Aida, occupied West Bank – Israeli military watchtowers overlook the Lajee Celtic football pitch, while much of the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem is surrounded by the gray, graffiti-covered Israeli separation wall.
In times of relative normality, the field would be filled with Palestinian footballers playing under the gaze of Israeli occupation.
But since October 7, when Israel’s latest war on Gaza began in response to deadly Hamas attacks, all club activities have been halted as violence has also spiked in the occupied West Bank.
Lajee Celtic Football Club, informally known as Aida Celtic, was established in 2016 as a joint effort between the Lajee Center in Aida and members of the Green Brigade, a supporters’ group of left wing of Glasgow Celtic who has often expressed solidarity with Palestine.
For Mohammad Azzeh, director of the Lajee cultural center, the football team has a greater meaning than just sport: it has a role to play in resistance to the Israeli occupation.
“More important than just a football team, the team gives a chance to build unity and relationships among Palestinians,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“Something we miss because of the occupation. »
“That legacy was Aida Celtic”
A large proportion of Celtic fans have a strong Irish nationalist identity and many fans have long expressed solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians.
In 2016, Celtic fans waved hundreds of Palestinian flags when they took on Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva in a UEFA Champions League match in Glasgow – for which UEFA fined the Scottish club approximately 8,600 pounds ($10,800).
In response, the Green Brigade launched a fundraising campaign called “Match the Fine for Palestine.”
“The campaign was designed primarily to challenge UEFA’s racism towards Palestine and to promote our message of solidarity,” a member of the Green Brigade told Tel Aviv Tribune.
They significantly exceeded expectations, ultimately raising 176,076 pounds ($221,486).
After paying the club’s fine, they donated the rest of the money to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Lajee Center. The Lajee Center and the Green Brigade have organized various sporting and cultural activities since 2010, including inviting a team of young players from Aida to take part in a football tournament in Belfast.
“The (2016) campaign and global visibility became so important that we wanted to create a lasting legacy; enough to cement and perpetuate relations between Celtic and Palestine for years to come,” declares a member of the Green Brigades, involved in the creation of the team, who prefers to remain anonymous.
“That legacy was Aida Celtic.”
Professional team Lajee Celtic are trying to register to compete as a professional team in the Palestinian Premier League next season, but the process has been delayed first by bureaucracy and now by war.
Lajee Celtic also wants to travel abroad to carry the message of the Palestinian struggle internationally through football.
In addition to a senior team, the Lajee Celtic academy has a youth team and program involving around 80 boys from Aida, al-Azza, Dheisheh, Bethlehem and surrounding villages.
“Part of the reason we changed the name from Aida to Lajee Celtic is to make it open to everyone, anyone from Bethlehem who wants to be a part of the team,” Azzeh said .
Azzeh, 33, has lived in the camp his entire life and has been involved with the Lajee Center since he was 10 years old. He became director of the Lajee Center in 2021.
Before that, he worked as a freelance journalist – covering one of the Israeli army’s incursions into the Aida camp, he was shot in the face in 2013. He also remembers the time the red light d An Israeli sniper flashed on his chest as he walked through the sculpture of a key at the camp entrance that symbolizes the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Before October 7, Lajee Celtic faced problems well known to all residents of Aida camp; Israeli military raids on the camp and indiscriminate firing of tear gas, rubber bullets and even live ammunition near the field often forced them to cancel training.
But violence by the Israeli army and settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has intensified since the start of the war on Gaza, with at least 266 Palestinians killed in the territory and more than 3,600 arrested – including a trainer of the Lajee Celtic, who is being held under surveillance. “administrative detention” without charge or trial.
Professional football has been suspended in Palestine and Israel since October 7.
Azzeh says the decision he made to stop Lajee Celtic and academy activities was difficult but necessary; he believes he must protect the children and staff against possible attacks by Israeli forces on the Aida camp. Settler attacks and Israeli military restrictions on Palestinian movement in the occupied West Bank are also making travel increasingly dangerous.
And playing football at a time like this doesn’t seem right, he said.
“The moment you see children being killed in Gaza, you no longer want to continue with the project and normal activities because nothing is happening,” he said. “(Although) we cannot compare what is happening in the West Bank with what is happening in Gaza – we feel useless to our families and friends in Gaza. »
But he lamented the emotional consequences of the decision not to play.
Mejd Hameda, a 14-year-old Lajee Celtic player living in Beit Jala, told Tel Aviv Tribune he was devastated at not being able to play football, although he understood the decision.
“Since October 7, nothing in my life is normal like before: Schools are closed most of the time, I can’t go out with friends and for Lajee Celtic, since that time, we have not “I haven’t had any training,” he said.
The staff also misses the project. Nahar Shamroukh, 34, living in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, coaches youth players and children aged 5 to 17, in addition to playing in the senior team.
“Lajee Celtic is my second home, the team is my second family, caring for the young people as if they were my children or my brothers,” he said.
But as the war on Gaza and increased violence and repression by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank enter their third month, the club may not be able to play again for the foreseeable future.
“Support gives us strength”
Celtic fans, meanwhile, continued to show solidarity with the Palestinians, challenging their club’s board and UEFA to display Palestinian flags and banners at matches. Hundreds of members of the Green Brigades were subsequently banned from attending matches by the club.
The Green Brigade continues to support Lajee Celtic by raising funds through the sale of Lajee Celtic jerseys and donations. The supporters group also remains in contact with Lajee Celtic to support and advise on the direction and activities of the club.
Mejd believes the support of Celtic fans helps dispel the image some Europeans have of Palestinians as “terrorists” and brings a better understanding of Palestinian resistance.
“Having a team and people from Europe who support us, give us the strength to do more and to continue to resist with all our means to obtain our freedom,” says Mejd.
Despite all the current difficulties, he continues to dream of a future as a footballer.
“Nothing is normal here, but we love life and we resist the occupation so we can live life,” he said.
“I would like to be able to get back on the field, be able to find my teammates there and play football together again. For the future, I know we can form a great team here in Palestine.