Celtic v Hapoel Be'er Sheva: A right to protest – but right to protest?

Here we go again.

In the spirit of navel-gazing nostalgia that has come with the tenth anniversary of this blog, I have found myself compelled to self-reference again.

Because, yes – you've guessed it – Celtic have been drawn against another Israeli team in the Champions League qualifiers and some people just HAVE to demand a protest.

As I said almost seven years ago, when Celtic were drawn against Hapoel Tel-Aviv; I am no supporter of Zionism. In that, I am joined by the most orthodox Jews,

I abhor the oppression of the Palestinians, brutally denied their rights by a murderous regime.

I do not believe that Israel should be part of UEFA because, quite simply, Israel is not part of Europe, by any stretch of the imagination.

And I particularly note that the Israeli Defence Force has been accused of attacking young Palestinian footballers, which should be enough to mobilise the entire football community in a demand to stop such attacks, even to the point of suspending the Israeli football association from participating in international competition.

But how and when is it appropriate to protest?

Not for the first time, Celtic fans are being told what they must do, when they must do it – and being told that dissenting from this means abandoning Palestinian children.

All very well-meaning, avowing noble intentions but carrying the logical weight of the Manic Street Preachers saying that pacifists are willingly condemning their children to death at the hands of Fascists.

You remember them – those young Welsh lads born just too young to join the International Brigades or to take arms with Ernesto "Che" Guevara Lynch in pursuit of the international liberation of the

Che: 'In my son's veins flowed the
blood of Irish rebels'

working classes – so they formed a preachy pop band, instead. (Great tune, though.)

And much of the cry for an anti-Israel protest during the match is similar in nature.

We'll just fly some flags, take the fine – the club has plenty of money – and declare ourselves sedentary liberators of the Palestinian people and the international working class.

And if you don't – well, then take a good look at yourselves. You obviously don't care about the Palestinian children who could have been saved by that protest.

Who are these people and what to they actually DO to make a difference, (in the event that you don't consider Tweets and Facebook postings to be actually “doing” anything of substance)?

What sacrifices do they make, I wonder, in defence of Palestinians, in their daily lives. Boycott Israeli goods? Probably – that involves laying off the Soda Stream, eliminating 1% of your available wine list and being careful to avoid kosher salt.

How many of these people, for example, protest outside the Israeli embassy or risk arrest and incurring criminal records and fines? I have no doubt that there are a few – but, as for the rest, do they only notice what is happening to the Palestinians when Celtic are playing a team from Israel?

They insist that it will “only be a fine” but that's not clear at all. Do they want Celtic to play European matches with a stand closed – to make a statement? Perhaps they can dedicate that empty stand to Nir Bitton, so that he can watch the game in an atmosphere of acceptable solitude.

And, no, being Israeli or Jewish is not he same as being a Zionist but we do well when we remember to recognise the sensitivities of those closer to the issues that rightly inflame world opinion.

Why stop at the risk of a stand being closed? Surely the only morally defensible protest would be to refuse to play any Israeli club, risking expulsion from the tournament, as the club did under Bob Kelly when he took his stand against Warsaw Pact nations who had crushed the Prague Spring?

Why aren't they calling for that? Is it because Celtic being deprived of European football is too high a price to pay to save the Palestinians?

Where are the protests against Celtic's involvement in the International Champions Cup, given that it is an American tournament? The US is the greatest sponsor Israel has, without whose support, the IDF could not defend its country, never mind act with impunity in oppressing the Palestinians.

Why should we tolerate dealings with companies from the country that has done more to spread terror across the Middle-East and Latin America than any other?

Would it be too inconvenient to target American institutions? Would the costs to the club be “too high a price to pay”?

And who do these people think they are to dictate the exact nature that any protest must take?

Why can't they buy their tickets and refuse to take their seats, for example? They could have a public ceremony – away from the ground – burning their tickets, which would surely draw media attention.

They could raise funds for Gaza, take the opportunity to start a campaign to place pressure on UEFA and FIFA to expel the Israeli Football Association from its competitions, unless attacks on Palestinian players end.

There are a million causes and that of the Palestinians is one of those most deserving of support. That said, there are as many ways of supporting the people of that region as there are people there.

A pointless banner or flag-waving exercise that brings the club closer to the closure of a stand – depriving the team of support and fellow fans the opportunity to attend European games – will not achieve anything.

If someone can tell me or anyone else just why the above statement is wrong, please let them do so.

And before Wednesday – I'd quite like to watch the game.
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Celtic fans STUC for a protest?

There are few things as irksome as being told what to do – especially when it is potentially damaging – by people who have no interest in your welfare.

Yet in an unprecedented intervention in the affairs of Celtic, the Scottish Trades Union Congress has taken it upon itself to urge Celtic supporters to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinians at a European match, a probable breach of UEFA rules. And they'll supply the flags.

Now you might ask yourself some questions:

• Why are Celtic fans being honoured with this task when, for example, there was no such call for the hordes of R-word fans to do so against Maccabi Haifa in 2006?

• What exactly have Hapoel Tel-Aviv done to deserve to be taunted by Celtic fans only two months after the surely uncomfortable experience of having to play the German Nazis' favourite club, SV Hamburg, in Germany?

• Given that Hapoel are arguably the most socially progressive football club in Israel, doesn't directing proxy protests at them, purely because of their nation of origin, simply amount to racism?

• Where has the STUC's interest in football been when Irish Celtic fans have been subjected to the most abject racism, which has on several occasions precipitated the sectarian murders of Celtic fans?

Actually, there is a good answer to the latter point. Seven days before the Scottish unions' umbrella organisation announced that it was using its funds – contributed through union membership fees – to buy flags, they produced a report on sectarianism, an issue often thought to have been largely disregarded by the Scottish trades union movement.

The study makes interesting reading. It highlights overwhelming instances of Catholics (and a smaller number of Protestants) being disadvantaged in the workplace; it points to the damaging effects of sectarianism in football, noting certain songs by our lesser rivals; and it concedes that at national and workplace levels, Scottish unions have done little or nothing about it.

For the record, I am as staunchly anti-Zionist as are the most orthodox Jews. I sympathise with the Palestinian cause and the international cowards' conspiracy that disregards their human rights and I also sympathise with those Israelis who are targeted by rocket attacks while they sleep in their beds.

But there are appropriate occasions for protests and methods of displaying solidarity. Staging a puppet show at the behest of outsiders who have little regard for our club, and at the expense of those who have wronged no one is not one of those occasions.

We have our own problems to concern us regarding performances in a group that had one old antagonist and in which we found a new one. Neither was Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

PS Fans attending the match should watch out for idiots intent on encroaching on the field of play, which would surely see our club punished severely.





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