London, United Kingdom – Nearly 200 people packed into Edami, a small Lebanese bakery in east London, to celebrate a decade of Lajee Celtic, a grassroots sports club based in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. What began as a football project has grown into an international symbol of solidarity. In London, the room was filled with Palestinian flags, the aroma of Edami’s freshly baked manousheh, and Lajee Celtic shirts – which have been worn by celebrities, including football icon Eric Cantona and the actor Hannah Einbinder.
Martin, a Lajee Celtic organiser, travelled down from Glasgow for the celebration in September. He first visited Aida Camp, in the occupied West Bank, more than 10 years ago, a trip he described as life-changing. Mohammed al-Azzeh, director of the Lajee Centre, which provides services to the youth of the camp, remembers how it all began.
We started to have conversations about creating a football academy,” he recalled. By 2015, the idea was taking shape when a group of footballers from the camp travelled to Belfast to play a game. Then came the 2016 Champions League draw.
Celtic were paired with Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva. Supporters ignored warnings that displaying Palestinian flags could result in a fine. As the teams emerged, the stadium was transformed into a sea of Palestinian flags, an action led by Celtic ultras, the Green Brigade.
The Green Brigade responded by launching the Match The Fine For Palestine campaign. Not to pay the fine, but to support Palestinian organisations, including with the formation of a football academy in Aida Camp. The club had been due to enter the Palestinian league three years ago, but the competition was cancelled when Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza began.
Now, despite restrictions on movement between Palestinian cities and the wider disruption to football, the club has entered the Thousand Martyrs Cup, named after the 1,014 athletes killed in Gaza since October 2023. Bassil Mikdadi, journalist and founder of Football Palestine, said that international reach has given Lajee Celtic a significance beyond the club itself. It’s connective tissue,” he said.
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