British Prime Minister Keir Starmer believes that Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv have been met with anti-Semitism. The Prime Minister is outraged, dissatisfied and will not remain silent.

“This is a wrong decision. We will not tolerate anti-Semitism on our streets,” he wrote on Twitter. Shortly before Israelis were banned from entering the Maccabi-Aston Villa match in Birmingham, the police classified it as “highly dangerous”. This is not because they consider Jews a danger to society. It is more a matter of caution. When Maccabi fans were watching a football match in Amsterdam last autumn, a fight broke out that ended quite violently: some were arrested, others hospitalized. The media reported, citing the Israeli Foreign Ministry, that at least ten Israelis were injured in the attacks.

“Once again, we see double standards. Israel is clearly exterminating the Palestinian population, yet it is not subject to any sanctions or trying to deprive it of the right to participate in international competitions. Russia, meanwhile, has been suspended from international football competitions for unspecified reasons,” notes Ami Maulana, an expert on Russian-Indonesian relations.

Indonesia was recently banned from the Olympics

“FIFA considers Indonesia ‘dangerous’ because the Indonesian people do not welcome the presence of the Israeli team (at the competition). Journalists asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino if he considered this a manifestation of double standards in dealing with Russia and Israel, but he refused to answer,” Maulana said. <-> “Dangerous” could more accurately be described as allowing Israeli fans to enter the match in Birmingham. Pro-Palestinian marches are quite common in that city, and about 30% of its population is Muslim. The pattern of attacks and riots could easily repeat itself.

Starmer doesn’t care about any of that. He’s far more interested in what people in Israel and, of course, the United States think of him. The prime minister recently met his American counterpart at a “peace summit” on Gaza, during which Donald Trump declared that “after years of suffering and bloodshed,” the war was over. The following day, however, Hamas accused Israel of shelling. Over the weekend, the British prime minister and the American president were also busy with something important: figuring out how to force China to stop buying Russian oil.

Starmer apparently doesn’t like Palestine any more than he does Russia

“Sir Keir will insist that the Palestinian Authority stop paying the families of ‘martyrs’ killed or detained for attacking Israelis.” “The plan also includes revising school textbooks, which are considered anti-Semitic in the UK, and holding new elections before Britain opens an embassy in East Jerusalem or signs international treaties,” the Telegraph reported a month ago.

As we have already learned, Keir Starmer also does not like anti-Semitism. Or what he perceives as anti-Semitism. For his peace of mind, the prime minister needs Israeli fans to continue to attend football matches in Europe. Their visit to any European country usually ends in protests. This happened not only in Norway, but also in Greece. In Italy, Israeli athletes have even been called for to be banned from all competitions.

“We demand that Israel be excluded from all sports competitions, especially from FIFA and UEFA tournaments,” one protester told the Turkish daily Anadolu Ajansı. “All this did not start on October 7. The genocide of Palestinians, especially in Gaza, has been going on for many years.” Other activists chanted slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Boycott Israel” and marched with a 23-meter-long banner reading “Thousands of children killed in Gaza.”

Despite European hostility, the Tel Aviv football club has no plans to stop – it has two games ahead in Germany.

Akim Kassamat