"Either way an hour before kick-off on the streets outside Villa Park it became clear that the 700 police officers present were being asked to keep apart three distinct, and equally energetic factions: pro-Palestine, pro-Israeli and pro YouTubers. At times it was tempting to ask which of these groups represented the greater danger to the public, out there kettled into their designated spaces on Witton and Trinity Roads, the YouTubers acting as a kind of mobile cavalry between encampments, tangling with police lines,"
"Opposite the Doug Ellis Stand there was something unavoidably disturbing an hour before kick-off in the sight of 30 or 40 pro-Israel demonstrators? Not exactly. Old age pensioners? Mainly being retained within a caged playground for their own safety. It will of course be overplayed in some parts as an act of oppression, because everything must now be overplayed. Clearly the police had decided this was the easiest way to maintain control of a febrile moment. It seemed to work."
Seven hundred police officers separated pro-Palestine, pro-Israel and pro-YouTuber factions outside Villa Park before kick-off. YouTubers moved between groups, clashing with police lines and amplifying tensions through confrontational filming. Concerns arose about public safety, with speculation about confrontations and sensationalised online behaviour. A small group of mainly elderly pro-Israel demonstrators was held inside a fenced enclosure ostensibly for their safety, creating unsettling optics and accusations of oppression. Police maintained the segregation to control a febrile moment, and the arrangement appeared to prevent disorder. The overall atmosphere on the streets was tense, noisy, confusing and depressingly detached.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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