Let’s defend our city And the values that make it work

Unity, diversity, and inclusion, the principles that help to define this city, are under fire, from people who neither know or care about Birmingham.

The attacks are coming thick and fast: from Tory politicians, the right-wing press, far-right flaggers, Reform UK supporters and even a Villa fan who just happens to be a research fellow for a right-wing think tank.

Two more names can be added to the list: Keir Starmer, has been trying, and very publicly failing, to overturn the Birmingham ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, a football club with a history of racism and violence. And Tommy Robinson, who has said he intends to attend the match himself.

Stirchley Stands Up

On Saturday, protesters in Stirchley stood in opposition to the far-right group Raise the Colours. This small outfit is founded and run by two “normal, working class Birmingham businessmen” neither of which actually live in Birmingham. They have been hanging hundreds of flags across the south of the city. That is until the people of Stirchley said “no thanks,” and began taking them down.

Operation Raise the Colours emerged out of the racist, anti-migrant protests that targeted hotels housing refugees over the summer. It quickly gained support from Tommy Robinson, Elon Musk, and every racist and fascist in the UK.

This movement has emboldened people who hate migrants and Muslims alike, leading to a wave of online abuse and an uptick in racist attacks across the city. Many people now feel that for the first time in years, their right to belong in Birmingham and in the UK is being questioned.

Yet Saturday’s protest was inspiring. Despite Raise the Colours arriving at 8am with a cherry picker to cover Stirchley Triangle in flags and bunting, then occupying our assembly point, they were soon outnumbered.

Stirchley turned out in force: diverse, good-natured, determined. The Triangle filled with homemade anti-racist symbols and campaign posters. Neighbours met, children chalked artwork on the paving stones. Slowly the space was reclaimed and the flaggers eventually made an undignified retreat.

Attacks

While Stirchley finds itself at the forefront of resistance to the flags, wider attacks on Birmingham continue.

The day before the Stirchley protest, Robert Jenrick doubled down on his divisive comments about Handsworth, declaring in The Telegraph: “I was right about Birmingham.” He went on to condemn West Midlands Police for banning Jewish football fans from Villa Park, calling it “a new low in our recent history.”

Jenrick’s framing of the issue is concerning. He described the ban as one on “Jewish football fans” rather than on Israeli Maccabi supporters. That distinction matters. There are, after all, English clubs with strong Jewish fan bases, like Spurs, and plenty of Jewish supporters of Villa and other Premier League teams.

So why do right wing media sources and politicians repeatedly describe Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters as “Jewish fans”? Are they referring to Israeli visitors, or are they expecting a large Jewish contingent of away supporters from the UK? This blurring of the line between Jewish identity and Israeli nationalism is something many Jewish people in Britain will find troubling.

The same day, the paper ran the headline: “Birmingham’s Jews fear to be seen in city that has become a hotbed of sectarianism.”

The article reported the views of some Jews who feel uncomfortable in the City Centre and other parts of Birmingham, but made no attempt to include alternative Jewish voices, religious or secular. A friend told me, “I’m sure the people in the article are speaking in good faith, but the way it’s framed and presented is divisive, and, to me, as someone of Jewish heritage, pretty anti-Semitic.”

Isabel Oakeshott, now living in Dubai but still promoting Reform UK, has also weighed in, claiming that banning Maccabi fans amounted to the police “surrendering to an anti-Semitic hate mob.”

Sky News interviewed “Aston Villa fan” Andrew Fox, who said he’d received death threats over the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. But Fox isn’t just any fan, he works for the Henry Jackson Society, a right-wing think tank described by one of its founders as “a far-right, deeply anti-Muslim racist organisation … used as a propaganda outfit to smear other cultures, religions and ethnic groups.”

In fact, the outrage over the Maccabi ban is manufactured. Football clubs are regularly fined, sanctioned, or banned from competitions due to racism and violence, and as everyone knows, when it comes to racism and violence, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s supporters have form.

Most people understand this. A poll conducted by YouGov on Friday suggested that people tend to think the ban is the right decision. 42% thought so, with only 28% thinking it was wrong.

The truth is, Maccabi Tel Aviv should not be playing at all. It is rank hypocrisy that Russian teams are banned from international competitions, while Israeli teams, representing a state that has been committing genocide for two years on the people of Gaza and remains engaged in a brutal occupation of Palestine, are not.

Defending our city

We must defend Birmingham from these attacks because they strike at the city’s heart, at what makes it, in spite of all of the challenges we face, a great place to live.

The match is still scheduled to go ahead, but for now, the danger of Maccabi fans rampaging through the streets of Aston has receded.

On Sunday, the Tel Aviv football derby between Maccabi and local rivals was called off after rioting. On Monday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy pledged the government will "find the resources" to allow Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans to attend the Villa match next month.

But then Maccabi, following a belated acknowledgement that they do in fact have a problem with racist and extremist fans, declined the invitation, ruling that their fans will not be allowed to buy tickets.

If Starmer had succeeded in overturning Birmingham’s decision to ban Maccabi fans, we would have faced a serious test. The prospect of Tommy Robinson supporters joining forces with violent Maccabi ultras on Birmingham’s streets would pose a grave danger.

We must remain vigilant, and we must continue to defend the ban. Maccabi fans should not be allowed anywhere near Birmingham. If the likes of Starmer do get their way, then many people will feel they have no choice but to mobilise to defend their communities.

Stirchley has just shown us how to do this: peacefully, resolutely, together, in solidarity with all our neighbours.

Defend the ban. No to racist violence. No to genocide. No to the far right. No to Islamophobia. No to antisemitism.

Birmingham will not be divided.