At first glance, TSV Maccabi Munich appears to be an ordinary sports club, just one of 190 in the city. More than 800 members meet regularly to play football or tennis, dance or take self-defense courses. But Maccabi is something special: Founded in 1965 by Holocaust survivors, the Germany-wide association TuS Maccabi and its local associations are the only openly Jewish associations in Germany. And anti-Semitism in football has long since reached worrying proportions. Since the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel’s massive response to it, anti-Semitic incidents have repeatedly occurred at games and in the surrounding area. Its president Alon Meyer recently said after attacks on youth players from TuS Makkabi in Berlin: “First and foremost, you have to recognize that the situation is really serious, and I don’t think this switch has happened yet.”
In addition to sport, Maccabi also focuses on educational and integration work in Munich. Those responsible strive for open communication between Jews and non-Jews in everyday life and clarify cultural prejudices. 80 percent of the members are not Jewish and come from 15 different nations. Regardless of whether you are an American Christian, a Turkish Muslim or a German atheist – everyone is welcome at Maccabi. “We want to create a bridge between Judaism and all other faiths,” explains CEO Robby Rajber.
Youth soccer coach Khalil, who doesn’t want to read his last name in the newspaper for security reasons, adds: “No matter what your background, what faith, what gender you are: the only thing that counts here is sport.” By having fun on the sports field and playing together When working towards goals, the children should be taught values such as team spirit, openness and tolerance towards others.
The hope is that as adults they will pass on this attitude and educate others who have grown up with misinformation and cultural prejudices. “If you have been socialized at Maccabi, you can classify things completely differently as an adult and put the human aspect in the foreground,” says football department head Armand Presser. For him, working with the children is the “emotional reward” for a task that is not always easy.
Because while those responsible are trying to ensure a carefree everyday life for the children, the mood at Maccabi has been tense for months. The attack on October 7, 2023 also left its mark on the Munich club. “The seventh of October has penetrated every fiber, every pore,” says Presser. Coach Khalil describes the day as a “tragedy that hit us even worse than Corona.”
Two years ago a child was beaten on the bus because of his Maccabi jacket
Although there were security concerns beforehand, the situation has worsened significantly since then. Those responsible are in daily contact and continually reassess the threat situation. As an openly Jewish club whose emblem is the Star of David, they know that they could become a target in the heated political atmosphere. “The parents ask us whether their children are safe with us, whether they can put them on the bus with a Maccabi jacket,” says Rajber.
A legitimate concern: Two years ago, a child was beaten up on the bus because of his jacket. Khalil’s team also had to cancel a game because the opponent received a threat from outsiders: “They said: If you play against Maccabi, you’ll see what you get out of it!” He later organized a friendly match against the team to send a signal “that this has no place in sport, and especially among children and young people”.
Rajber, who experienced the attack in Israel first hand, doesn’t have much hope that the situation will ease soon: “Anti-Semitism has become socially acceptable again in Germany.” This also has personal consequences for him: Before October 7th, he was proud identified as a “Bavarian Jew”, today he is so disappointed with the social climate that he is thinking about emigrating to Israel with his family: “I am tired of the lies and having to constantly justify myself.” Similarly Presser sees it: “The entire society is in trouble, cannot classify many things, things are being distorted. You can’t put the monster in the bottle anymore. It’s a negative spiral of bad emotions.”
If they allowed the fear, there would be even more threats, thinks coach Khalil: “We have to send a signal that this doesn’t work for us.”
The fear of an anti-Semitic attack is always present: “We very much hope that nothing happens.” How precarious the situation is was shown just a few days ago, when Jewish fans from Maccabi Tel Aviv after a Champions League game at Ajax Amsterdam were pursued and attacked by suspected Palestinian activists. But despite all the worries and frustrations, those responsible are united and combative. “As a Jew in Germany, you have to fight this battle of identity your whole life and are emotionally aligned in a completely different way. We carry on, we don’t let anyone dictate anything to us. If I live here, I won’t hide,” says Rajber.
Khalil agrees. He passes on parents’ safety concerns to the board and wants to concentrate entirely on the sport. If they allowed the children to be afraid, there would be even more threats, he thinks: “We have to send a signal that this isn’t working for us.” Everyone agrees: the children shouldn’t hear about the worries in the background .
The club is intended to be an opportunity to get to know other cultures and beliefs in a playful way. Khalil sums it up this way: “We have children here with Christian faith, with Jewish faith, with no faith, but you see the smile on their face and that is the main focus. When the ball rolls, I see smiling faces and nothing else matters.”
