One of the reports circulating is that the police intelligence for the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was that significant numbers 200-500 had “links to the IDF. This is an example of institutionalized/implicit or hidden bias.
Note two things
1. We tend to use that kind of language to suggest something sinister eg “links to the IRA” or “links to the far right”. However, the IDF is simply the Israeli military.
2. In Israel you serve through national service and then tend to be on the reserve lists because your country is permanently under threat of serious conflict. It is therefore not a surprise that high numbers of fans have links to the IDF.
Implicit bias is when you have an unconscious bias or tendency towards seeing a group of people negatively. It can include treating things that are in fact normal and reasonable as weird, sinister, unreasonable. The Maccabi game leaves the police and media with questions to answer.
- Have the media reported accurately through police’s advice?
- How did the police reach their conclusions?
As an update, Sky News have provided this interview with Chief Superintendent, Tom Joyce.
I have to say that this is deeply concerning for a number of reasons. First, that we have had to wait for an on the night interview after lots of rumours rather than a clear sharing of information prior to the game. There has been a lack of transparency here making it difficult to hold to account.
Secondly, there are major question marks about what Joyce claims. The problem of football hooligans committing violence and vandalism against members of the community apart from football fans is not unique to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Further, there would be means to deal with such risks, e.g charted flights and buses straight to the ground.
Thirdly, the police are in effect setting themselves up as judge and jury over the incident previously in Amsterdam. This includes Joyce stating that Maccabi fans were attacked because of the actions of their hooligan element. This at least gives the appearance of victim blaming. Further, he does not really deal with the point that the convictions in Amsterdam were against those who attacked the Israelis. Nor does he acknowledge that the pre match incidents included actions such as tearing down Palestinian flags which suggests that it was itself a (inappropriate) response to intense provocation.
Fourthly, the chief superintendent is asked about the display of banners saying that Zionists and Zionism are not welcome. He claims that this doesn’t amount to hate speech. However, given how the term “Zionist” is used and given that there were also reported chants of “death to the IDF”, it is difficult to work out how he could reach such a conclusion.
There are further questions to answer because the claimed police intelligence has leaked out over time. Why did the police not make their advice public from the beginning? And why are sections of the media who tend to treat the police with scepticism treating their intelligence as infallible on this occasion? Greater transparency would have enabled better scrutiny and debate.
Finally, despite Maccabi fans being banned, 700 police officers were still needed to keep the peace with arrests being made. This again raises questions as to why attempts were made to pin blame for any potential trouble onto them. It is worth noting that the MP for Perry Barr who is linked to Jeremy Corbyn’s efforts to start a new party has been vocal prior to the game and was involved in the demonstrations at it. His demands went beyond concerns for safety as he wants a ban on Israeli teams playing in European competitions full stop.
The agitation before the game has created significant anxiety for many and led to significant disruption as the policing effort had a wider impact on transport around the city. People work in, travel and have relatives in the area. Whilst we are not in that MP’s constituency, we are just on the border of it. We need to think through how politicians are held accountable for the impact their words and actions have beyond their own constituencies and areas (think too of how the Mayor of London’s actions including the congestion charge affect many who don’t get to vote for him).
And then there is just once again what we have seen time and time again. The co-opting of the Palestinian cause into British domestic political agendas and the way that is used in street demonstrations and marches. Last night football fans and citizens of Birmingham were affected. However, remember that for two years British Jews have often been unable to move freely about London or go to synagogue without running the gauntlet of demonstrators changing slogans about death.
The Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv game has left us with big questions to answer. I hope that West Midlands police will conduct a full review.
Faithroots 