In support of banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans
JVL Introduction
A letter sent to the Police and Crime Commissioner of the West Midland police in support of Chief Constable Guildford and his decision to ban the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the match with Aston Villa in November last year and regretting his enforced resignation.
RK
Simon Foster, Police and Crime Commissioner
West Midlands Police
Birmingham
16th January 2026
Dear Mr Foster
I am writing this jointly with Jenny Manson, Chair of Jewish Voice for Liberation (formerly Jewish Voice for Labour). We are writing in support of Chief Constable Guildford, and in support of his decision to ban the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the match with Aston Villa in November last year.
We believe that Chief Constable Guildford had to make a very difficult decision in the midst of confusing and contradictory reports about the behaviour of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at previous matches, in particular in Amsterdam. It seems obvious to us that there would have been a substantial risk of serious disorder if the Maccabi fans had been allowed to attend the game, and we are astonished that no mention of this risk is being made in the present complaints against Chief Constable Guildford. In November 2024 there was serious disorder in Amsterdam due to the presence of Maccabi fans. Whether they were the instigators of the trouble, or merely its victims, should not be the only concern. There was violence, and it would have been avoided had the Maccabi fans not attended. It seems that the reporting of the violent incidents was sensationalised by journalists and others on both sides. Initial reports, endorsed by the Mayor of Amsterdam, described it as an antisemitic pogrom, but this was later called into question when film footage emerged of Maccabi fans rampaging through the streets and chanting deeply unpleasant racist slogans. The Mayor of Amsterdam herself apologised for her earlier description of the event as antisemitic.
But the precise details of how many taxis were vandalised, how many people were thrown into the river, and by whom, and how many Palestinian flags were pulled down, should not be the primary concern. There was plenty of evidence that the Maccabi fans could be violent. And indeed, only weeks after the decision to ban their attendance at Aston Villa, a Maccabi Tel Aviv match against another Tel Aviv team had to be called off after violent rioting before kick-off. And just today, footage has emerged of more violence from Maccabi fans against Palestinians.
Given the evidence of danger, and given the fog of misinformation, it seems to us entirely appropriate to have prevented the attendance of the Maccabi fans. The Chief Constable has been criticised, in particular by Sir Andy Cooke, on purely procedural grounds which pay no attention at all to whether his decision was correct, though this is surely the more important consideration. While procedural failings should be attended to, the fact that the Chief Constable arrived at the correct decision surely should carry more weight.
All this is to leave aside the anxieties that members of Birmingham’s large Muslim community will have felt at the presence in their streets and neighbourhoods of a substantial contingent of Maccabi fans. After all, the Israeli Defence Force was and is still perpetrating an internationally acknowledged genocide,[*] against Palestinians in Gaza, and the Maccabi fans include many soldiers from the IDF. Their chant (in Hebrew) “there are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left”, audible on footage of the Amsterdam riots and subsequently widely reported, gave a chilling impression of what might happen if they came to a city with a large Muslim population, and this and other reports created a great deal of anxiety in Birmingham.
We note with surprise and dismay that in the preliminary report that Sir Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary presented to the Home Secretary, no mention is made of any interview with any Birmingham Muslim organisation or individual. Sir Andy refers to twenty “interviews with significant people”, among them the Chargé d’Affaires at the Israeli Embassy, representatives of the Birmingham Jewish community, and Lord Mann, the Government’s independent advisor on Antisemitism. Birmingham’s Muslim population makes up 21% of the total, while its Jewish population amounts only to 0.2% – in other words there are one hundred times as many Muslims as Jews. And yet the Chief Inspector of Constabulary found time to meet with three organisations concerned with antisemitism, and not a single organisation concerned with the welfare of Muslims.
We believe that the widespread coverage of this issue as one in which the overriding concerns are “antisemitism” and relations between the police and the Jewish community will ultimately be to the detriment of community relations in Birmingham and more widely. Birmingham’s Muslims will see that they cannot expect protection from their police force, and across the country the strong impression will have been given that anyone who offends the presumed interests of Israelis and the Israel lobby will be harried and forced to resign. This is not just our impression as Jews critical of current Israeli policies – we are writing in part at the urging of a Rabbi who for obvious reasons does not wish his name divulged, who is very anxious at the spectacle of the forcing from office of Chief Constable Guildford in response to pressure from Jewish organisations. We deeply regret the forcing from office of Chief Constable Guildford, which we learned of during the writing of this letter. Despite his resignation, we believe that the issue is not all over, and we urge all concerned to review carefully the pressures they were subjected to and the decisions they have taken in response to these pressures.
Yours Sincerely,
David Mond and Jenny Manson, for Jewish Voice for Liberation
PS We ask you to pass a copy of this letter to former Chief Constable Guildford, and to express our regrets that he has been forced out for trying to do his job.
Note
[*] That this is a genocide is agreed by an authoritative United Nations commission, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Israeli Human Rights groups B’tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, many of whose members are Jewish.
A splendiferous letter. I especially liked your request to pass it on the former Chief Constable who so deserves our respect and gratitude. He fulfilled the Police Oath he took when beginning his career (ie to uphold the law and civic security without fear or favour to anyone).
M Tel Aviv”s next match in Israel was abandoned by Israeli Police, because they lost control of fans rascism and violence! Their next Eutopean match was in Stutgart and German Police brought in 2000 extra officers to try and control M. Tel Aviv fans, but more racist chants and violence happened. They have now been banned by UEFA but suspended to see if they will behave.
Brilliant response, just a shame it won’t get mainstream media attention.
This is a brilliant letter.
In my view Chief Constable Guildford put the safety of the people living in Birmingham first. And that is what should always happen. It says a lot about those who forced him to resign, namely that you cannot trust them as they will sell you down the river sooner or later.
Thank you very much for sending and publishing this letter, I completely agree with everything you’ve written here, and feel it is very important to highlight how bizarre and unreasonable this situation is.
I hope Mr Guildford does recognise that there are a large number of people who know that he did the right thing under extremely challenging conditions, and view this whole fiasco as a politically-motivated witch hunt. I really don’t like that phrase given its misuse amongst certain parts of society, but under certain circumstances, you must call it what it is.
At last a calm and well thought out analysis of this high profile case. Thank you
Thanks for this elucidation of the Birmingham football controversy. Yes, you are right in saying many people will blame some Jewish organisations for lobbying for the dismissal of the Chief Constable, and their actions will foster belief in the excessive influence of Jewish people in British politics etc. All of which is very unfortunate for good and respectful and peaceful and positive relations between all British people,irrespective of Faith or Ethnicity.
I am so glad to see someone – anyone writing to support the clearly necessary decision to ban the proven violent Maccabi football fans from the entering Britain for that match.
The Chief Constable has been thrown under the bus. Thank you for speaking up for him and for the Muslim community in Birmingham.
This letter sums up perfectly how the Labour Party and the Zionist Lobby have twisted the facts to fit their agenda.
Racist and violent thugs such as those who support Maccabi Tel Aviv should be banned from all sports. It’s as straightforward as that. Those who make political gain from manipulating the facts are not democratic and the Labour Party cabinet should hang their heads in shame. The sooner the home secretary goes, the better.
Brilliant letter, covering all aspects including the typical tactic of the Israel lobby to get a perfectly factual and correct move against Israeli impunity rescinded, the resignation of the person applying the ban, and the twisting of an objective action against Israeli racism as antisemitic against the local Jewish Community, at the same time using distinctly Islamophobic rhetoric and branding Muslim responses to Israeli-linked threats as Islamic extremism..
Thank you for writing this letter. It is very good and addressed many relevant issues. However, there is an improvement relevant point missing, that is the decision by FIFA to fine Maccabi.
thank you so much
God bless you
Sir Andy Cooke should be investigated for producing a biased report – and it should have been obvious to Shabana Mahmood that it was a biased report.
Thank you for taking time to write and send this. Of course had UEFA done the right thing and banned Israeli teams from their competitions (as Russian teams have been) there would have been none of this drama sadly being exploited by those who constantly conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism
It always felt to me like Starmer and his front bench had made their decision to condemn Chief Constable Guildford before knowing the full facts of the kind of trouble the Maccabi fans cause, or provoke – much the same difference really – and when they did find out, chose to ignore all of that because they had an agenda that they absolutely refuse to break from. The Chief Constable is being offered up for sacrifice by a government wishing to show Israel where its true loyalties lie; and that is even though the Israeli government knows full well what the Maccabi fans are. It seems they can do whatever damage they like, so long as it isn’t in Israel. This government doesn’t get any less devious with the passing of time.
Maccabi fans are well known violent thugs . They needed banning here and in every civilised nation
Very pleased to see this letter of support for the Chief Constable. The Beeb said he had taken “retirement”. This is better than resignation as he retains pension rights.
I think it would have given much weight to the letter if members had been asked to sign a group letter. One signed by a few representatives is easily dismissed as unrepresentative of a different Jewish view from those of the Zionist sycophants
Thank you for the excellent letter. I’d been following the issue through BBC radio 4 news. I distinctly remember that the reason originally given by Chief Constable Guildford on questioning was evidence from European security sources regarding the violence perpetuated by Maccabi fans in Amsterdam. By the time it was reported in Parliament, according to the BBC, the reason seemed to have been changed. The final flourish on the heap was the fictional West Ham evidence. Who knows, had AI had accidentally translated Amsterdam as West Ham? I felt that we have certainly reached our 1984 point. And I’m not anti vax.
Excellent letter, it should also be shared with the Home Secretary.
Relative Birmingham Jewish population 0.1% v. 21% Muslim and yet the Chief Inspector of Constabulary found time to meet with three organisations concerned with antisemitism, and not a single organisation concerned with the welfare of Muslims.
Says it all doesn’t it?
A good letter but one which once again focuses on the violent behaviour of some fans of one football team.
This will come back to bite you and the wider pro-Palestinian rights movement when the next Israeli team, or athlete or performer, comes here, and they and their fans have an entirely unblemished record of behaviour at home and overseas events. Apart, of course, from their presumed or known behaviour in uniform.
What will you argue then without being inconsistent wit your current position?
We should advocate for boycotting every Israeli team (unless it represents Palestinians).
Only a couple of days ago, I was rolling my eyes and saying we’ll have to be on the streets defending the police, soon!
Excellent response and much required. I fully endorse it, thanks for taking the time to write it. I only wish the main stream media had the integrity to publicise it. It is an utter disgrace that under pressure from friend of Israel from within the Labour Party and Zionist lobby the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has bullied and coerced Chief Constable Guildford into resigning just for doing his job and doing it conscientiously and properly. I would like (former)Chief Constable Guildford to know that he was morally right and thousand of people respect him for that. It is much needed but a rare quality these days.
Where was the support for the Chief Constable before his resignation? I am very glad this letter has been sent. The one-sidedness of the investigation” and coverage of it was chilling.
(Corrected)
Thank you JVL, for voicing our concerns as well.
This government has chosen to support Israel beyond any reasonable behaviour.. it’s bias has been shown in many ways and the blind support of Macabee fans who we have ALL seen blatantly singing racist and violent anti Arab songs in Amsterdam and behaving horrifically to any non white person, yet alone people they think are Palestinian supporters. It is disgraceful that this police officer who has witnessed evidence of these hooligans should be sacrificed by political intent when he was serving the community he is paid to serve. I am outraged by the fact that Britain now serves Israel more than its own communities and our Prime Minister openly insulted and racially slurred people in Birmingham, especially Muslims, to defend violent foreign football hooligans. There was a time in UK history I remember in the 1980s where our police stopped our hooligans travelling abroad where there was a threat of violence.
You, Police Commissioner, need to support Chief Constable Guildford as the local Live Commissioner, and not sell out to emotional blackmail of a current political policy which puts foreign interests ahead of local interests. There are enough definitions of antisemitism which separate antiZionism from antiJudaism. You need to listen to the Jewish voices who are offended by Israel. Israel does not represent Jews, it is a foreign entity which has no place dictating British policy especially in the current situation where it is being prosecuted for ‘plausible’ genocide and the leaders are held up for arrest warrants. How low has our country sunk to put people who actively want all Arabs to die and sing about killing all children in Gaza ahead of the protection of our Birmingham and other British communities. Any support of these fans is pure racism against the local population of not only Muslims, but Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Decent Jews, Hindus and people of no faith. History will judge this era as one of the most depressing in recent British history, please don’t join the long list of those who are on the wrong side of morality. Listen to Jewish Voices who defend morality and Judaism, not those who defend murder and theft and ethnic cleansing.. that’s not Judaism, its racism.
There is international agreement that Israel is openly committing a genocide in Gaza and SHOULD THEREFORE BE BOYCOTTED internationally so it should never have been up to Chief Inspector Guildford to ban supporters of a Israeli team who themselves should not have been allowed to come to the UK in the first place
There is a very important analysis of the corrupt media coverage of the Maccabi business by Richard Sanders of DoubledownNews.
“What REALLY Happened in Amsterdam” on Youtube. It is a must see.
However, simply put. Would the UK authorities allow an Arab team to play here if their supporters were known to shout “Kill all the Jews” ? Of course not. MACCABI Ultra are recorded as shouting in unison, “kill all the arabs”. Why in heaven should a distinction be made?
Well done JVL, Jenny and David. Thank you and solidarity
I remember breathing an enormous sigh of relief that Chief constable Guildford had had the courage to ban the Machabee fans, both because of the safety issues and the moral issue that you don’t allow a bunch of racist thugs who intend to disrupt and damage, to get into an enclosed space where they would almost certainly become violent, causing not only damage, but physical harm to British citizens. This is not the time to bend the knee to Netanyahu.
Who would have thought that a labour government would be so liberal (neoliberal?) to give a foreign football team with thuggish supporters more right than our country’s police force whose job is to protect our citizens and towns? And we call ourselves a soverign nation?
Thankyou and thanks all those who have commented. I am sure useful comparison can be made with the metropolitan police commissioner Rowley who gave in to pressure and overturned agreements to re route away from synagogues a Jan 2025 protest against the war in Gaza. This was by groups with a history of non violence. He actually reported back the next day to the pro-Israel Board of Deputies of British Jews on his actions.
Brilliant letter. Thank you for sending it. Agree with every word.