Readers will be aware that I wrote around about the time of the decision to bdn Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the game with Aston Villa. In my articles I expressed serious concerns both about the decision and the reasoning around it.
This week, councillors and police including the Chief Constable were summoned back to Parliament to answer committee questions. Additionally , Kemi Badenoch has led calls for his resignation.
What has emerged since I previously wrote about this is.
- That police claimed to have received support from the Jewish community for the decision when this was not the case
- That as part of their consultation , they spoke to Mosque leaders and that some of those mosques such as Green Lane were significantly outside of the neighborhood around Villa Park. Further, three mosques have had concerned about them relating to antisemitism.
- That two councillors on the Safety Advisory Group had campaigned for the game not to happen as a sanction for Israel’s action in Gaza. In other words there were political motives at play separate to crowd safety concerns.
- That police were aware of intelligence pointing to the risk of community residents arming themselves and targeting the Israeli fans.
Now, in terms of the police, I am not convinced that there was an intentional or malign targeting of Jews. However, I believe that this new evidence contributes to a picture that we have been establishing of systemic failings.
My concern is that the police involved in giving evidence did not seem to realise that there was a problem.
For the record, I am not convinced that resignations are the answer. Rather, I hope that there will be a proper review and perhaps an inquiry that will enable lessons to be learnt. The problem is with the system not with individuals.
Faithroots 