Celtic fans raise money for Palestine before facing Israeli team

And now here’s a story about some soccer activism. We’ll tell the story, but we won’t be picking a side in the larger conflict. Because this isn’t a subject for us to rule on. We’re but a humble soccer blog. Our only objective is to amuse you and to avoid typos and bugs.

So Celtic, the titan of Scottish soccer, played Hapoel Be’er Sheva in a UEFA Champions League qualifier last week. Its Green Brigade hardcore fan group flew Palestinian flags in solidarity with the plight of the people of Palestine. Because they were playing an Israeli team, albeit hardly one supported by those aligned with the various sanctions and limitations placed on the Palestinians, UEFA deemed it an “illicit banner.”

It’s worth noting here that while Palestine has gained membership to FIFA — like other territories that aren’t, or aren’t yet, sovereign nations — but isn’t a part of UEFA. It belongs to the Asian Football Confederation. Israel, on the other hand, is a member of UEFA.

Celtic will likely be fined for the perceived misbehavior by its fans. (You could argue here that any sports governing body’s feeble attempts to cleanse its venues of politics are naive, overbearing and a tad Orwellian. But never mind that.)

So the Green Brigade has started a GoFundMe page titled Match The Fine For Palestine. The idea is to match whatever fine the club incurs with fan contributions and then donate that sum to charities helping the people of Palestine.

And then the thing caught fire. The initial goal was to raise enough to match the fine, which would likely be £20,000 or so. Then, when the thing went viral and the organizers were overwhelmed by their supporters’ generosity, the objective was raised to £75,000. By the return leg on Tuesday, the goal had been raised again, to £130,000. And by the end of the game, which saw Celtic through to the Champions League group stage — barely, by an aggregate score of 5-4 — it had very nearly been met.

Which is all to say that a fine from UEFA will have done a great deal more good in the world than harm to Celtic. As the organizers wrote on their GoFundMe page: “Let’s #matchthefineforpalestine and show the footballing establishment the true spirit of the game.”