Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, the police and misguided anger | Maccabi Tel Aviv

The Campaign Against Antisemitism says the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Villa Park has “outraged the entire country” (Home Office provides additional resources in bid to overturn Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban, October 17). Well, I’m not mad about it, but I was mildly surprised that only one group of fans was left out. What angers me is that the State of Israel, which committed genocide and a scorched earth policy in Gaza, and continues to violate international law and civilized norms in the West Bank, is allowed to participate in international competitions at all.

It seems to me that those who insist on confusing anti-Israel sentiment with anti-Semitism are making the problem worse. If the interests of the Israeli state and the interests of all Jews are endlessly described as one and the same, then it is unfortunate that Jewish people like Maccabi fans, who may or may not support the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu, end up as targets of the contempt, even hatred, that must be directed against the Israeli government.
Isabella Stone
Sheffield

In the 1980s, she was accused of bringing politics into the sport of shooting, arguing that it was a moral rather than a political issue. At each annual tournament, my county association, Cheshire, ran a postal match with the Shooting Club of Natal, South Africa, to choose the best scorers for the Cheshire team. At the following Annual General Meeting, I asked to opt out so that I and other anti-apartheid shooters could have our names removed. It was rejected. The rules were changed by my province only after we raised the issue to the National Sports Association.

I will make the same point now. Opposition to Israel can be morally based, not necessarily political (Outrage over Maccabi ban shows power of sport and why fans now expect more from its leaders, October 17).

Meanwhile, isn’t Keir Starmer’s objection to the Maccabi ban somewhat paradoxical in light of moves to give police the ability to enforce tougher restrictions on demonstrations if previous demonstrations have had a “cumulative” effect? West Midlands Police appear to be acting in the spirit of these proposed new rules to prevent a repeat of the violence that broke out in Amsterdam last year between Ajax and Maccabi supporters. It’s not a demonstration they’re trying to ban, admittedly, but the potential for public disorder in Birmingham in another form. You could say this is smart police work.
David Edwards Holm
Stockport, Greater Manchester

Reports that a football match involving Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel was called off by police on Sunday strengthened West Midlands Police’s case for banning Maccabi fans due to the risk of rioting. This is quite apart from the arguments in favor of boycott and sanctions against the apartheid state (as defined by Amnesty International) until it becomes fully democratic, as happened in South Africa a generation ago.
Milan Joshi
Birmingham

Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband made a huge mistake in opposing the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. They are not welcome not because they are Jews but because some of them have proven to be violent racists. It is not their safety that is of concern, but the safety of the local population. Should Israelis be exempt from normal rules of civilized behavior because they are Jews?
Sue Hawthorne
(Haddington, East Lothian).

Regarding the ban imposed by Birmingham Police on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, there is immediately a lot of discussion about whose penchant for violence is the problem, whether the police are rational, etc. Everything misses the point.

For context, I remember attending many years ago in war-torn Sarajevo, the first post-war match held anywhere in the former Yugoslavia between the Yugoslav and Bosnian national teams. This was an occasion with the potential for real violence, a very frenetic atmosphere and unpredictability. But most important of all was the determination of the local police to ensure a peaceful evening and avoid disaster. With this focus, they succeeded and made the night a symbol of the possibility of peace and normalcy. They didn’t find out.

Don’t tell me that the police in a great British city face a greater challenge today than they did. What is missing here is not the resources but certainly the determination required. Why is this?
Eric Janson
Oxford