Uncategorized
UK Gov’t Adviser: Police ‘Conflated’ Intelligence to Support Ban Against Maccabi Tel Aviv Soccer Fans
Soccer Football – UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – Nov. 6, 2025, Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen scores their first goal. Photo: Action Images via Reuters
The British government’s independent adviser on antisemitism said on Monday that the West Midlands Police (WMP) department “conflated” evidence and used “inaccurate” intelligence when making the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a Europa League soccer match in Birmingham last month.
“Some of the intelligence is not very good. Some of it’s not intelligence at all,” John Mann told the Home Affairs Committee in the British Parliament. “And the tactics used could have been better.”
Mann spoke to Parliament right before West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford, Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara, and Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster were questioned by the parliamentary committee about their move to ban Israeli soccer fans from the match between Maccabi and the UK’s Aston Villa at Villa Park on Nov. 6. The decision was made by police in collaboration with Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), a panel that includes Birmingham City Council. The match last month had heavy police presence and concluded with 11 arrests but no serious disorderly conduct.
WMP made its evaluation and decision about the ban based largely on intelligence given to the force by Dutch police commanders about violence that took place surrounding a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Netherlands last year, the MPs were told on Monday.
In November 2024, Maccabi fans were violently attacked by fans of the Dutch soccer team Ajax followed their match in Amsterdam. During the premeditated and coordinated violence, Maccabi fans were chased with knives and sticks in the streets, run over by cars, physically beaten, and forced by their attackers to say, “Free Palestine.” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called the attackers “antisemitic hit-and-run squads” who went “Jew hunting.”
Before the British police officials spoke to the Home Affairs Committee this week, Mann was questioned and said he “struggled” with some “inaccurate” details in the West Midlands police intelligence report that supported their banning of Maccabi fans. Last week the national police force of the Netherlands told The Times that several claims in the report were false and issued a statement explaining what it told West Midlands police.
Mann said the West Midlands intelligence report “conflates” facts and mentions several details that simply “didn’t happen” in relation to the Ajax-Maccabi match in Amsterdam on Nov. 8, 2024. He gave one example about a Maccabi and West Ham match mentioned in the report that never took place. Guildford admitted that it was noted in the report “due to some social media scrapping,” which included a “search through social media to see what’s trending.”
Mann said the intelligence report also falsely claimed Maccabi fans ripped down several Palestinian flags on game day in Amsterdam and threw members of the public in into a river. It further contained the false accusation that 5,000 Dutch police officers were deployed in response.
The report went on to falsely state that pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soccer fans were fighting in the streets of Amsterdam throughout the day on Nov. 6, 2024, according to Mann. He explained that reports from Amsterdam officials clearly indicate the violence only started after the match ended, and there was only one reported incident of a Palestinian flag being pulled down, on the day before the game. The report also referred to multiple incidents against taxi drivers, when there was only one incident the night before the match, Mann stated. “The suggestion that Macabi Tel Aviv fans were going around Amsterdam trying to find local people specifically from the Muslim community going into Muslim areas – that didn’t happen,” he added.
“I’ve looked at the intelligence report of the West Midlands Police and I struggle with some of the intelligence within it, including the intelligence about Amsterdam. It doesn’t concur with the discussions I had in Amsterdam and the facts I saw in Amsterdam,” Mann said. “Some of the stuff in the report simply doesn’t match the Amsterdam [police] reports and I think the evidence has been fitted to try and get a solution because obviously [if] you don’t have the Israeli fans, there’s no conflict … A banning of fans needs to be properly intelligence-led. The facts have slightly changed to fit the decision.”
“What you’re trying to say quite clearly is that is that the facts have slightly changed to fit the decision?” an MP asked Mann. “Correct. Correct. That would be a summary of what’s gone on here,” he replied.
In response, Guildford defended the ban against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, saying the decision “wasn’t taken lightly” and was made after a “careful assessment.” The ban was the “best way of maximizing the safety” of everyone involved, O’Hara saud. “Had we allowed the fans and it had gone wrong I feel that I would be sitting here again anyway.”
He also denied “fitting” evidence to support the ban and discredited suggestions of a “conspiracy” within the police force to target Maccabi fans, saying they were “completely wrong and misleading.”
“We’ve acted with integrity. My assurance to yourselves as a panel is that we were not influenced in any way, shape, or form by anybody politically,” he argued. “We did our service to the best of our ability, and the officers acted in line with their training and professionalism.”
Guildford told the Home Affairs Committee that his chief inspector had a virtual meeting on Oct. 1 with three Dutch police commanders and discussed the violence last year when Maccabi played Ajax in Amsterdam. Guildford said he trusted what his chief inspector was told during the meeting and the information they received from Dutch police “swayed” the police force’s assessment not to allow Maccabi fans to attend Villa Park for the game on Nov. 6. The information provided by Dutch police “certainly influenced the way our assessment was heading,” Guildford said.
“The information provided from the Dutch was very, very clear in terms of they reflected on the days before, during, and after the match as a result of clashes between the Maccabi ultras and the local Muslim community,” he explained. “In terms of what we were told, the ultras were very well organized, militaristic in the way that they operated. They attacked members of the local community, including taxi drivers. Tore down flags. People were thrown into the river.”
He added that the Dutch commanders were “unequivocal” that they “would never want to have Maccabi Tel Aviv playing in Amsterdam again in the future.” He also said that Dutch police “probably underestimated the level of threat and risk” from Israeli soccer fans and changed their account of what they told British counterparts in the virtual meeting on Oct. 1 because they were under political pressure.
O’Hara said Sebastiaan Meijer, a spokesman for the Amsterdam division of the Dutch police, “naysayed” some of the intelligence and made it “very clear they’re under a lot of pressure, in their words, from City Hall.”
Mann told MPs he suggested to West Midlands police and the Birmingham City Council alternative solutions before they announced the ban against Maccabi fans, which included ideas like having Maccabi supporters escorted by police in and out of the stadium to avoid any confrontations. Another suggestion he made was changing the game’s kickoff to an earlier time in the day so visiting Maccabi fans did not have to stay overnight in Birmingham, which could reduce the risk of violence ensuing in the area surrounding the stadium. Mann also told the committee he talked to both Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv regarding the concerns ahead of the match, and said both teams handled it “maturely and sensibility” and were “extremely cooperative.”
“I was surprised at the decision to ban the fans. I don’t think that was the most appropriate decision nor the most sensible decision,” Mann noted.
Uncategorized
AIPAC-backed Wesley Bell defeats Cori Bush in Missouri Democratic primary
(JTA) — Missouri incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell registered a resounding victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary against Cori Bush, a prominent Democratic socialist and ardent critic of Israel.
The Associated Press called the race just an hour after polls closed, at 8:02pm local time. By the time 99% of the vote was counted, Bell had garnered 59.2% to Bush’s 36.9%.
The primary is a déjà vu moment for St. Louis. The same pair of candidates vied just two years ago to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District.
Bell prevailed in 2024 to oust Bush in a clash that was largely defined by a $9 million influx of AIPAC cash in support of Bell. In this rematch, Bush made the American Israel Public Affairs Committee a central issue in her campaign, similar to other Democratic Socialists of America candidates.
“AIPAC has become yet another way for MAGA-donors to divide the Democratic base by meddling in primaries,” Bush told JTA in a written statement prior to the primary. “In St. Louis and across the country, people know that our fight against antisemitism means fighting against the far-right’s effort to divide us.”
Federal Election Commission records show that this time around, AIPAC has invested far less in the race. Through its United Democracy Project super PAC, the pro-Israel lobby has spent in the neighborhood of $3 million on the rematch, with the vast majority targeted at opposing Bush.
In response to Bell’s decisive win on Tuesday, AIPAC posted its congratulations on X: “Our community was proud to support a strong, principled Democratic leader,” the lobby stated.
The Washington, D.C.-based Jewish Democratic Council of America, which had mobilized networks of voters to make phone calls in support of Bell, added their congratulations to the congressman following his victory.
“Rep. Bell is a leader in taking on Trump’s corruption,” the group posted on X. “We look forward to seeing him continue to fight for our Jewish and Democratic values.”
Aside from their conflicting perspectives on Israel, Bell and Bush have much in common. Born in Missouri in the mid-1970s, they are both Black progressive Democrats who entered politics after the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in the city of Ferguson.
Amid protests across Ferguson for police reforms, Bell won a seat on the city council and focused on passing such changes. He went on to become St. Louis County prosecutor in 2018, defeating a 27-year incumbent who had failed to prosecute the officer who had killed Brown.
Bush, meanwhile, became involved in politics by participating in the Ferguson protests. She lost Democratic primaries for the U.S. Senate and House in 2016 and 2018, but then won congressional races in 2020 and 2022. In 2024, however, she lost to Bell by more than 5 percentage points.
The candidates have similar stances on most political issues, prioritizing concerns like reproductive rights, gun violence prevention and the dismantling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as lowering costs of housing, utilities, healthcare and prescriptions. But they have sharp differences when it comes to Israel, with Bush’s campaign pledging to “stand for justice in Palestine.” Bell, in contrast, has stood steadfast in his support of Israel.
The post AIPAC-backed Wesley Bell defeats Cori Bush in Missouri Democratic primary appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
William Lawrence, El-Sayed-aligned progressive, takes Democratic House nomination in Michigan battleground race
(JTA) — An outspoken pro-Palestinian progressive who campaigned with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed bested two establishment-backed picks in a Democratic House primary for a battleground district in the state on Tuesday.
William Lawrence, a co-founder of the climate advocacy group Sunrise Movement, took the Democratic nomination in the state’s 7th District, with the Associated Press calling the race for him Tuesday night. With 58% of the vote in, Lawrence had around 43% of the tally in the three-way race.
His opponents Bridget Brink, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam, two centrist candidates who boasted military and foreign policy backgrounds, effectively split the establishment vote and opened a lane for the progressive.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the movement we’ve built in mid-Michigan,” Lawrence wrote on social media after the race was called. “We’re building a movement made up of real Michiganders across political divides, not DC consultants.”
At the time the AP called the race for Lawrence, another House candidate backed by El-Sayed, state Rep. Donavan McKinney, was awaiting results in his challenge to the incumbent in Michigan’s 13th District.
As with several other victorious Democratic House candidates this primary cycle, Lawrence made pro-Palestinian advocacy a central plank of his campaign. He was the only Democrat in his race to accuse Israel of genocide, and at his rally with El-Sayed in Lansing, the candidate had called for America to “stop arming Israel.”
Lawrence, whose campaign also tapped into growing public anger over data centers, will face Republican incumbent Rep. Tom Barrett in November.
Lawrence’s victory marked one area where party leadership will be pressured to support pro-Palestinian progressives if it hopes to retake Congress in November. Democrats have eyed the district, which was held by centrist Jewish Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin before Barrett, as a top target for flipping. Slotkin had endorsed Maasdam in the race’s homestretch while staying out of the Senate race.
It won’t be easy to line the party up behind Lawrence. He had been condemned by the Congressional Black Caucus during his campaign over resurfaced podcast comments in which he said Black Democratic leaders “defang the white left” — comments he later explained as having been prompted by his anger over Israel’s war in Gaza. Centrist House Democrats have questioned his ability to win in November.
But his campaign told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a statement ahead of primary day that they were confident his focus on “ending military support to human rights abusers and bringing that money home to fund good jobs, housing, and healthcare here at home” would play well across party lines.
The post William Lawrence, El-Sayed-aligned progressive, takes Democratic House nomination in Michigan battleground race appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Michigan Democrats await Senate winner in party’s biggest test yet on Israel
The Democratic primary for the open Senate seat in Michigan appeared too close to call Tuesday night, with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens locked in a tight race that had become a proxy fight over the Gaza war and a referendum on Israel supporters’ influence in Democratic politics.
According to unofficial results, El-Sayed, a physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants, held a narrow lead over opponent Rep. Haley Stevens, the establishment favorite — 49.9% vs. 46.3% — with 65% of the vote counted for the seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters.
The Michigan contest is AIPAC’s largest investment this election cycle. Its super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent more than $30 million on ads attacking El-Sayed and promoting Stevens, according to recent FEC filings. AIPAC also raised several million dollars for Stevens’ own campaign through its donors’ portal.
If El-Sayed prevails, it would deliver a blow to the establishment and to the U.S.-Israel fundraising group, AIPAC, its biggest setback since it started its direct political spending in 2021 and after years of helping defeat progressive critics of Israel who challenged congressional incumbents. The brand has become increasingly controversial among Democratic voters in the wake of the Gaza war. Congressional candidates, including some Jewish Democrats, have promised not to take contributions from AIPAC.
Supporters of El-Sayed remained optimistic that the candidate’s upset victory would be proof positive that the future of the Democratic Party lies in candidates who support cutting off U.S. aid to Israel and characterize Israel’s conduct in Gaza as genocide.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the progressive insurgent’s most prominent backer, said on CNN the race reflected a broader shift in Democratic politics. “What we are seeing, no matter what happens tonight in Michigan — and I hope very much that El-Sayed wins — is: you’re seeing the transformation of the Democratic Party, and what the debate within the Democratic Party is about,” he said. Sanders added that the campaign showed that progressive candidates are challenging the party establishment not only on ideology, but also on how campaigns are run.
Winning the primary may be the easier test. Michigan remains one of the nation’s top battleground states, and a close finish would suggest ongoing divisions within the Democratic coalition. El-Sayed will have to carry moderate Democrats who backed Stevens, while taking on former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in a race that could help determine control of the Senate. Recent polls found Rogers leading El-Sayed by single digits.
How we got here
The Michigan race became a culmination of several political currents that have been building for years.
It reflected lingering anger among Americans over the Gaza war, Democratic criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, frustration among progressives over AIPAC’s support for some Republicans who challenged the 2020 election results, and the growing influence of the Democratic Socialists of America, accelerated by the political rise of Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race last year.
Michigan, home to one of the country’s largest Arab-American communities and the birthplace of the “uncommitted” movement to protest the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza war in the 2024 presidential primary, made it a natural testing ground for progressive forces.
El-Sayed highlighted the Gaza war and AIPAC’s involvement in Democratic primaries when he launched his campaign in April 2025 — months before AIPAC spent a dollar. He advocated for ending unconditional military aid to Israel and framed his candidacy as a fight against outside influence. Notably, El-Sayed supported the “uncommitted” movement, though he later endorsed Kamala Harris after Biden dropped out.
According to data compiled by Milan Singh, a fellow at The Argument, a liberal opinion-focused media publication, insurgent progressive candidates for Congress mentioned Israel in 48% of their fundraising emails.
With most major primaries already decided, this race became the biggest Democratic showdown yet over Israel.
Jewish divide
Jewish voters make up just 1.4% of the electorate in Michigan. But the community had become deeply invested in the race — with Jews both in fierce opposition to El-Sayed and fiery support.
For many Jews, El-Sayed’s questioning of whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state and his decision to campaign alongside controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has been accused of antisemitic rhetoric, were cause for alarm. El-Sayed also came under fire for calling the Israeli government “evil” like Hamas.
Rep. Hillary Scholten, a second-term Michigan Democrat, said on CNN Tuesday night that El-Sayed reinforced concerns some voters had about him by campaigning again with Piker in the final days before the primary. “Elections are about choices,” she said. “What is the message that you want to send to your voters?”
At the same time, El-Sayed courted Jewish voters. He attended a Passover seder at Congregation T’chiyah, a progressive Reconstructionist synagogue outside Detroit. Many of its congregants volunteered for El-Sayed’s campaign with a group dubbed “Jews for Abdul.”
Jewish former Michigan congressman Andy Levin — who lost his House election against Stevens in 2022 after AIPAC poured millions into defeating him — endorsed El-Sayed.
In the final days of the campaign, Stevens had sharpened her concerns about El-Sayed, accusing him of blaming “all of your problems on Jewish Americans.”
El-Sayed rejected accusations of antisemitism and argued that his critics conflate the Israeli government with the Jewish people.
“I love and revere Judaism and the Jewish people,” he said.
The post Michigan Democrats await Senate winner in party’s biggest test yet on Israel appeared first on The Forward.
