The local Birmingham soccer club, Aston Villa, who play at Villa Park right there in the city, has a match scheduled for tonight that's causing a bit of an upset with locals.
Or, I'm not sure I should say 'locals' so much as 'people who happen to live there.'
Their opponents are the Maccabi Tel Aviv from, obviously, Israel.
As if that weren't incendiary enough in the near Muslim caliphate that the UK is rapidly devolving into, the Maccabi's away fans are banned from the stadium. They cannot attend the game, and the Villa were not permitted to set aside the usual seat allowances for away fans.
You see, in England, hosting an Israeli team is presumed to be hazardous to everyone's health.
Not because of the Israelis, but because they ARE Israelis. Apparently, certain people who live in Birmingham are incapable of civilized behavior, which scares and intimidates the crap out of everyone.
After weeks of political controversy, Aston Villa will take on Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C in Birmingham Thursday evening without the latter team’s fans allowed to attend.
Supporters were banned from the 6 November Europa League game after Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group (SAG) raised concerns about fan safety, sparking a political controversy that threatens to overshadow the match.
Critics have claimed the decision is antisemitic and punishes law-abiding fans for the actions of a minority. The UK government pledged - unsuccessfully - to try and overturn the ruling while the Board of Deputies of British Jews president Phil Rosenberg warned the “ridiculous” ban risked “giving the impression there are ‘no-go’ zones in this country”.
The war in Gaza is ultimately at the heart of the heightened tensions, after a Maccabi game in Amsterdam last year saw reports of ‘Jew hunting’, anti-Arab chants and Palestinian flags torn down as trouble spilled onto the streets.
Birmingham is the second-largest city in the country, which has now reached a 30% Muslim share of the population.
COMMUNITIES LIVING IN PARALLEL
But that's too exculpatory. A better answer is that we now have large numbers of British citizens with little in common.
— Sam Ashworth-Hayes (@SAshworthHayes) October 17, 2025
Birmingham is heavily segregated. In the areas around Villa Park, the population is roughly 70% Muslim. Cross over the road, and the share drops to 5-6%.… pic.twitter.com/0w1nzvsELO
...Cross over the road, and the share drops to 5-6%. These are communities living in parallel.
And I'm supposed to be upset when someone incorrectly chides me for being 'nativist'? I'm not at all.
I'm an anti-Balkanist. I NEVER want to see a map of an American city that looks like this and LIVES like this - 'in parallel.'
Where the prospect of one football game upsetting a segment of their residents is so frightening a specter to the Birmingham City Council that they had to close the schools in anticipation of adverse public participation.
Massive police presence ahead of the match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa.
— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) November 6, 2025
Ironic how MTA fans were shunned because of "safety issues", yet schools closed early and Birmingham is swarming with police to prevent chaos.
pic.twitter.com/hY7zdRfFRT
Pathetic, groveling, enabling weasels.
A gentleman who had served as the team attorney for years for one of the more prestigious soccer clubs said the ban on fans was shameful - that the game and politics should never mix.
But if one were a Jewish Birmingham resident still planning to go, he advises, 'don't wear the Israeli flag on your shoulder.'
..."As a Jew born in London and living here my entire life, I need to take special precautions. This is the first time I feel this way. For example, there are pro-Palestinian marches in central London almost every Saturday, an area we must stay away from. There are no similar protests against the mass killings in Sudan and Nigeria. This doesn't have much connection to football. The decision was made minutes after the match was set, based on what happened to Maccabi fans in Amsterdam and Derby. This is a connection between sports and politics, as happened in the past in South Africa, and it's terrible in my eyes.
"Decision-makers found a way to justify the narrative – and that's what happened in Amsterdam. They claim Maccabi fans are hooligans and thus changed the story. My uncle lives in Herzliya, and a friend of his was at the match against Ajax. He told me what happened in Amsterdam, how they chased Jews in the streets. Ultimately, I think Maccabi made the right decision when it gave up the tickets and looked after its fans."
Q: Should Jews be afraid to attend?
"Not because they're Jews. Birmingham is England's second-largest city, but it has a large immigrant community, mainly Muslim. I don't think any Jew who is an Aston Villa fan would be afraid to go to matches. However, if an Israeli flag were on their shoulders – that's a risk that shouldn't be taken."
Prior to this evening's match, there were plans in place for a significantly beefed-up police presence.
Decorating the neighborhood around the stadium had already begun. To give the Israeli team all sorts of warm fuzzies.
...More than 700 police officers will be deployed, along with police horses, police dogs and a drone unit, with protests expected by different groups, West Midlands police said.
...On the streets of Aston, and close to the Villa stadium, lamp-posts are covered with Palestinian flags and some local businesses display posters of a rally scheduled on Thursday in support of Palestine and calling for Israel to be suspended from Uefa and Fifa.
Abul Lase, who owns an accountancy firm in Aston, said someone had approached him to ask whether they could display the poster in his window. He agreed, although he has no plans to attend the protest.
“There’s a lot of anxiousness around here,” Lase, 50, said. “For me, I don’t want [the match] to happen. But local people don’t want it to happen – a lot of them because [of what is happening in] Palestine right now. You probably see a lot of Palestine flags here, so you see the feelings for it.”
...According to West Midlands police, the fixture on Thursday was classified as “high risk” based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including “violent clashes and hate crime offences” that occurred around the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam.
Not exactly the Welcome Wagon, but they sure tried, didn't they?
Main road into Birmingham this morning ahead of Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/9K9rvXjgNr
— Queen Natalie (@TheNorfolkLion) November 6, 2025
By 8 a.m. this morning, protesters were already camping out around the stadium, as police began to move their assets in.
...Anti-Israel protesters made their presence felt around Villa Park hours before tonight's controversial match with Palestinian flags flying and signs displayed yards from the ground.
The scene was quiet when a BirminghamLive reporter arrived in the area before 8am today, Thursday, November 6. But there was plenty of evidence that campaigners had been around with signs also put up on lampposts bearing messages including: "No war games allowed".
By the time night fell, hundreds had gathered, and police were already warning the crowd they'd be arresting violators who got out of hand.
A large group of protesters has now gathered outside Villa Park ahead of Villa's game against Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.
ITV Central estimates there are several hundred people there now, many waving flags.
Various groups are calling for the match, which kicks off at 8pm, to be cancelled.
The game hit the international headlines after local authorities said that Maccabi fans would be blocked from attending the game, with West Midlands Police classifying the fixture as high-risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents."
There is also now a large police presence.
The chair of the local Palestine organization promised no violence - butter wouldn't melt in their mouths - even as he promised 'tens of thousands' of demonstrators were on the way to the area.
...The Chair of West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign has pledged there will be no violence from his organisation.
Naeem Malik said he is expecting tens of thousands of people to gather around Villa Park to protest at the Israeli side's inclusion in international sport.
They certainly sound friendly. Catch the male chorus in the background in last three seconds or so of the video.
🇬🇧 Heavy police presence still to be soon in Birmingham, as @YoungBobTPUK and @shillitz report LIVE. https://t.co/XXs0laxYrW pic.twitter.com/8eLvSALlrx
— VoxPopuli (@vpopulimedia) November 6, 2025
I don't think they have enough cops, frankly.
Then again, the British 'police' are removing the independent journalists who are in the area reporting on what's really happening.
(NSFW LANGUAGE warning)
🇬🇧 @YoungBobTPUK gets ASSAULTED, told to “FUCK OFF” and called a “NEO NAZI” by aggressive anti Israel protestor. https://t.co/8pUKAzkbla pic.twitter.com/EgCmzxhaUH
— VoxPopuli (@vpopulimedia) November 6, 2025
One of Tommy Robinson's peeps is outside the stadium right now. He interviewed a true local a little bit ago, who says it's a damned disgrace that they have to deploy 700 police because of 'one part of their community' (at 28:00 mins into the live feed)
'...Their orders are to bow down to the mob. We've seen that with the hate marches in London. Where there's mass police presence but nothing's actually done about the issue. Police officers, as you said, can be redeployed to protect people on the streets and do their jobs. And not protect a mob that wants to run through Birmingham, Leeds and the other cities on a weekly basis. So, yeah. When they're cutting police. It's absolutely disgraceful when they're cutting police numbers and we have to deploy 700 police officers to Birmingham for a football game because of fear of what one part of our community will decide they might do....'
Starmtroopers probably already have this guy's name and will be banging on his door sometime soon for social reeducation after he recants and repents. I hope he's locked on someone to take care of his pets if he has any...just in case.
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA
Breaking that golden oldie out now.
Large pro-Palestine protest is staged outside Villa Park ahead of tonight’s Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv game. A huge security operation is in place across Birmingham this evening. pic.twitter.com/FrWPmYMK42
— Adrian Rutherford (@arutherfordNI) November 6, 2025
Such delightful people.
Currently outside Villa Park where there are thousands of people protesting Aston Villa’s Europa League fixture against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
— Dan Stacey (@DanStacey03) November 6, 2025
“The city of Birmingham are Villa fans tonight” one pro-Palestine activist figure tells me #Birmingham #AstonVilla pic.twitter.com/dgxHvC1Lrp
A few, lone, brave souls are standing silently with Israeli flags, scattered amidst the hate-filled cacophony.
🚨🇬🇧 BIRMINGHAM PROTESTS
— Chyno News (@ChynoNews) November 6, 2025
Protests have broken out ahead of the match between Aston Villa and Tel Aviv Maccabi.
A massive police operation is underway in preparation for the game as tensions flare between opposing fans. pic.twitter.com/oUIGWEh5mV
I sure hope the police arrest them first when it all blows up if they're still anywhere near the stadium.
It will probably be what saves their lives.
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