The UK is now willing to undermine British institutions to protect Israel

British football fans are regularly banned without scandal. Why is it that Israeli fans cannot be?Palestinian political analyst and playwright.Published On 19 Jan 2026On Friday, the retirement of Craig Guildford, the chief constable of West Midlands Police in the United Kingdom, was publicly announced. His decision to step down was prompted by what he described as the “political and media frenzy” surrounding the ban on Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from their team’s match with Aston Villa in Birmingham.Days earlier, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood publicly stated that she had “lost confidence” in Guildford’s leadership after sustained political and media pressure; it was the first time in two decades a home secretary has done so. Ministers and much of the media framed the ban as a moral outrage, even a national disgrace.This was not a scandal involving corruption, brutality or police cover-ups but a risk assessment. The British media and public officials tore apart the internal advice on which the decision to bar Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from Villa Park in November was based. In doing so, the British state in effect sided with the fans of an Israeli football club against its own police.West Midlands Police later acknowledged errors in its assessment. Those mistakes should be noted but be kept in proportion. They do not amount to proof of bad faith, conspiracy or prejudice. An independent review found no evidence that officers were influenced by anti-Semitism or malign intent – a finding that has been largely drowned out by the public outrage machine.What has also been consistently erased from media coverage is context. A hooligan element within Maccabi Tel Aviv’s fanbase has a long, well-documented history of violent and racist behaviour, including explicitly anti-Palestinian chants. This is neither a marginal claim nor a recent invention. It has been acknowledged for decades, including within Israel itself.