Nandy warns MPs over ‘antisemitic’ rhetoric during heated Maccabi fans Commons debate
Zarah Sultana suggests Israeli football fans should be arrrested for war crimes in the UK
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has expressed concern some MPs who campaigned to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match in Birmingham could be opening themselves up to allegations of antisemitism.
During an often heated Commons debate about the decision to bar the Israeli club’s supporters from the Aston Villa ground, Nandy responded to a question from Dewsbury and Batley MP Iqbal Mohamed.
He said:”After the conflation of antisemitism with the banning of football hooligans who happen to come from Israel, and the abuse that I and other people have received for supporting the ban on safety grounds, I must put on the record that I and those people are not antisemitic—never have been and never will be.”
Nandy cautioned: “I will just gently say to him that if he is conflating everyone who supports an Israeli team—the vast majority of whom, by definition, will be Jewish—with violent football hooligans, then he should consider whether he can really stand in front of this House and say that he is not behaving in a way that is antisemitic.”
Nandy also responded forcefully to Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who claimed that “Maccabi Tel Aviv’s racist fan hooliganism cannot be separated from Israeli militarism.”
Amid cries of “shame” from several MPs, Sultana further asserted that Maccabi fans arriving in the UK “should be investigated for war crimes the moment they set foot on British soil, not welcomed into our stadiums.”
Nandy replied: “I have to say that she is doing the people of Birmingham no favours with that sort of rhetoric.”
She added, “Conflating being Jewish and being Israeli is in itself antisemitism. I think she should take more care with her remarks.”
Ayoub Khan, the MP who led the campaign to ban Maccabi fans from the UK, argued that there “has been a deliberate, disingenuous move by many to make this a matter of banning Jews, and to conflate matters of policing with those of religion.”
But Nandy countered: “It is entirely disingenuous to say that you respect cohesion and inclusion when you are seeking to divide and exclude.”
Blackburn MP Adnan Hussain, a pro-Gaza campaigner, also claimed that conflating criticism of Israel—with “its ongoing genocide, war crimes, breaches of international law, and current genocide trial at the International Court of Justice”—with antisemitism against British Jews “actually undermines” the IHRA definition of Jew-hate.
Nandy responded: “I have made it absolutely clear that it is perfectly acceptable for people to hold strong and passionate views about what is happening in Israel and Gaza.”
Later, Sultana—who left Labour for Your Party and has clashed with its leader, Jeremy Corbyn—attempted to raise a point of order.
She claimed: “The boycott of apartheid regimes, such as apartheid South Africa, is a legitimate political stance. To label such a position as antisemitic, as the Secretary of State did, is entirely false and dangerous, and the way the Secretary of State has referred to me and my colleagues is also laced with Islamophobia.”
Khan also said he had received abuse on social media.
On X, Sultana posted: “The smears won’t work this time. Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Lisa Nandy weaponises antisemitism to shield Israeli apartheid. Keir Starmer and Labour ministers, like her, complicit in genocide, belong in The Hague.”
When he spoke in Monday’s debate, Corbyn mistakenly referred to “Maccabi Haifa” as Aston Villa’s next opponents, confusing them with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Earlier on Monday, Nandy said the decision to bar supporters “chooses exclusion” of Jewish people.
In response to an urgent question in the House of Commons from former Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston on Monday, Nandy said the final call must ultimately be made by the police.
However, she said the country “should be appalled” that the initial risk assessment was, she claimed, “based in no small part on the risk posed to those fans that are attending who support Maccabi because they are Israeli, and because they are Jewish”.
She added: “The solution that is proposed, to exclude a group from attending, is wrong. It chooses exclusion rather than looking at the full options available to manage that risk. This is about who we are as a country.”
Keep community journalism free.
Jewish News is free for everyone. No paywall. No barriers. Just trusted journalism for anyone who wants to stay connected to Jewish life in Britain.
If you value that, please support us.
From as little as £5 a month, you can help keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Every day, we report on the issues that matter to our community. We celebrate achievements, support charities, challenge antisemitism and ensure Jewish voices are heard more widely.
From as little as £5 a month, you can help us continue to:
- Report on the stories shaping Jewish life in the UK and beyond
- Bring our community together through shared stories, events and campaigns
- Celebrate the people, culture and moments that define our community
- Support organisations doing vital work across Jewish Britain
You can make a one-off donation or become a regular supporter. Every contribution helps keep our journalism free, independent and accessible to all.
If everyone who values Jewish News gave a small amount, it would make a real difference to our future.
