Mark Andrews: Israelis banned from Villa Park, boycotting banks, and protesters unhappy about the ceasefire

Next month Maccabi Tel Aviv will come to the West Midlands for a Europa League clash against Aston Villa. 

Or at least their players will. Their supporters won't be allowed. Apparently, the 'safety advisory group', a faceless body that appears to be made up of Birmingham Council members and the Old Bill, thinks the presence of Israeli football fans will inevitably lead to pitched battles with our homegrown Hamas groupies 

What message does that send around the world about both Britain, and the West Midlands? Not only do the streets of Birmingham resemble the last days of Hamelin because the bins go unemptied, but it's also such a hotbed of anti-semitism that it's no longer safe for a few hundred Tel Aviv fans to watch a game of football.

Of course, it's in nobody's interest to have violence, either inside or outside the ground. But I might have a solution. Maybe they should move the fixture to Saturday lunchtime. When all the headbangers will be on a demo in London.

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And you might think, given that a fragile truce appears to have been secured in Gaza, that the 'from-the-river-to-the-sea' brigade might be able to take a weekend off from the protests. They might, y'know, feel a sense of relief, and even be cautiously pleased that the bloodshed had stopped, at least for the time being. A ceasefire is what they wanted, isn't it?

Apparently not. 'Ceasefire is an oppressor's term', says one of the multitude of different campaign groups. 

There's no pleasing some people, is there? I'd have more respect if they would just admit they enjoy protests. 

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I'm also slightly curious about the practicalities of the tactics proposed by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The group called for students to walk out of their lectures on Thursday afternoon - fair enough, presuming they normally attend. And to they want people to attend a march on November 2. Well it would be rude not to, wouldn't it?

The one that confuses me is the plan to boycott Barclays Bank on Saturday. 

Now I'm all for boycotting your bank if you're not happy with the service. Some of you might recall how I closed my accounts with NatWest after 30 years after they first decorated the building with woke propaganda signs, and then closed my local branch 'because most people prefer online banking'. I didn't much care for the polo shirts the staff started wearing, either, but I suppose that makes me sound like a curmudgeon. 

But the customer is king, and if we don't like the way our bank behaves, it's our right to walk away. So good for them, Boycott Barclays if you want. The bit I don't get is how do you boycott your bank for one day, Saturday, only? Even if you close your account on Friday, walk out with a big bag of dosh, and return to reopen it on Monday, that's a two-day boycott at least. Don't undersell yourself, comrades.