GB News star Josh Howie ripped into pro-Palestine protesters at Villa Park, dubbing the group an “Islamist mob”, ahead of the Aston Villa match.
The presenter spoke to National Reporter Jack Carson in Birmingham before kick-off, blasting the decision to ban fans from the match.
Asked why he was in attendance, Josh said that the decision to not allow Israeli fans to attend the game “spoke to him of insitutional capture and giving into the Islamist mob”.
“Now they want to ban the Israeli team and then it goes to Jews,” he told Jack.
“So for me, as a Jew, when a bully makes some statement about where I can go in my own country, that makes me go, ‘no, I’m going to come here’.”
More than 700 officers were on duty for the Europa League match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the city today.
Six people have been arrested as hundreds of protesters gather in Birmingham ahead of Aston Villa’s match with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Among those arrested was a 21-year-old man for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask, West Midlands Police said.
Josh Howie vehemently ripped into the decision to ban Israeli fans from attending the fixture
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GB NEWS
Pro-Gaza MP for the constituency Ayoub Khan defended the local authorities’ decision to implement the fan ban, citing violence in Amsterdam last year.
Protesters present at the venue can be heard chanting “Death to the IDF” as well as “Free Palestine” while Jack noted that some were pushing for UEFA to ban Israel.
“It’s ideology. It’s because it’s Jew hate,” Josh declared.
“Unfortunately, with the extreme parts of the Muslim community, if you look at what happened last year, first of all, every game they played since then in Europe, there haven’t been any issues.
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“Look, I’m not into football, so I’ve had to learn all this stuff myself. But what happened last year was a pre-planned Jew hunt in the weeks before where local Arabs went online and planned.
“There were none of the fans involved in it. It was purely attacking Israelis and any Jews who happened to be there.”
Today, the Home Affairs Committee have issued a letter to the Birmingham Council and to the West Midlands Police requesting further information as to why the local authorities made the decision.
Asked whether he feels safe to attend the protest given the current circumstances, Josh declared: “I do feel safe.
“Look, I was scared. My wife didn’t want me to come. My friends, my family didn’t want me come,” he admitted.
“But to keep us safe. It’s taken 700 officers. It’s taken being put in a pen. We are here, behind guarded gates by the police.
“Just to be able to exist here as Jews. And my point of coming here was to say that this isn’t the UK that I grew up in. This isn’t the UK that I want to raise my family.
“And this isn’t the UK. That’s not what we’re about. We’re about tolerance. We’re about fairness. And this is not fair.”