When lies turn dangerous: What the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban reveals about modern antisemitism

Have you ever heard the term “Mud sticks”?

If you throw out an accusation — even if it isn’t true — it sticks. People will believe it, even when it’s false.

That is the shocking truth behind the revelation that West Midlands Police used fabricated evidence to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

I am so pleased that All Israel News reported this a few days ago.

Britain’s Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, called for the resignation of the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police following the revelation that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned on the basis of fabricated intelligence.

“The West Midlands Police cited concerns about the Tel Aviv fans, based on a previous game in Amsterdam, but the Dutch police have now shown that is completely false,” he told the House of Commons on Monday.

An investigation carried out by The Sunday Times suggested that the West Midlands Police claimed Israeli fans had thrown “innocent members of the public into the river,” a claim since found to be baseless — and even an inversion of the facts.

We have to be clear: the evidence the police used was a lie. It makes you wonder what else is a lie.

A lie is dangerous. A lie has consequences.

A lie is deceit — it is meant to deceive people into believing something untrue.

A lie can do a lot of damage.

And when a lie is set against a nation or a race, well, we have seen what happened in Nazi Germany. People believed the lies about the Jews.

When the persecution came, enough anger had been built up in people’s hearts that it wasn’t hard to follow the Nazis. After all, the Jews were to blame, they said. They brought it upon themselves.

The Jews were accused of being responsible for all of Germany’s woes after World War I.

Lies softened the heart and made regular people ripe for manipulation.

Those lies led to the death of six million Jews — innocent men, women, and children — whose race was lied about.

And today it is happening all over again. There may not be gas ovens, but lies can still lead to violence on the street.

We have seen violence recently — in Washington, D.C., where two embassy workers were murdered, and in Manchester at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation on Yom Kippur. Were lies the inspiration behind these killings?

“The streets won’t be safe if the Jews come.” A football match is supposed to be about healthy competition and sport.

It is sad to see history repeating itself.

It is sad to see Jews fearful.

It is sad to see Jews hiding their Jewishness when they should be proud and shouting it from the rooftops.

But instead, people are believing lies.

The Bible says in Proverbs 6:16–19 (NIV):

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies,
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Of course, the lie was something the Israel-haters jumped upon.

Jeremy Corbyn was vocal at the time. I wonder if we will get an apology from him?

He said: “Lisa Nandy must tell us whether she knew about this shocking intelligence before she smeared and attacked those of us who supported the ban.”

Corbyn added: “I find it, frankly, disgusting that the government has taken what is ultimately an issue of public safety and distorted the facts for its own political ends. They lied to the British public — and they have been caught out.”

God hates what happened to the Maccabi supporters — the lies that were spread.
It’s thanks to people like All Israel News and others reporting this story that they have now been vindicated.

But let’s hope that the mud doesn’t stick.