Celtic fans wave Palestinian flags at UCL play off against Hapoel

By Paul Nicholson

August 17 – Celtic fans, a hard-core group of whom have never been shy to express political opinion at football matches, defied Scottish police and club requests with hundreds of them waving Palestinian flags at their first-leg Champions League play-off against Israeli champions Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

The protest against the Israeli occupation of Palestine will undoubtedly win the club’s tenth UEFA sanction for the behaviour of their fans.

Before the start of the Champions League cup qualifier, activists from the group Palestine Alliance handed out flags and leaflets to fans entering the stadium.

The protest had apparently been co-ordinated via a Facebook group titled‘Fly the flag for Palestine, for Celtic, for Justice’. The group said that UEFA should not support Israel or its politics.

Scottish police had said they would arrest fans flying the Palestinian flag in the stadium, but the sheer number of fans with flags would have made this somewhat impractical. Many fans said that if they were arrested they would be prepared to pay the fines.

This was not the first time Celtic fans have run into controversy over Palestinian flags. In 2014, UEFA fined the club more than $18,000 for waving Palestinian flags during a match against Iceland’s KR Reykjavik.

The support of the plight of Palestinians seems a incongrous religious alliance for a fanbase that is very much rooted in the sectarian disputes of catholicism against historical protestant rule by the British in Northern Ireland. But the clear identification between two groups dominated by a colonial is unquestionable and a political statement football’s authorities will not ignore.

The crowd’s flag waving did not stop a pulsating Champions League match that Celtic won 5-2.

The long running football dispute over the freedom of movement of Palestinian footballers and equipment between Gaza and the West Bank would perhaps have been a more football-driven show of support for politically motivated Celtic fans.

That dispute is showing no signs of finding a solution with the latest incident being the delay in the playing the final of the Palestinian Cup because Israel border guards initially refused the entry of a number of players from Gaza to the West bank.

Last week the Malaysian FA pulled out of hosting the FIFA Congress next May citing security issues and on the advice of the government. Malaysia had said that it would not grant visas for entry to Israeli delegates to the congress.

Celtic’s previous UEFA sanctions:

  • December 2015: Fenerbahce (A) – £10,000 for improper conduct of team as well as flares
  • March 2015: Inter Milan (A) – £5850 for improper conduct of team, £3650 fine for flares
  • February 2015: Dinamo Zagreb (A) – £7400 fine for inappropriate crowd behaviour
  • July 2014: KR Reykjavik (H) – £16,000 fine for illicit banner
  • December 2013: AC Milan (H) – £42,200 fine for illicit banner
  • July 2013: Cliftonville (H) – £4200 fine for flares
  • March 2012: Udinese (A) – £21,000 fine for flares and illicit banner
  • December 2011: Rennes (A) – £12,700 fine for illicit chanting

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