UK government ignores calls to apologise over Maccabi Tel Aviv 'antisemitism' row

The UK government has ignored calls to apologise for suggesting that a decision to ban Israeli football fans from attending a match next month was "antisemitic".

Birmingham city council's safety advisory group last week barred fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from the Uefa Europa League game against Aston Villa due to security fears.

It based its decision on an assessment by the West Midlands Police, which designated it a high-risk event due to "current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences" that occurred in Amsterdam last year when Maccabi Tel Aviv played Ajax.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's right-wing fanbase is notorious for racist hate speech and political violence and have been banned from Amsterdam following last year's disorder.

The decision to ban them from the Aston Villa game caused outrage among pro-Israel British politicians and media commentators, who framed it as discrimination against Jews and accused its proponents of being antisemitic.

Birmingham MP Ayoub Khan, who was elected as an independent on a pro-Gaza platform and whose constituency is home to Aston Villa's stadium, said on Monday that the backlash has caused issues for his family and urged the prime minister to apologise to the police.

"The disgraceful, libelous and irresponsible comments made by some politicians have put me and my family in danger," he said in a video posted on X.

He continued: "I will always stand up for what is just and right, without fear or favour. Keir Starmer, you owe an apology to our chief constable."

The UK government did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The New Arab.

Khan, who has been a vocal supporter of the ban on Israeli fans, described a "deliberate disingenuous move by many to make this a matter of banning Jews" during a parliamentary debate on Monday.

"Those who are not welcome in Aston are hooligans that have a long history of violence and vile racism. Chants like ‘F the Arabs’, ‘we will rape their daughters’, that ‘there are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left in Gaza’ – it’s these hooligans that are not welcome," he said.

The debate came just hours after Maccabi supporters were involved in serious matchday violence in Tel Aviv.

Israeli police cancelled the derby with Hapoel Tel Aviv before kick-off after both sets of fans rioted in the stadium.

UK police said it would investigate what role Maccabi supporters played in the disorder.

Despite the violence, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy doubled down on the government's position that the ban was discriminatory. She accused Khan of "seeking to divide and exclude" and associated him with antisemitism.

In a letter, independent MP Jeremy Corbyn condemned Nandy's "grossly misleading" comments and called on her to retract them.

"This is not about banning Jewish people – and you know full well that none of us would support such a ban. Any attempt to conflate these two issues is not just grossly misleading, it is irresponsible and represents a shameful attempt to exploit the fears and anxieties of Jewish people," he wrote.

"Please can you return to the House of Commons to retract your comments."

The prime minister responded to the ban with a social media post reading "we will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets".

His government has since intervened in the issue and is putting pressure on the council to reverse its decision.

Starmer was joined by senior politicians and MPs from the Conservative Party, Reform and the Liberal Democrats. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called it a "national disgrace" while Reform's Nigal Farage wrote that the ban "takes racial discrimination to a whole new level".

Maccabi Tel Aviv said on Monday that it would not sell tickets to the Aston Villa match to its fans due to the situation.

A spokesperson for the UK government said: "We are deeply saddened Maccabi Tel Aviv have turned down their away fan allocation but we respect their right to do so."