History Can Be Made in Car Parks

The voices saying that we should not go were almost overwhelming. Friends, family, community groups...even people we had never met before were sending direct messages on social media — 'don't go to Birmingham'.

But as comedian and broadcaster Josh Howie said at our solidarity rally — as he addressed the small but bold crowd who made the journey to Villa Park — tell us that we can't go somewhere, and we will go.

For a number of us, we knew we had to be at the game even before West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council's Safety Action Group capitulated to pressure from local anti-Israel agitators, to exclude Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. We knew that local MP Ayoub Khan, his activist friends Shakeel Asfar and Akhmed Khan, and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign were mounting pressure to have Israel and Maccabi Tel Aviv excluded from sporting and cultural events. And we knew that this action against MTA fans was just one step in that.

So we liaised with the police, prepared banners and placards, put out press releases and social media posts, and Josh issued a powerful monologue on his weekly show, Free Speech Nation explaining why this was a line in the sand.

And on the night, we arrived in a gloomy car park, banners and placards at the ready, YouTubers in attendance, before walking the 15 minutes to the Doug Ellis Stand, accompanied by the police.

The irony that our rally was held in a basketball court with a 3m high fence 'for our own safety' was lost on no-one.

But we showed the country that there cannot be no-go zones in Britain — not for Jews, not for anyone. And we showed that even a small number of brave and principled people can make a difference.

And most importantly, we called the bluff of the professional Islamist activists, dedicated to sowing division — because they put out the call for tens of thousands to come from all over the country, and in the end only a few hundred came.

These bigots do not represent Aston Villa. They do not represent Birmingham. And they do not represent Britain.

Reports and Coverage

If you weren't able to join us last week, then you can get a flavour by looking at the coverage and reports below.

Mark Birbeck discussed the ban with Alex Phillips on TALK TV:

For lots of interviews with people who were present, and footage from the solidarity rally, take a look at the excellent Spiked documentary:

For a report with some background on the ban, including interviews with the police, as well as some of our campaigners, see NTD:

Protests at Aston Villa Vs Maccabi Soccer Match After Israeli Fans Banned

What should have been a normal soccer match in Britain, instead saw Israeli fans banned from attending due to public security concerns.

NTD

The Telegraph carried a detailed eye-witness report:

I was inside the pro-Israel ‘Jew cage’ at Villa Park and this is what I saw

Jews found themselves inside a steel-ringed court, with one Maccabi fan saying ‘it feels like going back to the 1940s all over again’

The TelegraphBen Rumsby

Lots of close up video and photos in this thread:

Novara Media also carried a detailed documentary, which included interviews with some of the people who joined us:

Mark Birbeck and Jonathan Sacerdoti discussed the ban with Josh Howie on his Free Speech Nation show a week before the match:

Speeches

Josh Howie

Placards

A thread, showing the messages on our four different placards:

Call to Action

Ahead of the game we put out a number of posts to encourage people to attend, and Josh Howie put out some powerful videos.