Thousands of Celtic fans waved the Palestine flag at a Champions League match against an Israeli club despite a UEFA ban on Palestinian flags in football stadiums.
In an act of defiance against a controversial UEFA ruling, hundreds of Celtic football fans waved Palestinian flags as their team played the Israeli club Hapoel Beer Sheva.
The act of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle was organised a week in advance via a Facebook page, Fly the flag for Palestine, for Celtic, for Justice, which attracted the interest of 1,500 people on Facebook.
Prior to kick off, activists from the group Palestinian Alliance distributed flags and leaflets about the Nakba in 1948, which led to the ethnic cleansing and displacement of millions of Palestinians in order to create the Zionist entity of Israel.
Celtic fans had been warned they faced arrests if they waved Palestine flags in the stadium. Scotland’s most popular football club now faces a fine from UEFA.
The Facebook page’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”.
If fined, it will not be the first time Celtic has been in trouble with UEFA for flying the Palestine flag. In 2014, whilst Israel was engaged in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, which killed over 2,000 Palestinians, Celtic fans waved Palestine flags during a game against the Icelandic side KR Reykjavik. The club was subsequently fined £16,000.
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Celtic will play Hapoel Beer Sheva again, on Tuesday evening in Israel, for the second leg of the Champions League qualifier.
The game will be played in the Turner Stadium, 20 miles from Gaza in the town of Beersheba, which, prior to 1948, was the Palestinian town Bir al Sabe.
Mick Napier of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign spoke to 5Pillars, giving his reaction to Celtic fans’ act of solidarity. He said: “The waving of huge numbers of flags yesterday was welcomed across Scotland and around the world.
“It is shameful that Police Scotland threatened to arrest people. What happened yesterday tells us that acts of defiance are always necessary, especially when our own government is supporting the ethnic cleansing that is happening abroad.”
UEFA ban
UEFA have a ban on political message being displayed at their football matches. Article 16 (2)(e) of their Regulations on Order and Security states: “The use of gestures, words, objects or any other means to transmit any message that is not fit for a sports event, particularly messages that are of a political, ideological, religious or provocative nature will not be tolerated.”
UEFA deems the flag of Palestine to be a symbol of a political message because there is an ongoing conflict between the Palestine and illegal state of Israel.
This article has not been applied, however, when Ajax fans have displayed Israeli flags in the past.
Asked why he thinks this double standard exists, Mick Napier said: “It is difficult to penetrate the veil in terms of lobbying but UEFA’s stance fits into the wider picture of attempts to criminalise open support for Palestinians and the BDS movement.”
The #thanksCelticfans hashtag has been appearing on Twitter all day.
@Celticarchives tweeted: “The hashtag…just shows how much of an affect flying flags at last night’s game really had”.
But not all Celtic fans are happy. In addition to a fine, UEFA could penalise Celtic by forcing them to close certain stands during upcoming home games.
Speaking to the Daily Record, one fan, John Kerr said: “Do these Celtic fans realise how much damage they’re doing to the club? We could be playing Real Madrid at an empty Parkhead.”
Joe Clark added: “What are the clowns thinking about by taking Palestine flags. They were told not to fly them, especially given the Israeli opposition. What will it take to get the message? Closing Parkhead down. We used to get awards for being the best fans.”
However, the organisers of last night’s flag waving have said penalisation will not deter their protests. Many fans have pledged to raise funds to pay for any fine the club faces themselves.
