Britain is surrendering to mob rule – with dire consequences for Jews and our liberal democracy

Before the ban, the police had of course consulted “community representatives” – which certainly would have included members of Birmingham’s large Muslim community. The question is: do any of those consulted hold Islamist views?

Some community members openly threatened the Israeli fans, such as Birmingham-based preacher Asrar Rashid, who said they would not be shown any mercy. Rashid later claimed his comments were taken out of context and were not a call for violence.

Likewise, the role of so-called Gaza-independents and other MPs who, in their single-minded focus on Israel and Gaza, pursue a sectarian agenda, cannot be ignored. To what extent did their anti-Israel views and campaigning influence the ban? As the JC reveals opposite, even members of the Safety Advisory Group – the very committee that issued the ban, allegedly for safety reasons – had previously expressed support for a wider boycott of the Israeli team. Finally, it must be asked: to what extent has the police itself internalised the idea that Jewish or Israeli presence is inherently provocative?

We have seen troubling signs of the latter across the country. It emerged on Saturday that a Jewish man was arrested in London for breaching protest conditions and then told during interrogation that his Star of David necklace had “antagonised” anti-Israel demonstrators. It recalled the case of Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign against Antisemitism, who last year was advised by Met police that crossing the street near a Gaza protest while wearing a kippah – and thus being “openly Jewish” – was itself a provocation for which he could be arrested.

The prime minister has promised to overturn the Birmingham ban, rightly calling it out for what it is: “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.”

But antisemitism can no longer be treated as a sporadic outrage; it is a central challenge to Britain’s civic order, with significance far beyond the Jewish community, important as its concerns are. Barely three weeks have passed since an Islamist terrorist killed two Jews in Manchester. The question now is whether this country will allow extremists – Islamists, anti-Zionists and the far left – dictate who controls public spaces, shape domestic and foreign policy through intimidation, and erode the rule of law itself.

What is required is moral leadership. From the prime minister down, leaders must confront extremism and antisemitism wherever it appears, as not just Israelis are being boycotted but British Jews here in the UK are being pushed out of culture, universities and even their unions. Combating this cannot be left to the law alone; it demands a change in society itself, led from the top, with the prime minister making this fight for the nation’s soul a central pillar of his agenda.

Clarity is needed: hostility to Jews in Britain cannot be separated from hostility to the Jewish state. The government itself must avoid parroting exaggerated – or outright manufactured – accusations from international organisations long hostile to Israel. Such claims must be scrutinised and investigated before ministers speak. The government was right to reject the false genocide charge, but it must apply the same rigour every time. And it requires honesty: if the law is inadequate to protect Jews from threats and intimidation, then the law must be strengthened.

The refrain that “this is not Britain” after every antisemitic scandal rings increasingly hollow. Unless this trend is reversed, we may soon have to face the truth that this is Britain – with all the grave consequences this would entail for Jews and for the country’s future as a liberal democracy.