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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.