The scandal of the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending the club’s match against Aston Villa in Birmingham is not abating, and it is past time for West Midlands Police chiefs to resign.
It was barely two weeks ago that Villa Park played host to BSC Young Boys, a Swiss team, some of whose fans have a record of hooliganism. There was no ban on these supporters, and they lived up to their reputation.
This was in stark contrast to the decision to ban fans of the Israeli club – be they Israeli or British – because West Midlands Police chose not to police any perceived threat but to exclude them altogether instead.
When known violent groups are welcomed and Israeli fans are excluded, there is more than it seems at play.
We had hoped to get answers at a recent hearing of the Home Affairs Committee in Parliament, at which West Midlands Chief Constable, Craig Guildford, and Assistant Chief Constable, Mike O’Hara, testified.
Instead, the police chiefs seemed not to know – or did not wish us to be certain of – who made the decision to ban Israelis from an English football match, sometimes suggesting that it was a police decision and sometimes indicating that it was in fact a decision by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which brings together representatives from the local council and police.
Now, the chiefs have admitted that they wrongly told Parliamentarians that Birmingham’s Jewish community supported the ban on Israeli fans at Villa Park. They did not.
Officers repeatedly asserted Jewish backing for a decision taken without meaningful consultation, and apparently used the community as political cover for excluding Israelis “because of who they are”.
This was not a minor miscommunication.
The force also relied on “intelligence” now exposed as inaccurate, exaggerated, or sourced from social media scraping and possible AI hallucinations.
Yet these claims were used to justify an unprecedented prohibition affecting Jewish and Israeli supporters.
Trust has been shattered. A police force misled Parliament, made a discriminatory decision, and now offers a private apology while avoiding public accountability.
West Midlands Police must release the full chain of information behind this scandal and correct the Parliamentary record immediately.
But accountability also means leadership change.
The Chief Constable and Assistant Chief Constable have defended the process, stood by discredited claims, and failed to provide clarity about who made the decision or on what basis. Their positions are now untenable, and they should both resign.
Britain’s Jewish community – and the wider public – cannot have confidence in a policing system where those responsible for such a serious failure remain in post.
Notorious doctor rearrested after CAA action
It appears that Dr Rahmeh Aladwan has been rearrested.
Barely over a week ago, on 26th November, Dr Aladwan was suspended by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service for fifteen months while an investigation takes place, after multiple complaints by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others to the General Medical Council (GMC) regarding her appalling conduct on social media and ridiculous claims towards Jewish people.
This is the second time Dr Aladwan has been arrested in recent weeks.
The arrest is believed to be based on footage captured by volunteers from our Demonstrations and Events Monitoring Unit.
This development once again confirms the seriousness of the issues we raised to the GMC, and the danger that Dr Aladwan poses as a medical professional.
We hope that this accelerates the completion of the GMC’s investigation, so that it is only a matter of time until Dr Aladwan is removed from the medical profession.
Man allegedly connected to Manchester attacker charged with unrelated terrorism offences
A man who allegedly had a connection to the Manchester Synagogue attacker has been charged with multiple terror offences.
Asim Bashir, 31, has been charged with one count of preparation of acts of terrorism and three counts of dissemination of terrorism publications.
These charges are reportedly not directly related to the Yom Kippur attack which saw two Jewish men killed at service at Heaton Park Synagogue. Rather, they relate to allegations that he drove Manchester attacker Jihad Al-Shamie to a defence facility, with the intent of hostile reconnaissance at an unnamed military base.
He is also due to be prosecuted for allegedly sharing material over WhatsApp with the intent to encourage acts of terrorism.
The increase in online antisemitic content following the Manchester synagogue attack in October has prompted Ofcom to review how sufficient major social media platforms are in policing the removal of illegal hate speech.
The circulation of antisemitic tropes and rhetoric is an all-too-familiar sight on social media and online forums. The fact that there has been a noticeable increase of this type of content after such a tragic day in recent Jewish history is alarming — but not, however, surprising. Is it any wonder that 96% of British Jews believe that antisemitism on social media is a problem, according to our representative polling?
The investigation aims to be completed by April 2026.
Far-right online activist jailed
A man with a significant online following has been jailed for twenty months for spreading racist and antisemitic rhetoric on social media after reports to the police by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.
Following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, David Morgan, 24, from Wales, pleaded guilty to publishing nine posts with intent to stir up racial hatred on X between September and October of last year.
The posts, which are still available to view despite numerous calls for them to be removed, feature an onslaught of anti-Jewish and racist hatred, including conspiracies about Jewish people controlling the global economy and the media, and support for Hitler, as well as racist statements about black people.
One image reportedly showed banknotes moving towards an oven with the caption: “Only antisemites understand this photo.” Another reportedly showed a man urinating on a menorah, while another showed a train track heading into a gas chamber. Mr Morgan also reportedly promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories about 9/11, among other tropes.
Jewish users who, in addition to Campaign Against Antisemitism, had complained about Mr Morgan claimed to have been rebuffed by the police, although the force disputed this.
What is not in doubt is that X abysmally failed to remove the posts – which were being monetised – that a court has recognised as unlawful. Social media networks should not be able to profit from antisemitism and racism.
Due to Mr Morgan’s “entrenched and extreme” views and the high risk that he poses, the judge decided that the universal credit recipient must be jailed. He was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison at Cardiff Crown Court.
A man who sent a series of messages filled with antisemitic hate speech to a Jewish Member of Parliament has also been jailed.
Kevin Smith, 61, was sentenced to eight weeks in prison at Leeds Magistrates’ Court for sending voice messages and over 300 text messages deemed “generally unpleasant and offensive” by the court judge to Alex Sobel, the Jewish Labour Party MP for Leeds Central and Headingley.
The messages reportedly included hateful terms such as “Kill the Jews” and “They should be arrested for war crimes.”
Mr Smith said he was drunk when the messages were sent.
As well as his jail sentence, the court has issued a restraining order which prohibits Mr Smith from contacting Mr Sobel.
‘Khaybar’ chanters let off hook
Whilst action is taken against the far-right, those shouting Islamist chants are let off the hook.
The notorious ‘Khaybar’ chant is unmistakably threatening to Jewish people.
The chant translates as: ‘Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.’ It refers to the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of Khaybar in 628 CE and is plainly a battle cry against Jews.
It is therefore extremely worrying that a jury has exonerated two men of the charge of incitement to racial hatred under section 18 of the Public Order Act of 1986 for allegedly singing the chant in London May 2021.
The fact that the incident occurred in May 2021, they were only charged in April 2023, and the case has only now concluded in December 2025 also shows how slowly the justice system is moving, further complicating efforts to secure justice for British Jews.
The repeated use of this chant at demonstrations in Britain and abroad shows how overt and normalised antisemitic intimidation has become. Jewish people are expected to walk past mobs glorifying and threatening the slaughter of Jews.
In a dangerous precedent, apparently a jury of peers does not believe that that is a matter of concern.
Our Legal and Policy Units are reviewing the case.
What does the public think ‘Zionism’ is?
Do you know what ‘Zionism’ is?
54% of the British public admit that they do not.
So, we hit the streets of London to ask people what they thought it meant.
The answers were revealing. Watch the full video here.
BBC supports Israel’s participation in Eurovision Song Contest as four countries declare boycott
Multiple countries have declared a boycott of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after it was announced that Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, will be allowed to compete.
The nations that will no longer be taking part include Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
The decision to allow Israel’s participation in the contest came after the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) general assembly met last week, and members voted in a secret ballot. The EBU said that the members had shown “clear support for reforms to reinforce trust and protect neutrality,” a reference to new rules to reduce the impact of public voting in an apparent effort to reduce Israel’s chances while keeping the country in the competition.
The BBC is supporting the decision to allow Israel to take part in the contest. Thankfully, our public broadcaster has not capitulated to the select few who have chosen to prioritise virtue signalling and age-old exclusion of Jews over fairness, public opinion and the true spirit of the competition.
At this year’s Eurovision contest, Israel’s National Security Council was forced to issue a warning advising Jews and Israelis visiting Switzerland, the host country, to “avoid displaying Israeli and Jewish symbols in public” for their own safety.
More than four-fifths (84%) of British Jews agree that boycotts of Israeli artists constitute intimidation, according to our representative polling.
Even as the war in Gaza cools down, the animus against the Jewish state is heating up. Many might conclude that this was never really about the war at all.
The aim of Eurovision is to unite the world through song. Attempts to exclude the world’s only Jewish state do nothing more than expose those who call for its cancellation.
BBC introduces antisemitism training for staff
The BBC has long since lost the trust of most Jews in this country. According to our polling, 92% of British Jews rate the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish interest as unfavourable.
For years now, we have encouraged the BBC to take up training. Had they done so, perhaps they would not have contributed so much through biased and inaccurate coverage to the surge in antisemitism over the past two years or have become mired in scandal after scandal relating to the Jewish community.
Clearly, this is not just a matter of training. Broadcasting rants about working for “f***ing Zionists” and paying money to a Hamas official’s family are not lapses that happen because someone forgot to sit in a training webinar.
The BBC needs a fundamental culture change. Any training needs to be serious and impactful.
Only time will tell if it can work at this point, because time is running out.
International Volunteer Day
Last week was International Volunteer Day, an occasion that we took to thank the hundreds of unsung Campaign Against Antisemitism volunteers who work so hard day in, day out, to keep British Jews safe and ensure that antisemites face the consequences of their actions.
We couldn’t do it without you.
To join us, visit antisemitism.org/get-involved/volunteer.
