans in areas of the city.<\/p>\n

There were a handful of incidents in which Maccabi fans were seen pulling down Palestinian flags and engaging in racist chants ahead of the game, and ten Israelis were arrested.<\/p>\n

Maccabi Tel Aviv has criticized \u201chate-filled falsehoods\u201d about its supporters.<\/p>\n


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