The cold terraces of a Scottish football stadium are not the first place you might expect to find a hotbed of organized support for Palestinian liberation. But travel to Celtic Park on match day, and you will see thousands of fans wearing keffiyehs, eating falafels, and waving Palestinian flags. A storied organization, Celtic F.C. is one of only 23 teams to have won the UEFA Champions League (previously known as the European Cup), Europe’s premier club competition. But their fans, particularly the hardcore supporter group the Green Brigade, see the club as a vehicle for progressive and radical social change, including backing Palestinian resistance. This cause has long put them at loggerheads with footballing authorities. In 2016, Celtic hosted a Champions League qualifier game against Israeli team Hapoel Be’er Sheva. In protest at Israeli actions in Palestine, the Green Brigade organized a mass display of Palestinian flags, turning much of the stadium into a wall of black, white, green, and red. UEFA, European football’s governing body, punished Celtic for their actions, fining the club £8,600 (over U.S.$11,000). In response, the Green Brigade launched a “Match the Fine for Palestine” campaign, aiming to raise a similar amount for the Medical Aid for Palestine charity. The campaign went viral, raising £176,000 (well over U.S.$200,000). Political messages like this are common at Celtic games. During the 2018 Scottish Cup Final, the Green Brigade unveiled giant banners at the 70th minute of play, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba (ethnic cleansing of Palestine). The banners read, “End genocide. End Zionism.” Since October 7, 2023, and the Israeli onslaught that followed it, open displays of support for Palestine have become more frequent and better organized. At league games, it is common to see walls of Palestinian flags replete with messages such as “Free Palestine. Victory to the Resistance.” And at a Champions League match with Atlético Madrid, fans sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” dedicating it to the people of Gaza. In September, Celtic played SK Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia, and the fans sent a message of support to the people of Palestine: “They can oppress you. They can imprison you, but they will never break your spirit.” Celtic won the tie 5-1. Celtic’s Green Brigade spelling it out ✊ They can oppress you, they can imprison you, but they will never break your spirit! Gaza, Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, you’ll never walk alone! — Chris Hazzard MP (@ChrisHazzardSF) September 18, 2024 But Celtic fans’ solidarity goes far beyond words and fundraising. In the wake of the Hapoel Be’er Sheva incident, the Green Brigade helped establish a sister team, Lajee Celtic, for residents of the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. The new club’s academy has over 80 children registered as players and an adult first-team squad attempting to secure a spot in the Palestinian Premier League. Lajee Celtic players wear the colors of the Palestine national flag but also with green and white hoops – an homage to their Scottish sister club. Lajee Celtic is more than a club; its mission, in its own words, is to “break barriers and bring hope” to the country. Authorities have not taken kindly to Celtic fans’ actions and have attempted to punish them. Celtic F.C. management, too, has expressed their dismay and has even banned many Green Brigade members from attending matches. But their actions have also drawn praise from around the world. Last month, Turkish champions Galatasaray displayed a gigantic banner reading, “We Thank The Celtic Supporters For Their Unwavering Support For Palestine.” By Refugees, For Refugees But what explains the affinity between Celtic fans and the Palestinian cause? Daniela Latina, an academic from Glasgow and a Celtic fan, told MintPress that understanding the club’s roots is the key to that question. The club was born out of the Great Famine of the mid-19th century, a largely man-made genocide that saw a collapse in Ireland’s potato crop. British authorities – who ruled Ireland at the time – insisted on the continued export of Irish food to England and blocked efforts at famine relief. The result, Latina explained, was the death of around 1 million people and the mass exodus of millions more. The Great Famine continues to haunt Irish society. Today, Ireland’s population has still not recovered to its 1830s level. One group that did offer genuine help to the starving Irish was the Palestinian people. As Latina told MintPress: Sultan Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire, of which Palestine was a part of, granted £10,000 of aid to the Irish, but Queen Victoria intervened and demanded he only send £1,000 as she had sent £,2000, and did not want to seem parsimonious. The Sultan ignored Victoria and sent £10,000 and a further five ships of grain, food, and medicines.” English courts rejected the aid ships’ requests to dock. Undeterred, the fleet traveled in secret to Drogheda Harbour in Ireland to deliver their aid. “As a gesture of appreciation, Drogheda United Football Club still bears the Ottoman star and crescent today,” she noted. Nevertheless, the famine caused hundreds of thousands of Irish to flee to Scotland, especially to the bustling city of Glasgow. These refugees were often treated poorly and lived in destitute conditions. In 1887, a local priest founded the Celtic Football Club as a social enterprise, aiming to use the profits from ticket sales to fund soup kitchens for the Irish Catholic community. Hence, from its very beginnings, Celtic represented refugees and the most marginalized in society. At the same time, the movement for Irish independence was gaining momentum. Ireland had been colonized by England for over 700 years, with British authorities going so far as to import large numbers of Protestant settlers to the island. These settlers were given special privileges and land, from which locals were expelled. And even though the Republic of Ireland secured independence in 1921, the island is still divided into two states to this day, with the Protestant-dominated north still part of the United Kingdom. Thus, Ireland– despite being a Western European nation geographically – has a history more akin to colonized nations in the Global South than those of its neighbors. This goes a long way in explaining why it has been one of Palestine’s most steadfast backers internationally. It was the first European Union member to call for Palestinian statehood and the last one to grant Israel permission to open an embassy. And it has been Europe’s harshest critic of Israeli aggression, often allying itself with Asian, African, and Latin American countries over European ones. Because of its history as a nation fighting for an independent state, one that many see as still cleaved in two and occupied by a foreign power, and because so many Irish people come from refugee backgrounds, many feel a natural affinity with Palestine, seeing links between their two struggles. Perhaps it is only natural, then, that Celtic, Glasgow’s Irish Catholic club founded by refugees, would see a lot of themselves in the Palestinian people. Israel’s War on Football As part of their war on Gaza, Israel has attempted to erase symbols of Palestinian culture and identity. This includes football. Since October 7, 2023, at least 500 Palestinian athletes, referees, or sports officials have been killed. Perhaps the most notable is Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, head of the Palestinian Football Association’s medical department. Al-Bursh was captured, tortured, and likely raped to death by Israeli forces, who, to this day, refuse to return his body. The attack on Palestinian football did not begin in 2023, however. In 2014, cousins Jawhar Nasser Jawhar, 19, and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya, 17 – young stars about to be called to the national team – were traveling home from a training session near Ramallah. They were ambushed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who shot al-Raouf in the legs. Jawhar rushed to his aid, only to be peppered with bullets himself, including seven in his left foot, three in his right, and one in the hand. An attack dog was unleashed on them, and soldiers subsequently broke al-Raouf’s leg for good measure, suggesting they knew who the pair were. Israel has also deliberately destroyed Palestinian stadiums and, for decades, has regularly blocked the Palestinian national team from leaving the country, thereby forcing them to withdraw from international competitions. Subsequently, the national team is now filled largely with players from the diaspora community. As a result, there is a growing, grassroots movement to bar Israel and Israeli teams from international competitions – and it is being led by Celtic fans. At their recent Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, supporters unveiled a huge banner demanding authorities “Show ‘Israel’ the Red Card.” Similar demonstrations have been seen at games in Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, Turkey, and Malaysia. Speaking to MintPress News, a spokesperson for the group Red Card Israel explained that suspending Israel from sporting events would illustrate that “the violation of human rights results in exclusions on an international level and that it cannot continue to blatantly disregard international law while still enjoying the privilege of international participation in sport.” Supporters of the ban note that authorities regularly take action against nation-states. In the 1990s, Yugoslavia was banned from competing at the 1994 World Cup amid a civil war in the Balkans. And in 2022, Russia was banned from both the World Cup and the Olympics due to its invasion of Ukraine. Yet with Israel, the situation is more complicated, primarily because those in positions of power have consistently stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Tel Aviv and taken action against those protesting its genocide. Whether the campaign will be successful is highly uncertain. But one thing is beyond doubt: Celtic fans will stand with Palestine, come rain or shine. Feature photo | Celtic Glasgow fans light pyrotechnics and don Free Palestine shirts and flags at the UEFA Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund, October, 2024. Photo | AP Images Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams.