Fly the flag for Palestine and some friendly advice for Green Brigade

On the eve of Celtic’s Champions League match against Atletico Madrid at Celtic Park, the Green Brigade have released their latest communique concerning their planned Palestine flag protest and also on their ongoing ticket dispute with Celtic after the club removed their access to away tickets ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tynecastle.

Here’s the update Green Brigade released this evening, which started with a re-cap on what happened the last time they had a Palestine flag protest and how it’s success meant that then Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell had to rethink his plan to close them down inside the stadium, claiming that Lawwell told them that they were ‘finished’.

“In 2016, Celtic fans faced pressure and intimidation before flying the flag for Palestine. In the aftermath, Peter Lawwell advised us that we were “finished” – it was only the widespread positive reaction and subsequent fundraising which deterred the Celtic Board from banning us.

“The legacy of those events is Aida Celtic, a project which we are deeply proud of, entrenches our connection with Palestine and epitomises the ethos of Celtic Football Club.

“Today, we are in familiar territory and already being sanctioned by the Board. Currently, hundreds of fans are suspended from away matches due to an association with the Green Brigade; despite receiving no correspondence, no allegations, nor any detail regarding any investigatory process.

“The suspension was communicated to the Green Brigade on Friday (27/10) afternoon ahead of the Hearts match on Sunday afternoon (29/10) despite alleged concerns dating back four weeks. In addition to this, the Green Brigade face further restrictions at Celtic Park designed to impede on our support and use of our standard matchday materials. We are determined to overcome these and provide full backing for the team as always.

“Despite disingenuous claims, we have absolutely no doubt that these sanctions are motivated by a desire to quash political expression within the Celtic support, specifically in relation to Palestine at this time.

“In spite of this, and any further obstruction, we once again encourage fans to courageously fly the flag for Palestine. For those unable to obtain a flag, the Green Brigade will distribute thousands of flags outside the stadium.

“While it would be easier to distribute flags inside, we are prohibited from bringing the flags into the stadium. We respect the right of all fans who wish not to participate in such an action, however equally we ask that the same respect and freedom is afforded to all fans who do.”

While the entire focus should be on the pitch there is no doubt that this side-show is going to attract widespread media attention around the world. The Green Brigade’s outcome back in 2016, according to their statement this evening, was positive and therefore saved them from a ban – either temporary of permanent. They must be hoping to achieve a similar outcome this time around so the stakes are high.

Celtic have insisted that their away ticket decision has nothing whatsoever to do with the flag protest but everything to do with the behaviour at away games including trying to force open a fire exit to allow ticketless supporters to gain entry (at Fir Park) and the usual pyrotechnics issue which costs the club around £20k every single time with the latest punishment relating to the match against Feyenoord in Rotterdam.

We reported ahead of the Lazio game that UEFA may be tiring of trying to resolve the pyros issue at Celtic with fines and a section of the stadium could be closed for a European match, presumably against Feyenoord if there are more charges coming Celtic’s way. Indeed we may even be at that stage after pyros where displayed by Celtic supporters at the Lazio game but there were none in the away end.

Celtic quite understandably complain about an attempt by the Green Brigade to break into Celtic Park ahead of the match against Lazio and have reports from their stewards of receiving threats while staff member have complained of being on the wrong end of abusive behaviour from the Celtic ultras.

Yet Celtic have insisted all week that they are NOT frustrating or trying to prevent the planned Palestine flag protest tomorrow night and have NOT banned the Green Brigade from the stadium.

If the Green Brigade are NOT allowed access to the stadium in advance to lay-out the flags on seats then that is hardly surprising given the state of the relationship between parties and also because Celtic have a duty to all supporters and not just the ones who agree with the Green Brigade.

The Palestine flags can be distributed outside the stadium, just as they were on Sunday in Edinburgh, and supporters have their own decision to make, a choice the Green Brigade respects, as indeed does Celtic. So at least there is agreement there.

Any additional banners, especially if anything near as controversial as the last one, or any use of pyrotechnics will surely mean that the Green Brigade will be heading towards the Celtic Park exit doors and it could be a long time before they are allowed back in.

It’s easy to paint this as The Big Bad Celtic Board v The Ultras and to be fair that usually works. It’s a tried a tested successful strategy. But the Green Brigade are surely well aware that they have outraged a large number of Celtic supporters and that is apparent from the number of comments and posts across the internet since their banner display against Kilmarnock.

If it becomes the wider Celtic support v The Green Brigade then there is only going to be one winner in that contest. The Green Brigade tend not to listen to other supporters or Celtic fan media sites but as someone who appreciates what they bring to Celtic matches home and away, I’d urge them to fly the Palestine flags tomorrow night and be happy with that.

Forget about banners, forget about pyros and concentrate on making headlines across the world then backing the team like the rest of us.

If they go further then they are on an inevitable collision course with both Celtic and UEFA and the outcome they say they avoided in 2016 might be coming their way sooner than they might think and at a time when they are hardly the flavour of the month with so many Celtic supporters.

The wider Celtic support might regard that as the most favourable outcome too if the Green Brigade go too far tomorrow night. So do as you say and Fly the flag for Palestine.