Ross Greer, Green MSP for the West of Scotland, backs Celtic fans' public display of support for Palestine at their recent Champions' League qualifier.

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In September 1961 South Africa was suspended by FIFA for its apartheid policies and refusal to field black players.

That same year they were forced to leave the Commonwealth and thus the Commonwealth Games.

Following these decisions they were excluded from the 1964 and 1968 Olympics before being expelled entirely from the Olympics in 1970.

South Africa under apartheid was the subject of an international campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions, acts of solidarity with Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress, who were fighting their oppressors inside the country (whilst the UK and many other governments called them terrorists).

So when fans at Celtic’s game against Hapoel Be'er Sheva this month were accused of ‘bringing politics in to football’, it was by people who didn’t realise that by an Israeli team even being in the tournament politics was already unavoidably there.

Israel uses football as a weapon against the Palestinian people.

Young Palestinian players are shot in the feet by Israeli security forces on their way home from training, the national team have to forfeit games because they are not permitted to leave by the Israeli government and their own internal tournaments are often put on hold by Israel’s blocking of travel between the two parts of Palestine.

Which is why the simple act of flying Palestine’s flag was so powerful. It meant so much to Palestinians to see that their struggle is not forgotten, that others stand with them. Israel’s actions mean there’s almost no chance of a Palestinian team playing in Scotland any time soon but their suffering isn’t forgotten.

And what was the result of this act of solidarity? Hundreds of Palestinians took to Twitter to thank the fans for standing with them, in a week where the Israeli air force resumed its bombing of the Gaza strip but it didn’t end there.

UEFA has announced that it will fine the club for breaking its rules on political displays. In response, fans have started #MatchTheFineForPalestine, a crowdfund to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestine and for the Lajee Centre at Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem.

The fine will likely be in the low five figures but the fund has already raised more than £150,000, which is just incredible.

Politics doesn’t belong everywhere, but when Palestine’s very existence is under threat, we all have a duty to stand with them.