Over 26,000 people in the UK have urged for the Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv match, which is due to be held in Birmingham on Thursday, to be cancelled, citing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
The petition, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, has garnered widespread support with many criticising the decision to allow the match to go ahead, citing the tens of thousands of civilians Israel killed in Gaza.
The petition demands that the Football Association (FA) and UEFA, European football’s governing body, call off the game and "take steps to exclude Israel from international football".
"Allowing Israeli football teams to compete in international competitions allows Israel to cynically present itself as a normal country, obscuring the reality of its genocide in Gaza, and imposition of a regime of settler-colonialism, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians," the petition states.
According to PSC, Maccabi Tel Aviv has been directly involved in Israel’s war on Gaza by sending ‘care packages’ to Israeli soldiers serving in the military.
The organisation further notes that the club is part of the Israel Football Association, which has at least six teams located in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which violates international law and UEFA statues.
Speaking to The New Arab, Lewis Backon, the PSC's Campaigns Officer, said: "Allowing Israel to participate in international football and allowing its clubs to play in Britain normalises its genocide in Gaza, and apartheid regime against all Palestinians. It sends the signal that Israel will face no consequences for its crimes and atrocities".
"Palestinians have long called for Israel to be removed from UEFA and FIFA, and we know that football fans in this country and around the world support this demand. Its time the footballing authorities listened," Backon added.
The Birmingham branch of Stop the War Coalition told The New Arab that the organisation "condemns the UK government's interventions in West Midlands Police's decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending today's match. PM Keir Starmer should be ashamed of throwing the city of Birmingham under the bus and inflaming tensions in our diverse and multicultural city".
"Ultimately, however, it is on basic principle that Israel should not be permitted to participate in sporting competitions given its internationally recognised genocide of the Palestinians. There was a righteous boycott of apartheid-era South Africa. Russia was banned from participating in international sporting competitions upon its invasion of Ukraine. Israel's activity must not be normalised," a spokesperson for the organisation continued.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have previously engaged in violent, threatening and genocidal chants, which celebrate the killing of Arabs, particularly during a match in Amsterdam which led to clashes in the city last year.
According to various reports, over 700 police officers will be on the streets of Birmingham on Thursday, along with police horses, dogs, drones and road units, in anticipation of the match.
The police will be implementing Section 60, which allows officers to stop and search people without "reasonable grounds".
There will be two pro-Palestine protests in Birmingham on Thursday, the BBC reported, while a Maccabi solidarity rally has also been organised.
The latest developments come after the police made a decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the match last month for safety reasons, a decision later portrayed as "antisemitic" by UK government ministers.
Maccabi Tel Aviv then issued a statement saying that its fans would not travel to Birmingham for safety reasons.
West Midlands Police had designated the game as "high risk", following the actions of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam last year.
Reports later revealed that Dutch police told their British counterparts that the violent Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam who caused chaos in November 2024 were "linked to the Israel Defence Forces" and that hundreds were "experienced fighters".
Dutch police had clearly stated that “significant numbers of Maccabi fans were actively involved in demonstrations and confrontations".
Local media in Birmingham have reported that schools in the Aston area are set to close early in anticipation of the match as tensions remain high.