Israeli police on alert ahead of Celtic match

The Parkhead club have been punished eight times in five seasons by the European governing body for supporter misconduct and face further sanctions when the case is dealt with on September 22.

The Scottish football team Celtic Glasgow has won praise after its fans flew Palestinian flags during a Champions League match against Israel’s Hapoel Beersheba on Wednesday, in which the Israeli team was defeated 5 to 2.

Campaigners planned to donate the funds raised to Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) and the Lajee centre, a Palestinian creative cultural children’s centre in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem.

It was a symbol of solidarity and support that was felt right throughout the world.

The idea came about as they tried to match the fine set to be handed to them by UEFA for waving Palestine flags during the club’s clash with Hapoel Be’er Sheva last week.

Celtic – who play Hapoel in the return leg on Tuesday – were fined £15000 in 2014 for flying a Palestinian flag at a Champions League game against an Icelandic side.

February 2016: The use of pyrotechnics again lands Celtic in trouble as they receive a £10,000 fine following a Europa League tie with Fenerbahce in Istanbul – although a portion of this is related to the “improper conduct” of the team.

UEFA said the charges against Celtic were over the alleged “display of an illicit banner”, which contravened rules on the politicalisation of football.

In response to what the group calls a “petty and politically partisan act” by UEFA, Celtic fans remain determined to make a positive contribution to the game.

“The police will ensure that the match is a professional event and not political”, said an Israeli police spokesman ominously. “The flags would of course be taken off them”, he told the Daily Record.

‘It is not illegal to have a Palestinian flag in Israel but provocation by fans of either side is and we will not tolerate it.

So when you get a stadium full of football fans displaying a collective social conscience over the plight of a group of people thousands of miles away, I’d say yes, indeed the times are a-changin’ and for the better.

While the stands became a political staging ground, the game itself saw Celtic run out 5-2 winners in the first-leg of the crucial Champions League play-off, with the victor over two games heading into the elite European tournament’s group stages.