Palestine ambassador given VIP tour of Celtic Park

[ian1964 10,431]

Palestine ambassador given VIP tour of Celtic Park as he thanks fans for ‘unwavering support for our cause’

Hoops supporters raised £176,000 for Palestinian charities in 2016 after the Scottish champions were fined by Uefa for a huge fan-demonstration against Israeli side Hapoel Beer Sheva.

A PALESTINE ambassador was given a VIP tour of Celtic Park as he thanked Hoops fans for their incredible crowdfunding efforts three years ago.

Dr Husam Zomlot touched down in Scotland this week for the first time since taking his new role as Palestine's head of mission to the UK.

In 2016, the Scottish champions were fined £8,000 for a huge pro-Palestine fan demonstration against Israeli outfit Hapoel Beer Sheva.

But the charge was dwarfed by the £176,000 raised online for Middle East charities in a bid by fans to match what they thought would be a far harder hit.

And Mr Zomlot paid homage to the extraordinary sum raised by thanking the club and its supporters today during a trip to the stadium.

A tweet from the Palestine in the UK Twitter account read: "H.E. Dr @hzomlot visited today @CelticFC to deliver a message of thanks from the Palestinian people to the club and Celtic fans for #Palestine for their wholehearted and unwavering support for our cause. #YoullNeverWalkAlone".

The Celtic fans campaign was backed by Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters in 2016, who played a montage of pictures of the Green Brigade waving Palestinian flags during one of his packed out concerts.

The music icon said at the time: "Thousands of Celtic supporters turned up, they carried Palestinian flags and banners.

“Uefa, in its incredible imbecility decided to fine Celtic for that display of inappropriate images and banners.

“So the supporters banded together, great Glaswegians that they are, and said, ‘We’re not having that’

“They started a fund that was called ‘match the fine’ and they distributed it to Palestinian charities.

“Good on you Celtic supporters, I’m an Arsenal supporter myself, but in this particular instance I’m with you all the way.”

Meanwhile the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Eva Bolander, also met up with Mr Zomlot during the first part of his Scotland visit.

She tweeted: "Pleasure to welcome the UK's #Palestinian Ambassador Dr Husam Zomlot @hzomlot to the City Chambers on the first leg of his Scottish tour where we talked about the twinning arrangement between Glasgow and Bethlehem and our future plans. #twincities".

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/3968025/palestine-ambassador-celtic-park-vip-tour/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1551980538

[Bill 13,717]

I can think of few people the world would miss less than the Palestinians.

[Scott7 5,225]

I expect that tims align with Hamas rather than Fatah so twinning with Bethlehem will be problematic.

[compo 6,209]

Wee bit off topic  but I remember Alexi Kosygin attending  the Rangers playing.playing Kilmarnock at   rugby park  turned out the Russian was a wee bit of a Rangers fan .

[buster. 4,808]

13 hours ago, Bill said:

I can think of few people the world would miss less than the Palestinians.

I don't think we'd miss those who advocate genocide.

 

A bivvy on Rockall with no internet connection would suffice.

[Bill 13,717]

This is the equivalent of the IRA leadership visiting Parkhead to thank the Bheast FC for its wholehearted support over the last 50 years

[Uilleam 5,468]

6 minutes ago, Bill said:

This is the equivalent of the IRA leadership visiting Parkhead to thank the Bheast FC for its wholehearted support over the last 50 years

The Palestinians are that bad?

[buster. 4,808]

17 minutes ago, Bill said:

This is the equivalent of the IRA leadership visiting Parkhead to thank the Bheast FC for its wholehearted support over the last 50 years

No it isn't.

 

Celtic supporters raising a fair bit of money for Palestinian charities deserves praise. 

To say their people get a raw deal on various levels is putting it very mildly.

 

It was the Palesinian representative who visited Parkhead, not a terrorist.

[Gonzo79 13,736]

43 minutes ago, buster. said:

Celtic supporters raising a fair bit of money for Palestinian charities deserves praise. 

Maybe they should do a collection for those their club's hierarchy turned a blind eye to the abuse of for several decades.

[buster. 4,808]

19 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Maybe they should do a collection for those their club's hierarchy turned a blind eye to the abuse of for several decades.

Maybe you shouldn't preach to people what to do with their money #freedom