Off Topic Politics Thread

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Huge police operations are required constantly for football matches here as well as other things like protests etc. maybe we should never play at Fratton Park again.

I certainly would have no problem with money being spent on protecting foreign football fans
I'm in two minds over this. The Maccabi supporters were in Amsterdam for days before and after the match with a large number coming from the Netherlands. Likening it to containing away supporters in UK derbies isn't applicable.
 
After Israels genocide I really wouldn't want a team I support playing them...If Russian teams are banned then Israeli teams should have been as well. Feel sorry for the powers that be that had to make the decision...The behavior of their fans was pretty abhorrent in Amsterdam last year and if they behaved similarly in Birmingham there would be a world of bother. Fans of European clubs have been banned plenty of times in the past so it's not that unusual

It's not a genocide. For a genocide to be attributable the actions have to meet an agreed criteria and Israel's actions in Gaza do not meet that criteria. Anti Jewish types are deliberately spouting that term not only for effect but mainly because genocide is a war crime. Despite what the UN may say, the only genocide was on October 7th 2023.

Amsterdam. You should know better than take Thumwood's word for what happened in Amsterdam. See above.

You are worried about the behaviour of a relatively small number of Maccabi (Jewish) fans in a city with a huge Muslim population, who no doubt would be out in strength that evening? Your priorities are a bit out of whack TB14.
 
"I take it that IOAG would be happy with the ruckus if the Maccabi fans behaved this way in Chandler's Ford ?"
Thumwood

<laugh> Well firstly, I can't think of a good reason why Maccabi fans would ever want to visit Chandler's Ford although I have heard Waitrose do a mean Bagel.
Secondly, the reference to Chandler's Ford might have more relevance if I actually lived there, you doughnut. The Maccabi fans, when they come, can cause as much of a ruckus as they like. I won't hear them.
After they've destroyed CF I'll send them down to Otterbourne.
 
"I take it that IOAG would be happy with the ruckus if the Maccabi fans behaved this way in Chandler's Ford ?"
Thumwood

<laugh> Well firstly, I can't think of a good reason why Maccabi fans would ever want to visit Chandler's Ford although I have heard Waitrose do a mean Bagel.
Secondly, the reference to Chandler's Ford might have more relevance if I actually lived there, you doughnut. The Maccabi fans, when they come, can cause as much of a ruckus as they like. I won't hear them.
After they've destroyed CF I'll send them down to Otterbourne.
As long as you don't send any more foreigners up here to Lincoln as we're overloaded with them already. Mostly the ones with cockney or mockney accents!
 
Thumwood's attempts to vilify Maccabi are laughable. Why even mention Beitar Jerusalem unless it's an attempt to connect them all by association?

"One of the Israeli clubs is affiliated with the more extreme Zionists in Israel."



"According to the Guardian, Maccabi fans targeted Muslims during a match in Amsterdam in November 2024. "
Thumwood

As usual, Thumwood (or the Guardian) is selective in reporting what actually happened in Amsterdam.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78dzr432x7o

In another BBC report

Rachid O, 26, who was given 10 weeks in jail, was found to have taken part in a WhatsApp chat group called Buurthuis2, on which he referred to intended victims as "cowardly" Jews who he would never again get the chance to attack.

More than 900 people were in the group and the court said the chat had been used to pass on information to "commit violence against people of Jewish descent and/or supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv".

Umutcan A, 24, was also found to have kicked one of the victims several times while taking part in an attack with other men and then kicked another fan on the ground. CCTV footage had shown him attacking several Maccabi fans, as well as grabbing one fan by the throat and seizing his football scarf.

He had written in messaging groups about a "Jew hunt" but told the trial he did not harbour hatred towards Jews.
The ironiy here is that Ajax fans themselves are pro-Jewish!!
 
"I take it that IOAG would be happy with the ruckus if the Maccabi fans behaved this way in Chandler's Ford ?"
Thumwood

<laugh> Well firstly, I can't think of a good reason why Maccabi fans would ever want to visit Chandler's Ford although I have heard Waitrose do a mean Bagel.
Secondly, the reference to Chandler's Ford might have more relevance if I actually lived there, you doughnut. The Maccabi fans, when they come, can cause as much of a ruckus as they like. I won't hear them.
After they've destroyed CF I'll send them down to Otterbourne.
Or Fareham!!
 
I suspect it’s a money decision. The cost of policing this game to make sure the fans are safe is probably hugely expensive due to the events in the Middle East. Police forces have budgets, and we are living in a world of tightening budgets, so they’ve decided to say to no to fans
 
I was wondering if this was the same Israeli team whose fans were involved in football violence in Europe earlier this season?

I seem to recall reading an article in When Saturday Comes which was about one club which had a notorious following. Israel is one of the countries I believe that still have a hooligan issue.


That was Maccabi Tel Aviv, whose fans either caused, or were targets of, trouble in Amsterdam last year - this is Maccabi Haifa. Different club, similar concerns though presumably.
 
Nope. It's Maccabi Tel Aviv this time too.


Is it? In that case, the trouble in Amsterdam will have been a considerable factor in this decision then.

Not saying it’s the right decision btw, but isn’t the safety of local residents more important than the rights of football supporters to go where they want? Leeds fans were banned from visiting Millwall, and vice versa, for that reason; can’t remember when exactly that was.
 
Presume this is the ‘Ceasefire Now’ style protestors (fair enough) who now there is a ceasefire are finding it harder to disguise the ‘I just don’t like Israel’ which is the actual reality.

Which if you really drill down into it, well…

By the way, comparing it to the Russian ban - I can’t bear Bibi, I think he’s awful, and the Israeli response to October 7th was excessive. But when Israel unprovoked invades another sovereign nation, maybe then make that comparison.
You must be forgetting the other nations they have attacked in the last year...
 
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Government are going to try and overturn the ban on away fans which is a first. No idea if they have any power over the Safety Advisory group though.
 
And people saying it's not genocide when all the main organizations say it is and the thing is basically being live streamed at this stage is pretty pedantic imo

It's not really being pedantic to point out what you and many others are saying is wrong. Especially around committing genocide for the reasons I gave previously.
The UN are a corrupt organisation driving an anti Jewish agenda. I wouldn't take anything they say as fact.
 
Is it? In that case, the trouble in Amsterdam will have been a considerable factor in this decision then.

Not saying it’s the right decision btw, but isn’t the safety of local residents more important than the rights of football supporters to go where they want? Leeds fans were banned from visiting Millwall, and vice versa, for that reason; can’t remember when exactly that was.

Thing is mate I don't think it's to do with the safety of local residents but the safety of the visiting fans themselves.

It basically amounts to "we don't think you'll be safe in Birmingham and are not prepared to spend the money it'd take to try and keep you safe so we're just going to ban you".
 
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Definitely just about safety eh?

Presume she wants to ban all Chinese teams for the Uyghur genocide, and all Middle Eastern teams where Jewish people can’t live because of “apartheid”? Or is it, as you say, only certain types of racism that get people like her riled?…
 
It's not really being pedantic to point out what you and many others are saying is wrong. Especially around committing genocide for the reasons I gave previously.
The UN are a corrupt organisation driving an anti Jewish agenda. I wouldn't take anything they say as fact.
Conspiracy theory stuff based on little evidence. I'll take the word of respected organizations over the opinions of people online. Criticism of Israel isn't anti Jewish and it does a disservice to all those Jewish people horrified about the genocide Israel have inflicted