The Ibdaa Cultural Center in Bethlehem’s Al-Duheisha refugee camp organized an activity to support the Scottish Celtic Football Club after the club waved Palestinian flags during an international playoff game for qualification for the UEFA Champions League tournament against the Israeli Hapoel Beersheba club almost two weeks ago.
Hundreds of children gathered to support the Scottish football club, following a decision by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to impose a fine on the club for its actions.
Some of the children donated their daily allowances as a show of solidarity to help the club pay the fine.
The Celtic support continue to show what we stand for.
And who we stand with. https://t.co/GeBsu5huZp #MatchTheFineforPalestine— cswwcsa (@cswwcsa) August 21, 2016
“When someone is representing Israeli state institutions, it is sadly never merely a game,” a statement by the group Celtic Fans for Palestine, which organized the event on social media, read ahead of the game.
It continued: “Football, UEFA and Celtic F.C. are being used to whitewash Israel’s true nature and give this rogue state an air of normality and acceptance it should not and cannot enjoy until its impunity ends and it is answerable to international law and faces sanctions for the countless UN resolutions it had breached.”
As symbolic gesture, Palestinian children of Dheisha Refugee Camp donated their pocket money to help pay Celtic fine pic.twitter.com/Jm4dpeLO3C
— Palestine Video (@PalestineVideo) August 30, 2016
The statement was clear in its solidarity with Palestine: “Until there is end to the brutal occupation and medieval siege of the West Bank and Gaza, until the Palestinian citizens of current day Israel have the chains of apartheid lifted from them and until all Palestinian refugees are allowed to return to their homeland, we will always be visually and openly in support of the Palestinians and opposed to their Israeli colonizers and oppressors.”
It concluded with a message to all Palestinians: “We are with you Palestine. You will never walk alone.”
(MA’AN, PC)
