Pro-Palestine protesters plotted to spy on Maccabi Tel Aviv players before their match against Aston Villa’, it has been claimed.
A message on a group chat linked to the West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign urged activists to scour ‘hotel lobbies and dining areas’ for Maccabi players on the night before the game.
The unidentified campaigner said it was still possible to ‘cancel this match if we obstruct team Maccabi from attending’.
Activists were also asked to work as ‘spotters’ at the stadium, where they were tasked with ‘watching the Villa Park entrances for the team coach’.
‘We can then mount a quick response, to protest them, or the spotters can follow them back to their hotels to find out where their [sic] staying, and mobilise a protest at the hotel,’ the message continued.
Lord Austin, a Labour peer who campaigns against anti-Semitism, suggested the message was ‘further proof’ of threats to the Israeli team by ‘local extremists’ that police had ‘ignored’.
The West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign told the Telegraph that the message was deleted from the group and its contents did not represent the views or activities of the campaign. West Midlands Police have been contacted for comment.
The force and its chief constable, Craig Guildford, have come under heavy fire for its handling of the game.
Suky Samra – chair of the panel who rubber stamped his appointment – declined to be drawn on the chief’s position yesterday despite calls for him to be sacked.
There was a heavy police presence outside Villa Park for Aston Villa’s Europa League fixture against Maccabi Tel Aviv in November
Chief Constable Craig Guildford was appointed in 2022
The decision to bar travelling fans from the Europa League clash with Aston Villa in November was taken by the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which cited safety concerns based on advice from West Midlands Police.
Asked if the chief constable’s position was untenable, Mr Samra, the chair of the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel, replied: ‘You’re putting me in a difficult position.’
The Tory councillor, who also chaired the confirmation meeting at which the panel endorsed Mr Guildford as the West Midland force’s new chief constable in 2022, said he was in the process of organising an emergency meeting ‘to discuss the way forward’.
Last week a cross-party committee of MPs heard West Midlands Police thought ‘vigilante groups’ from the local community posed a threat to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans when it decided to ban them from the game.
WMP insist it recommended a ban on safety grounds, based on evidence of Maccabi supporters’ previous behaviour.
But the Home Affairs Committee (HAC) was told officers’ initial concern about safety at the November 6 fixture was prompted not by the behaviour of Maccabi fans but by ‘high confidence intelligence’ around the possibility of locals wanting to ‘arm’ themselves ahead of the Israelis’ visit.
A peer review into the force’s decision-making, published by the committee ahead of last Tuesday’s evidence session, highlighted how intelligence was received almost two months before the match, on September 5. This referenced ‘elements of the community in West Midlands wanting to ‘arm’ themselves’.
Suky Samra warned Mr Guildford’s head could be ‘on the chopping block’
Following the HAC hearing, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused the force of capitulating to ‘Islamists’, adding in a statement on X: ‘They knew extremists were planning to attack Jews for going to a football match, and their response was to blame and remove Jewish people instead.’
Mr Samra yesterday said: ‘We have all seen what happened at the Home Affairs Committee and it is very unfortunate.
‘Simon Foster (the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner) has the power to appoint or sack the chief constable.
‘We as a panel, can either reject his choice or confirm it, which is what we did (with Mr Guildford). We have not got the power to sack the chief constable.
‘I may have a view (on Mr Guildford’s future) but it would be wrong of me to share that with you because if Simon Foster decides to remove him that will come back before the panel.’
Following Mr Guildford’s recall to give evidence to the committee last week alongside match commander and Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara, and Chief Inspector Mick Wilkinson, the force’s football lead, Mr Foster last week also committed to a formal review of evidence following the Home Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the police’s decision-making.
Mr Samra, who has sat on the panel since 2018 and is its current chair, said Mr Guildford was the best of the four candidates to put themselves forward for the role back in 2022, saying he and his fellow panel members approved of the candidate’s ‘passion for rebuilding community policing’.
But in a reference to ACC O’Hara and Chief Insp Wilkinson, Mr Samra warned that if an imminent report by the police inspectorate finds WMP was swayed by ‘pressure from community leaders’ in recommending a ban on Maccabi fans – rather than solely basing the decision on evidential factors – then it was ‘not just (Mr Guildford’s) head on the chopping block’.
Mr Guildford is flanked by ACC Mike O’Hara (left) and Chief Inspector Mick WIlkinson as he gives evidence to the Home Affairs Committee last week
Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv (pictured) were banned from their Europa League fixture after a recommendation by West Midlands Police
Mr Samra, who represents the Streetly ward on Walsall Council, added: ‘West Midlands Police is the second largest force and the public must have confidence in the leaders of that force.
‘If this decision was made not on the basis of the evidence, then it puts Mr Guildford and his senior colleagues in a difficult position.’
Sir Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary, is expected to present the findings of his investigation to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood this week.
Ms Mahmood cannot directly sack Mr Guildford, but she can set in train a process that could lead to that outcome, but publicly withdrawing confidence and writing to Mr Foster to ask that he considers suspension and dismissal.
