With Maccabi, Disturbed events, Europe shows submission to the mob - comment

The Aston Villa Football Club announced on Thursday that the West Midlands Police had advised the Birmingham Safety Advisory Group (SAG) to ban fans of the Israeli team due to safety concerns. The WMP said in its own Thursday statement that it determined that this was the best measure to "help mitigate risks to public safety."

Police allegedly told SAG that they had concerns about their ability to deal with potential protests, reportedly informing their decision based on intelligence and the precedent of the violence in the wake of the 2024 Ajax and Maccabi Amsterdam match.

British authorities decided to submit to the mob's veto, in which a belligerent fringe is able to override the societal desires of the majority, or even a larger minority, of the public, by taking more extreme actions than the rest of the populace. If the larger societal segment is crossed, there may be public outcry, but if the mob is denied its demands, the result may be violent and destructive. The consequences of one side weigh more than the other. It is easier in the short term for police and local leaders to capitulate and avoid conflict altogether rather than develop crowd control and security plans. It is less costly in the short term to cancel an event than to pay millions in repair costs after a riot ravages a city street.

This strategy is as short-sighted as it is unjust. Each surrender to the mob leads to further ground loss. Authorities never develop the skills and infrastructure to address mob threats, and the mob's approach is reinforced as a viable tactic.

Last Friday's Disturbed concert in Belgium was cancelled by Forest Mayor Charles Spapens due to safety concerns. Anti-Israel groups had threatened to protest the band over the pro-Israel sentiments of band frontman David Draiman. This was preceded by the similar cancellation of British music star Robbie Williams's October 7 Istanbul concert. Municipal leaders had cancelled the show again in the interest of public safety, amid backlash about Williams supposedly being "a Zionist" who "supports genocide perpetrators."

Targets for cancellation are not only expanded under the uncertainty of the mob's veto, but are constantly deepened. The mob is never satisfied, and once they have coerced authorities to their initial demands, there is leverage to demand more.

The initial petition issued by Our Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn's Project for Peace and Justice called for the soccer match's cancellation, relocation, or limitation to spectators. As soon as this was achieved, Corbyn's colleague Zarah Sultana responded that the next step should be a ban on all Israeli teams by UEFA.

As authorities submit to escalating demands of the mob, a corollary repression of the law-abiding populace will intensify.

The original petition dressed the mob veto as a public safety issue -- though it couldn't help denounce normalization with Israelis -- ascribing a soccer hooliganism to Maccabi fans that is supposedly extraordinary compared to European counterparts. The arrival of Maccabi fans ostensibly posed "a real risk of tensions within the community and disorder" because of a "diverse and predominantly Muslim community."

While Maccabi fans are cast as instigators, by including grievances about the Israel-Hamas war and warning about an Amsterdam-like outcome, there is an implication that it is the onus on the rest of society to not provoke the mob.

If correct, this would not be the first incident in which UK law enforcement policed the potential victim rather than control the mob.

"You are quite openly Jewish; this is a pro-Palestinian march. I'm not accusing you of anything, but I'm worried about the reaction to your presence," a police sergeant said at the time.

Another officer threatened Falter with arrest, explaining that he would be causing a breach of peace because his presence was "antagonizing a large group of people that we can't deal with all of them if they attack you."