Maccabi Tel Aviv fans waved a banner that said 'Refugees Not Welcome' - they play Chelsea in London on Wednesday night
The Blues play the Israeli team at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.While English and German football fans were united in their message to refugees at the weekend, the message at one club in Israel was rather different.
With supporters across Europe unveiling 'Refugees Welcome' in response to the growing crisis, Maccabi Tel-Aviv decided to go the opposite route - displaying the message 'Refugees Not Welcome' against Kiryat Shmona.
The club will be in London on Wednesday night when they face Chelsea in the first group game of this season's Champions League.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho denied that he was under pressure after losing to Everton at the weekend, instead stating that "refugees are under big pressure".
Last week, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for Israel to take in more refugees and has instead pledged to build an 18-mile border fence along the border with Jordan.
Champions League clubs, including Maccabi, have pledged to donate €1 from every ticket sold at their first home game to aid the crisis.
Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain donated €1million each last week.
UPDATE: This article has been updated to remove an erroneous reference to a Hapoel Tel-Aviv banner. That banner was from 2009.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments