Correcting The Record

"The chief constable of West Midlands police no longer has my confidence."

"Rather than follow the evidence, the force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans."

"[A] damning [review from the policing watchdog over the intelligence that led to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned showed a] failure of leadership." 

"[Sir Andy Cooke] shows that the police overstated the threat posed by the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, while understating the risk that was posed to the Israeli fans if they travelled to the area."

"[His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke had found] confirmation bias [in police intelligence gathering]."

"The force, we now discover, conducted little engagement with the Jewish community and none with the Jewish community in Birmingham before a decision was taken."

British Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood 

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs she had lost confidence in West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford over the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban. Photo, House of Commons

 

The British Home Secretary had initiated an independent inquiry to study the decision by Chief Constable Craig Guildford of the West Midlands police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from attendance at a a Birmingham match late last year. The decision, according to the chief constable, was one made in the interest of public safety, citing a reputation of violence among fans of the storied Israeli football team. A contention that the inquiry found unrepresentative of reality. As was the explanation that police in the Netherlands had warned the West Midlands police over the potential of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans going amok.

 

Months of scrutiny of the West Midlands police following the controversial decision and refusal to allow the fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv to attend the match, led to empty stadium seats and an outraged public reaction. The justification for the ban of the fans was proven to be void of reality. And left Chief Constable Craig Guildford under fire for incompetence, and possibly political interference. Birmingham, the second largest city in Britain, has a 30 percent Muslim population. 

 

And it was, in fact, Islamists from among that population who had been overheard to instruct one another to arrive at the game armed and prepared to challenge the presence of Israeli fans and members of the local Jewish community eager to cheer on their team of choice. By choosing to ban the ostensible targets of a potential violent event who represent a much smaller community than the Muslims, the opportunity for a planned confrontation that could turn violent was thus 'solved'.

 

Police officers escort a woman with an Israeli flag away from Pro-Palestinian protesters outside Villa Park in Birmingham on November 6, 2025 ahead of the UEFA Europa League league-stage football match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv  HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

 

The match in Birmingham had been classified as "high risk" by the West Midlands police, as they cited previous games with Maccabi, a Europa League encounter in particular that took place in Amsterdam where clashes broke out between locals and Israeli fans. Evidence the U.K. police purported to have received from their Dutch counterparts supported their decision -- except for the fact that the Dutch police denied they had ever offered such 'evidence'. Which was actually non-existent, since the Israeli fans were the victims of antisemitic locals, not the perpetrators of a violent clash.

 

To find a similar instance when a home secretary last made such a statement of non-confidence in police authority one would have to go back several decades. There was, as a result, heavy security and the match proceeded without Maccabi fans. Police chief Guildford apologized to MPs for having given them erroneous evidence relating to his decision, mere hours before the report was released. 

 

Police had cited a match between West Ham and Maccabi Tel Aviv which had never taken place, noted the report. The error, brought to Chief Guildford's attention, was ascribed by him to the use of Microsoft Copilot, an AI chatbot. "I would like to offer my profound apology to the committee for this error", he stated; there had been "no intention to mislead the committee. And on Friday, Chief Guildford resigned his position. 

More than 700 police officers were deployed in an effort to keep the peace during November's Europa League match. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images

 

An Unbearable Climate on Campus

"[Students will no longer tolerate our university's remorseless complicity in the occupation of Palestine and the destruction of its people."

"McGill students have demonstrated that we will remain steadfast in advancing the Palestinian struggle for liberation, despite intimidation and repression."

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill  (SPHR) student group

McGill University students rally on campus Nov. 9, 2023. (Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews Image)

 

McGill University gave due notice it could take steps to sever ties with its student union over its  activities voting in favour of adopting a contentious pro-Palestinian policy. A Monday vote garnered 78 percent support of students who participated, voting in favour of the policy titled Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, against the background of tensions on  university campuses brought by the Israeli-Hamas Conflict.

Jewish advocacy group B'Nai Brith Canada took legal action purposing to stop the policy from being taken to a vote. The University was called upon in an open letter signed by Jewish students and alumni to remove the question from the Students' Society of McGill University's 2023 fall referendum, one of several topics that students voted on during the referendum. Subject to a legal review, several steps remain before the policy can be adopted.

"The proposed policy, if adopted, will sharpen divisions in our community at a time when many students are already distressed", responded a  university spokesperson; despite the voting results, it was pointed out, the stance on the issue by the university will remain. The SSMU's constitution stipulates the student  union is meant to facilitate interactions between all students, behaving in their best interests.

An adoption of the policy would represent, the university stated, a breach of that constitution. The  university administration had contacted the SSMU to "outline the consequences of adopting the policy", similar to last year when students voted in favour of a Palestine Solidarity Policy, which was never ultimately adopted.

SSMU president Alexandre Ashkir observed its board of directors are set to review the policy prior to voting whether it should be ratified. According to him the union is of the belief the policy would not cause such tensions as McGill claims would result on its ratification. Piously, he claimed, would that be the case, the question would never have been included in the referendum.

This year's turnout for the vote more than doubled from the earlier event when students voted in favour of the pro-Palestinian policy the year before. While 8,400 students voted in the referendum, representing 35 percent of eligible voters, 5,974 voted for the policy, with 1,620 voting against it, and another 807 students chose to abstain.

In response to what the school described as "abhorrent" posts made by SPHR (Students for Palestinian Human Rights McGill), the  university is attempting to revoke its use of the university's name. The policy voted on by the students calls on the university to condemn the bombing in Gaza and to cut ties with corporations "complicit in genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians".

Public comments from McGill officials since the outbreak of the war, were also criticized by the student union, characterizing them as threats aimed toward students who voice their solidarity with Palestinians. Jewish students and alumni voiced concerns that the policy could make an already "unbearable" climate on campus even worse.

 

Students from Concordia, McGill and Université de Montréal held walk-outs to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. (Erika Morris/CBC)

"[The university has taken step in recent weeks to ensure the discourse on campus remains safe and responsible] and to put in place measures to support students and colleagues who feel especially vulnerable and hurt at this time."

"Notably those who are Muslim, Jewish, and Arab."

McGill University

"Some McGill students say their right to express support for Palestinians is being suppressed, after a Quebec court temporarily put a stop to a student plan to adopt a pro-Palestinian policy at the university.

Quebec Superior Court issued a safeguard order Tuesday, preventing the student union from moving forward until the court can hear arguments from both sides on March 25, 2024."

"A McGill student — who remains anonymous and is represented by a lawyer working for Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith Canada — filed an injunction to stop the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) from adopting a 'policy against genocide in Palestine' that was approved in a referendum this week."

"The policy calls on McGill University to cut ties with people, corporations and institutions that are 'complicit in genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians'."

CBC News