Celtic fans wave Palestinian flag in Europe

By Abdullah Tevge

ISTANBUL (AA) - Scottish football club Celtic's fans, who continue their historic stance against Israeli attacks on Palestine, are flying the Palestinian flag in Europe.

Wearing Palestinian scarves, flags and badges on match days, Celtic fans emphasized that the persecution must end.

Speaking to Anadolu, Celtic fan Martin Flynn said, "Palestine is supposed quite close to our hearts because we have had very similar experiences to the Palestinian people. Celtic was established as a say, in the wake of a famine, which some people will call genocide, you know, where people were starved."

"In fact, the people from Ottoman Türkiye in Palestine sent food to Ireland at that time, and some of our football clubs in Ireland still wear Crescents and things that got in recognition of that," he added.

Emphasizing that children living in Palestine have a future and that they strive for it, Flymn said, "We want them to be happy and safe in their own lives, and they live fulfilled lives, to be able to travel or come to Celtic Park and watch football here. Why not? Why can't these children have the same things as my children?"

Celtic fan Joe McKenna, who said banned fans continued to wave Palestinian flags as soon as they returned to the stands, added: "I think I think the biggest issue is nobody seems to understand why it's a problem.

Why is it a problem to fly a Palestinian flag or wasn't a problem to fly an Ukrainian flag?"

Europe's top football body, UEFA, in October 2023, fined Celtic a total of €29,000 ($31,582) over a number of incidents, including the actions of the Green Brigade fans group, which was banned by the Scottish club from attending its away matches and has remained insistent on showing their support for Palestine by displaying its flag at several matches.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 23,084 Palestinians have since been killed and 58,926 others injured, according to Gaza's health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

* Writing by Selcuk Bugra Gokalp