Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
US State Department sanctions UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese.
Yemeni Armed Forces: We reiterate our warning to companies dealing with ports in occupied Palestine that their vessels and crews will be targeted anywhere.
Yemeni Armed Forces: We reaffirm our commitment to preventing Israeli maritime activity in both the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
Yemeni Armed Forces: This naval military operation was carried out in support of the oppressed Palestinian people and in solidarity with their heroic resistance fighters.
Yemeni Armed Forces: The vessel was targeted after it ignored calls and warnings issued by the Yemeni naval forces.
Yemeni Armed Forces: We targeted the vessel ETERNITY C as it was heading to the occupied port of Umm al-Rashrash using a drone boat and six cruise missiles.
Israeli drones conduct an airstrike on Saboura and Yafour in the Damascus countryside, Syria.
Al-Qassam Brigades: We targeted an Israeli army D9 bulldozer with a Shawaaz explosive device in a resistance operation in the Ma'an area, south of Khan Younis, on June 24
Sources to Al Mayadeen: Syrian army and police forces will only be permitted to carry light weapons in the buffer zones
Sources to Al Mayadeen: All heavy weapons will be evacuated from Syrian army barracks in the south of the country

Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

  • David Miller David Miller
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 19 Jan 2024 07:32
  • 4 Shares
7 Min Read

Styling themselves as ‘ultras’ or ‘super-fans’ of Scotland's Celtic Football Club, the Green Brigade were a declared anti-fascist group, and from the beginning championed the Palestinian cause.

  • x
  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade
    Members of the Green Brigade display a banner saying "End genocide. End Zionism". (Illustrated by Ali Al Hadi Shmeiss - Al Mayadeen English)

On 23 December last year, several hundred Celtic football fans marched through the streets of the East End of Glasgow, Scotland in triumph. Their destination was Parkhead - the name given to the football ground of their team Celtic Football Club. They were celebrating overturning a two-month ban from the ground for flying what were termed “illicit banners”. What were they? As one could infer from the large Palestinian flag that led the march back to the ground, the fans had been banned for displaying support for Palestine. But who are these fans? And what is the history of their involvement with the Palestinian cause?

Back in 2006, a seemingly unlikely bunch of football supporters joined forces to create the Green Brigade. Styling themselves as ‘ultras’ or ‘super-fans’, they were a declared anti-fascist group, and from the beginning championed the cause of Palestine.  

The ‘Green’ in their name refers to the hoops on the shirt of their football team Celtic – a team created in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigrant Irish population in the East End of Glasgow by an Irish Priest, Brother Walfrid. The cause of Ireland has always, therefore, been core to the politics of Celtic fans.  

Their devotion to Irish republicanism and the Palestinian cause has attracted attention and attempts to constrain and abolish the group, but all attempts in this regard have so far failed.

While Palestinian flags have been flown at Celtic Park since at least the 1980s, the Green Brigade turned up the heat several notches.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

In an early display at a match against Aberdeen in November 2010, the Green Brigade unfurled banners with the words "Your deeds would shame all the devils in Hell. Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan. No bloodstained poppy on our Hoops." This was a protest against the red remembrance poppy on Celtic's shirt (the green and white ‘hoops’) during a match on 11 November 2010. In a statement, they drew attention to the civilian casualties caused by the British military in successive occupations and conflicts.

In June 2012, a flurry of Palestinian flags flew proudly and a banner appeared reading "Dignity is More Precious than Food." This was a display of support for Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons. "We did this in solidarity," the Green Brigade said. "We want Palestinians to know we are thinking about them and encourage Scottish civil society to look at the injustice in Palestine."

In 2016, Celtic were fined £8,619 (€10,000) by UEFA for supporters flying Palestinian flags at an August 2016 UEFA match against Israeli team Hapoel Be'er Sheva at Celtic Park. The Green Brigade launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £10,000 to pay the fine but ended up raising £188,000, which they donated to Palestinian charities.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

In 2018, on 18 May at the 70th minute of the Scottish Cup Final, the Green Brigade unveiled banners commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, including a call to "End genocide. End Zionism." This approach to the liberation of Palestine is far in advance of the mainstream Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK, which avoids even using the term Zionism if it can.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd by US police officers, the Green Brigade renamed streets in Glasgow that commemorated Glasgow’s Tobacco Lords, including Buchanan, Glassford, and Ingram. The streets were renamed after figures important in the fight against slavery and racism, the likes of Joseph Knight - the Edinburgh slave who eventually won freedom in court in 1777 - or Sheku Bayoh, who died in Scottish police custody in 2015. Other icons of the civil rights movement such as Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman were also used in the renaming blitz.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

After the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October, the Green Brigade did not shrink from action. That day, during the game with Kilmarnock, surrounded by Palestinian flags, their banners read "Free Palestine. Victory To The Resistance!"

Following criticism of their activities, by the club, the Green Brigade stated:

"Celtic was born out of famine and oppression, a product of colonial rule, death and the mass displacement of people. It is because of this history that Celtic fans are renowned for their empathy and solidarity; consistently siding with the oppressed. The Green Brigade remains unequivocal in the support for the Palestinian people."

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

On 25 October 2023, thousands of Celtic fans again flew the Palestinian flag during a UEFA Champions League match against Atletico Madrid. Fans dedicated the song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. In response, Celtic suspended the season tickets of Green Brigade members, effectively banning them from the game. In November, UEFA fined the club £15,200 for the action during the Atletico Madrid match. The "Israel" Football Association took credit for the complaint that led to the fine.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

However, the Green Brigade returned triumphantly to Celtic Park on 23 December last year and amidst a sea of banned Palestinian flags unveiled a banner quoting a section of 'A Prisoner's Christmas Song':

"Many homes they are sad tonight.

They whisper someone's name by the candlelight.

20,000+ killed - 8,000+ children."

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

Aida Celtic is the name of a football team that grew out of the Palestine solidarity work of the Green Brigade at the infamous match against the Israeli team Hapoel Beer-Sheva in 2016. UEFA fined the club - a total of more than £8,000 - for the "crime" of flying hundreds of Palestinian flags. These constituted "illicit banners".

The Green Brigade then launched a hashtag on Twitter #MatchTheFineForPalestine.

From Gaza to the West Bank, Palestinians showed their support and thanks for the campaign: photographs of children and medical volunteers displaying the hashtag appeared; video messages from Aida Camp in Beit Lahm filtered through; a Gazan football team posed alongside a 'Thank you Celtic...love from Gaza' banner.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

These actions laid the foundations for a legacy beyond the campaign. Donations flooded in from all over the world. The initial target was quickly surpassed and more than £180,000 were eventually raised.

The money was divided between Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Lajee Center from the Aida refugee camp near Beit Lahm in the illegally occupied West Bank. Aida Celtic, a football academy was launched in 2019.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

Since 7 October, Aida Celtic has faced harsh challenges and the solidarity has continued. According to an academic study, the Aida refugee camp is reportedly the most tear-gassed space on Earth.

On 26 November, over 100 tear gas canisters were fired into the camp, many landing on the football pitch.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

On 25 October, the poet and writer Dr. Refaat Alareer posted on X:

"The bombs are falling as I am writing this.

Celtic fans are amazing

Thank you from Gaza from under the Israeli bombs. Your solidarity means a lot to us."

In December, fans were quick to point out that Dr. Alareer had been murdered in Gaza by the Zionists: 

"Dr. Refaat Alareer was a professor, writer, poet and activist. 

As bombs rained down on him and his family, he took time to thank Celtic fans for their solidarity because he recognised the value of this solidarity. 

Yesterday, he was murdered by Israel. 

Rest in power, Refaat."

At the end of November, WHO staff member Dima Alhaj was murdered alongside her husband, their six-month-old baby boy, and her two brothers. Over 50 family and community members sheltering in the same house also died.

Alhaj was a former Glasgow University Masters student who had been in close touch with Celtic fans.

  • Hail, Hail the Green Brigade

At one in the morning, on 10 December 2023, occupation forces invaded Aida camp and broke into the Lajee Center to remove the Palestinian flag which proudly flew on its roof. The flag pole was cut with an electric saw and stolen alongside the flag. The pole was later installed on the Israeli occupation base that overlooks Aida camp, flying the Zionist flag instead. By Sunday evening, a new Palestinian flag was proudly flying on the Lajee Center's roof again.

Aida Celtic posted in response:

"They have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Palestinian who doesn't want to be broken. This sentiment is echoed at Celtic Park where the Green Brigade spirit of resistance remains strong."

A new film about the Green Brigade, which is well worth watching, is available from the US-based Uncivilized YouTube channel here.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Beit Lahm
  • Gaza Strip
  • Palestine
  • football
  • Israel
  • Aida refugee camp
  • West Bank
  • Israeli occupation
  • Celtic FC
  • Green Brigade
  • Scotland
  • Gaza
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

David Miller

David Miller

investigative researcher, broadcaster, and academic. He is the founder and co-director of the lobbying watchdog Spinwatch and editor of Powerbase.info.

Most Read

All
For now, Tehran waits in silence, but it waits on its own terms. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Ceasefire without terms: Iran’s strategic deterrence in shadow of 9,379 kg

  • Opinion
  • 27 Jun 2025
How is it that the Western regimes, which claimed to support the fake revolutions of Lebanon, Libya, and Syria, waged constant war against the actual Ansar Allah-led revolution in Yemen? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Understanding Yemen 1/2: The Revolution

  • Opinion
  • 30 Jun 2025
Though the Taleban are not actually waging any war at the moment, like the Ukrainians/NATO and the Zionists/US-UK-EU, they share the same seedbed and are ultimately being used for the same purpose. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

The Ukrainisation of Afghanistan

  • Opinion
  • 26 Jun 2025
Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
"Israel" appears to be the only place in the world where there are actual demonstrations defending rapists as national heroes precisely because of their crimes. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

'Israeli pride' - Celebrating rape in the Zionist entity

While Salams is intended to be for Muslims seeking marriage, the other companies owned by Match Group are seen as encouraging casual relationships like OK Cupid and Tinder. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Selling Muslim marriage app Salams to the Zionist pornography complex

David Collier is the Zionist troll operative behind the intimidation of the BBC resulting in the removal of the Documentary How to Survive in a War Zone. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

The pincer movement against the BBC

Palestine Solidarity Campaign shills for the Zionists

Palestine Solidarity Campaign shills for the Zionists

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS