EDINBURGH – Fans of Scotland’s Celtic club turned the stadium in to a sea of Palestinian flags during a Champions League playoff match against Israel’s Hapoel Be’er Sheva, defying Union of European Football Associations’ rules to show support to the Palestinian people against Israeli occupation.

The protest was organized on Facebook via an event page entitled “Fly the flag for Palestine, for Celtic, for Justice,” with more than 1,000 people saying they were attending.

The activists also urged UEFA to join their cause and not support Israel and its policies.

“When someone is representing Israeli state institutions it is sadly never merely a game; football, UEFA, and Celtic FC are being used to whitewash Israel’s true nature and give this rogue state an air of normality and acceptance it should not and cannot enjoy until it’s impunity ends and it is answerable to international law and faces sanctions for the countless UN resolutions it had breached,” the group said on Facebook.

The event called on Celtic fans to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, and what the group called “Israeli apartheid, settler colonialism, and countless massacres of the Palestinian people.”

The event was applauded on social media, with Respect party leader, George Galloway, sharing the video on his Facebook page.

“The defiance by ‪#‎Celtic fans, of UEFA & Scottish Authorities, will live forever, in the hearts of all who stand for justice ‪#‎Palestine,” he wrote.

UEFA fined Celtic two years ago when fans waved Palestinian flags at a game against Iceland’s KR Reykjavik. UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Committee took action based on Article 16 (2) (e), which forbids political, ideological and religious messages at sports events.