“This is neither the time nor the place for you to be using this flag” came the voice of authority in the day glow coat. As ever context is our friend and it would have been helpful to know what the fan with the Israel flag was doing or saying prior to the steward’s approach.
That said, in my experience, folks on a crusade tend to shut about whatever it is they’re involving themselves in, and it might simply be the case that the lad thought it was a nice thing to take along to a game. People take national flags along to games.
Naturally, nobody needs to be bored senseless with political agendas and so some flags, say those of terrorist organizations ought to be banned, but the flag of Israel is not a ‘bad’ flag.
Sure the FA were on the line, but is that because the steward called them and said, ‘we’ve got a political flag here, what are the protocols?’ Again, was the lad waving it and making aggressive remarks? He didn’t sound aggressive, he sounded bewildered.
Maybe this is a hangover of the club’s policy on the Y word? When they called in the cops to make arrests, and then the Crown Prosecution Service spat the charges out as nobody had broken the law…
ENIC are in a world of pain and may, just may, want to take their foot off the public relations gas, eh?
Surely the issue is no one knows what flag it was, whether or not it had writing on it, so in fairness hard to access the rights and wrongs
And asking what an Israeli flag is doing there, I have seen many Israel flags at numerous Spurs games, also other national flags
However I do agree these are strange times that’s for sure
Well… maybe in a Celtic / Rangers match 😉 but seriously for this Israeli flag business… context is key (preceding events by the lad, actual flag content [any wording on it?], and crucially the intense firefight that had been going on for the last week or so and incidents of attacks in Europe on normal civilians (who are Jewish/Muslim)
Maybe the flag had some writings the stewards found objectionable, didn’t realise there was another flag on show, as for other flags I thought they just represent a country.
Just as provocative (more so – given they were players, on the pitch, who had just won the FA cup against a team owned a an Israeli-Russian businessman)
Where their Palestinians in the Leicester team?
So a Republic of Ireland Irish flag is also a signal of British hatred, along with the Union flag which embodies the violence of the Empire, yeah?
🤣
…and the lad could have said ‘sure thing Chief, don’t wanna cause no trouble’. But… he was taking a stand, making an issue… making me agree he was trying to stir up controversy (maybe even stir up antisemitism – who knows what his actual views and aims were).
Absolutely no logical reason to have the flag there, other than his own ulterior motive, and in the current climate the steward was correct.
Would it happen if the USA were in conflict and someone had the Stars and Stripes? My concern, in this branded world, is what’s with the Adidas face mask?
Yeah, you’ve got this spot on Mikey.
To my mind, I don’t believe either team (us or villa) had an Israeli player on the pitch or in their squads.
I think it was to cause a bit of controversy.
Why did he have it there.
English club playing in England no Israeli players in the team.
And in answer to your question – Yes if someone had a Hamas flag then break it in two & shove it up their Arsenal.
I think context is the key here. We don’t know if it was just an Israeli flag and we also don’t know what the lad might have been shouting prior to the video being shot.
Like some have mentioned on here, given the current climate and tensions, the lad must have known he was inviting attention/controversy.
In the main it shouldn’t be controversial to display a national flag, but all factors need to be considered.
But Israel is a recognised country. Should it be controversial to display the flag of a country, regardless of its history and how it was established?
Do we know for sure that it was an Israel flag? Initially I thought it might have been a Enic/Levy out banner, with the steward on the phone saying “Mr Levy, they still won’t take it down”.
A bit of an unnecessary thing to do in the current political climate imo. The lad was inviting interference from a steward. Yes the steward was a bit of a “jobs worth”, but why take an Israeli flag to a stadium if no club or national team from that nation is participating in the event? If there was no player from Israel involved in the match then why do it (I presume there was not? If there was an Israeli national on the pitch then that is different)? I would suggest it was the owners attempt to involve our club in a political feud in the Middle East. Asking for trouble and they must have known it.
Banning of national flags is pathetic. Will they be banned for world cups too? Along with colours?.. The enforcer looks like he’s on a power trip. Wannabe Army or police guy who failed medicals I suspect. Aggressive, I wouldn’t let him talk to my grandmother in that tone.
As you say – the situation lacks context. I feel the steward maybe getting “direction” but has no feeling either way. The lad with the flag doesnt seem aggressive. But if you watch the video, there was another Isreally flag in the back ground, and that person was not getting approached. So i wonder if this is a flag with some politcal wording on it.
Yes… because this is a hot political potato right now. It would have been just as right for the steward to give the same words to someone waving a Palestinian flag (in the current climate).