On Friday, the retirement of Chief Constable Craig Guildford of the West Midlands Police in the United Kingdom was publicly announced. His decision to step down was prompted by what he described as a “political and media frenzy” surrounding Maccabi Tel Aviv’s banning of Israeli fans from his team’s match with Aston Villa in Birmingham.
A few days ago, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood publicly stated that she had lost “confidence” in Guildford’s leadership due to constant political and media pressure; This is the first time in two decades that the Home Secretary has done so. Ministers and many in the media framed the ban as a moral outrage, even a national insult.
This was not a scandal involving corruption, brutality or a police cover-up, but a risk assessment. British media and public officials have ripped apart the internal advice on which the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from Villa Park in November was based. In doing so, the British state pitted Israeli football club fans against its own police.
West Midlands Police later admitted errors in his assessment. Note those mistakes but keep them in moderation. They do not consider evidence of bad faith, conspiracy or prejudice. An independent review found no evidence that the officers were influenced by anti-Semitism or malicious intent – a finding that has largely been drowned out by the public outcry machine.
What has been consistently erased from media coverage is context. A hooligan element within Maccabi Tel Aviv’s fanbase has a long, well-known history of violent and racist behavior, including blatantly anti-Palestinian chants. This is not a minor claim or a recent invention. This has been acknowledged for decades, including in Israel.
The police risk assessment was informed by the violence surrounding the Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Amsterdam in 2024 when unrest broke out in the city, locals were attacked, racist chants glorifying the Israeli army were heard and Palestinian symbols were targeted. It comes amid intense global outrage over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its mass killings, displacement and starvation. Against that backdrop, the decision to err on the side of caution was neither shocking nor ominous. It was policing.
Anti-Semitism is real, dangerous and on the rise globally and must be dealt with seriously. But erasing Jewish identity in support of an Israeli football club and treating any scrutiny of its fans as suspect does nothing to combat anti-Semitism. Instead, it weaponizes Muslim communities while casting doubt on them and undermining trust in public institutions.
The political reaction to the case is further revealing that it is not uncommon in the UK for football supporters to be banned for security reasons. British authorities have routinely banned British fans from attending matches at home or abroad based on a reputation for violence and disorder.
These collective, preventive measures have long been accepted as general public-order policing. No minister discriminated. Not a single police chief has been beaten up. No national emergency has been declared.
The difference here is not one of principle. That is politics.
For Palestinians, this episode fits a broad and painfully familiar pattern. For more than two years, Israel has carried out genocide in Gaza: thousands of people have been killed, most of the population has been displaced, homes, hospitals, schools and universities have been destroyed, and starvation has been imposed as a method of war. International jurists and human rights organizations have warned of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Britain’s response has been consistent: delay, equivocation and protection.
There is no arms embargo. There is no sanction. No meaningful responsibility for Israel.
It is the pattern revealed in Birmingham that shapes Britain’s response to Gaza. The state comes together when Israeli interests are disadvantaged. It calls for restraint when Palestinians are killed. When people in Britain try to disrupt the supply chains of genocide, they are prosecuted. Some are now in prison. Some are on hunger strike.
This is the reality today for Palestine Action activists. And so the core question of this story cannot be avoided.
If the British government cannot tolerate a police decision that disadvantages an Israeli football club, it will never confront Israel over mass murder. If they are willing to damage their own institutions to demonstrate loyalty, they will not judge those who challenge that oppression.
An incident at a stadium in Birmingham reveals not only the football controversy but how power works. It shows whose fears are considered legitimate, whose suffering demands action, and whose lives can be taken away.
For Palestinians, the message is unequivocal. There is no delay in getting justice in this situation. It is rejected.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.