STARMER'S ISRAEL HYPOCRISY

Sir Keir Starmer's shameless hypocrisy: From standing under banners that demanded FIFA show Israel the red card, to siding with Israeli fans being given said red card. 

Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister who promised to cleanse the Labour Party of antisemitism, finds himself once again exposed as a master of contradiction. Just days after a horrific terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue claimed the lives of two Jewish men, Starmer has positioned himself as a staunch defender against antisemitism. Yet, his government's response to the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a forthcoming Europa League match at Villa Park reveals a deeper opportunism, one that echoes his own past dalliances with anti-Israel activism. This is not leadership; it is political theatre, designed to salvage a flagging reputation amid a deeply unpopular administration.

On 2 October 2025, during the solemn Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old man on bail for a separate rape allegation, drove a car into worshippers outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester. The attack, described by police as terrorism, killed Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, while seriously injuring three others. In the aftermath, Starmer issued a statement urging protesters to respect the grief of British Jews and calling for unity against hatred. He instructed police to crack down on antisemitism at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, framing the incident as a stark reminder of rising threats to the Jewish community. It was a moment ripe for moral clarity, especially given Labour's historical struggles with such issues under his predecessor.

Yet, barely two weeks later, on 17 October 2025, the same government faced backlash over a decision by Birmingham authorities and West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending their team's Europa League clash against Aston Villa on 6 November. The ban, imposed citing public safety risks following clashes involving Maccabi fans in Amsterdam the previous year, was swiftly condemned by Starmer as the "wrong decision". An "angry" Prime Minister ordered ministers, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, to work "at pace" with police to reverse it, insisting that the UK would not tolerate antisemitism and that all fans deserved to enjoy the game without fear. Downing Street emphasised that the Home Office had been aware of the potential ban a week in advance, underscoring the haste of Starmer's intervention. This performative outrage comes hot on the heels of the Manchester tragedy, with Starmer framing the fan exclusion as an unacceptable capitulation to prejudice.

What makes this stance reek of hypocrisy is the involvement of MPs and activists in Birmingham, many of whom Starmer once courted. Sources indicate that pressure from pro-Palestinian figures, including "Gaza MPs" and like-minded politicians, influenced the police decision to bar the Israeli fans. Shockingly, some of these very individuals shared the stage with Starmer a decade ago, at a 2015 meeting of the Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign. There, as Labour's candidate for Holborn and St Pancras, he spoke beneath a banner declaring "Kick Israeli Fascism out of FIFA", part of a broader push to suspend Israel from world football over alleged restrictions on Palestinian players. The event backed a boycott of Israeli goods to protest the country's treatment of Palestinians, a stance that Tory MP Andrew Percy decried as "shameful hypocrisy" that fuels anti-Jewish attacks and leaves British Jews feeling unsafe.

Labour's denials ring hollow. The party insists Starmer never endorsed the boycott or FIFA expulsion, just as it now rejects any "foreign flags ban" at its conferences, despite past confiscations of Palestinian banners. But the optics are damning: a leader who once amplified calls to punish Israel now rails against perceived discrimination towards its supporters, all while his own allies orchestrate the very exclusion he decries. This is not coincidence; it is calculation, a bid to appease Jewish voters and distance himself from Labour's toxic legacy on antisemitism, even as his government grapples with internal divisions.

Starmer's record on Israel and Palestine is a tapestry of U-turns, each more opportunistic than the last. In 2022, he was accused of "throwing Palestinians under the bus" by prioritising Israel's right to defend itself amid the Gaza conflict. By 2024, as opposition leader, he suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel in September, citing humanitarian concerns in Gaza, only to face backlash for not going further. Fast-forward to September 2025, and Prime Minister Starmer recognised Palestine as a state, hailing it as a step towards peace that supposedly facilitated a Gaza ceasefire, though US officials dismissed the claim as fanciful. Critics, including B'nai B'rith, branded this move hypocritical, arguing it rewarded aggression while ignoring Israel's security needs. Even his Rosh Hashanah message in September 2025, acknowledging Jewish pain over Hamas's atrocities, drew fire as insincere amid ongoing Gaza debates.

The Rochdale by-election furore in 2024 laid bare these fractures, with accusations that Starmer's antisemitism purge was selective, targeting left-wing critics of Israel while shielding factional allies. Now, as Labour's poll ratings plummet, Starmer's sudden zeal for Israeli fans feels like another pivot, exploiting the Manchester horror to burnish his credentials. Jewish Voice for Labour has long warned that his approach conflates legitimate criticism of Israel with antisemitism, stifling debate and alienating progressives. Meanwhile, online reactions to the synagogue attack reveal a normalised undercurrent of Jew-hatred, amplified by unchecked pro-Palestinian rhetoric that Starmer once flirted with.

In the end, Starmer's contradictions are not mere slips; they are the architecture of an unashamed opportunist. A man who posed with anti-Israel banners in 2015 now lectures on tolerance, all while his party's Birmingham wing echoes those same sentiments to exclude Jewish fans. As the Villa Park saga unfolds, with pressure mounting to lift the ban, one wonders: will Starmer confront his erstwhile comrades, or will this too dissolve into another empty gesture? For a government already mired in unpopularity, such baked-in duplicity only hastens its downfall. Britain deserves better than a leader whose principles shift with the political winds.