Scottish Football Fans Fly Flag of Palestine in Match against Israeli Team
SPORTS, 29 Aug 2016
Middle East Eye Staff – TRANSCEND Media Service
Despite ban by officials, entire sections of fans at Glasgow Celtic’s stadium displayed Palestinian flags to protest Israeli occupation.
Celtic FC fans prominently displayed Palestinian flag on Wednesday during match against Israel’s Hapoel Beer Sheva (Reuters)
17 Aug 2016 – Hundreds of fans at a football match between Glasgow Celtic and Israeli side Hapoel Beer Sheva turned whole sections of the stadium into a sea of Palestinian flags in a protest against the Israeli occupation, ignoring an official ban on political demonstrations.
Before the start of the Champions League cup qualifier, activists from the group Palestine Alliance handed out flags and leaflets on the Nakba, or Catastrophe, the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel and rendered millions of Palestinians refugees. Police outside Celtic Park warned fans against bringing flags into the stadium.
Celtic could face penalties from UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, for allowing the protests to go ahead, but some fans said they were prepared to pay any fine themselves to show their opposition to Israel’s participation in the competition.
The group Palestine Alliance handed out leaflets outside the stadium before the match began (Reuters)
The demonstration for Palestine was organised a week in advance, according to the Jerusalem Post. More than 800 people joined a Facebook group titled “Fly the flag for Palestine, for Celtic, for Justice.”
The group’s creators called on Celtic fans to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, saying that people should express their “democratic rights to display our opposition to Israeli apartheid, settler colonialism, and countless massacres of the Palestinian people”.
The Facebook group also said that UEFA should not support Israel and its policies.
“When someone is representing Israeli state institutions it is sadly never merely a game; football, UEFA, and Celtic FC are being used to whitewash Israel’s true nature and give this rogue state an air of normality and acceptance it should not and cannot enjoy until its impunity ends and it is answerable to international law and faces sanctions for the countless UN resolutions it had breached,” it read.
Scottish police urged fans to not bring Palestinian flags, threatening them with arrest, the Daily Record reported.
https://twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/765967687432409088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Abdul Hussain, who is a Glasgow resident and lifelong Celtic Fan, attended the fixture on Wednesday night and told Middle East Eye that many fans were prepared to pay the fine to show solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
“The Scots do love an underdog and Celtic supporters by and large, provide a significant amount of support for Palestine and the UEFA rules exist to maintain the status quo ” said Hussain. “Celtic fans will support the cause of Palestine, regardless of the rules in place, and the Hapoel match is not a first for Celtic support for Palestine, and certainly not the last.”
Hussain also claimed that the club’s support for the Palestinian cause is rooted in its large Irish fan base and its experience against British colonialism in Northern Ireland.
Wednesday’s match is not the first where Celtic has 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. UEFA said at the time the fine was imposed because the flags violated their rule that prohibits political expression.
Celtic won Monday’s match 5-2 and now appear likely to qualify for the lucrative group stages of the UEFA Champions League, in which Europe’s top clubs compete for the game’s most sought after trophy.
Go to Original – middleeasteye.net
Join the BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS campaign to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation’s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.
DON’T BUY PRODUCTS WHOSE BARCODE STARTS WITH 729, which indicates that it is produced in Israel. DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.