On Sunday evening, 15 October 2023, Bushey United Synagogue hosted an event on the subject of “Antisemitism in Sport”.
Chaired by Jonathan Metliss, chairman of Action Against Discrimination and the Jewish Weekly, the high profile and influential panel comprised of Henry Winter, chief football writer of the Times, David Bernstein, former chairman of the Football Association and Manchester City, leading football agent Jonathan Barnett and journalist Stephen Pollard.
In the audience of approximately 300 attendees and committed football supporters were leading community and football figures, including chairman of Brentford FC Clifford Crown. The formal introduction was made by Rabbi Elchonon Feldman, the Senior Rabbi of Bushey Shul, one of the promoters of the event with Jonathan Metliss, who organised the evening after an initial chat with Sarah Zackheim, a Bushey shul member.
Jonathan Metliss provided a resume of recent antisemitic incidents in both football and cricket and each of the four panellists covered extensive areas in the field, citing their respective views and fielding questions from a lively, committed and energetic audience. The war in Gaza had a significant effect on the atmosphere of the evening and the discussions.
The topics covered included the failure of the Football Association to light up the Wembley Arch with the colours of the Israeli flag at the recent England vs Australia game as show of humanity, the double standards of the UK football authorities, their continuing failure and that of the police to deal with antisemitism and the waiving of the Palestinian flag by players and supporters alike.
There was a lively debate on the never-ending chanting of the “Y” word and versions thereof by Spurs supporters and the adverse consequences and reactions, in particular acting as a catalyst for antisemitic behaviour by supporters of other clubs such as Chelsea and West Ham.
Jewish football owners were criticised by the panellists and members of the audience for not reacting swiftly to the attacks on Israeli citizens by Hamas and it was suggested that the Tottenham Hotspur stadium be closed until such time as the “Y” word chanting ceased.
Clifford Crown received a great round of applause from the audience when he said that season ticket holders of the club guilty of racist behaviour had had their season tickets removed.
The conclusion at the end of a thoroughly informative and inspirational evening was that there was a clear lack of positive action by the football authorities the clubs, politicians and police on the live issue of antisemitism in UK football, as commented on in Henry Winter’s article in 17 October edition of the Times.
Rabbi Feldman said “It was an incredibly dynamic and emotive evening voicing our community’s passion for sport and the concern over the pervasiveness of antisemitism in society. A big thank you to Jonathan Metliss for shaping the vision into a reality. What a great success.”
Jonathan Metliss said: “This turned out to be an amazing event with a top and highly qualified panel and showed clearly that the Jewish Community remains concerned about the level of antisemitism in UK football. Thank you to Rabbi Feldman and his colleagues at Bushey United Synagogue for helping to make the event happen.”
