Lajee Celtic: 10 Years of a Palestine Football Club That Became a Global Symbol of Solidarity

London, United Kingdom – Nearly 200 people gathered at Edami, a small Lebanese bakery in east London, to mark a decade of Lajee Celtic – a grassroots sports club based in a Palestine refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

What began as just a football project has become an international symbol of solidarity. At the anniversary celebration, the room was filled with Palestine flags, the scent of freshly baked manousheh from Edami and Lajee Celtic shirts – once worn by stars such as football legend Eric Cantona and actress Hannah Einbinder.

Martin, an organiser with Lajee Celtic, travelled from Glasgow to London for the September celebration. He first visited the Aida camp in the West Bank more than 10 years ago, a trip he describes as having changed his life.

“I don't think anyone could have imagined the project would be this successful,” said Martin, who asked to be identified by first name only. “But Celtic is a unique football club with a foundation, an Irish identity, a diaspora community, global support and values that bind it all together.”

The relationship between the Aida camp, where Lajee is based, and Celtic supporters has grown over the years. Mohammed al-Azzeh, director of the Lajee Centre – which provides services for young people in the camp – recalled the beginnings.

“We built a relationship with friends from Scotland and Ireland who came to visit Palestine, and then in 2012, I came to Glasgow for the first time. We started discussing setting up a football academy,” he said.

By 2015, the idea began to take shape when a group of players from the camp travelled to Belfast to play. Then came the 2016 Champions League draw, when Celtic were paired with Israel's Hapoel Be'er Sheva. Fans ignored warnings that displaying the Palestine flag could lead to sanctions. When the two teams took the field, the stadium turned into a sea of Palestine flags, an action led by Celtic's Green Brigade supporters group. UEFA subsequently fined Celtic.

In response, the Green Brigade launched the Match The Fine For Palestine campaign – not to pay the fine but to support Palestinian organisations, including the establishment of a football academy in the Aida camp. For al-Azzeh, that was the turning point.

“The support and solidarity in that match was truly the pivotal moment. And it is ultimately what led to Lajee Celtic as it is today,” he said.

The team has brought together Palestinian youth from villages around Bethlehem, refugee camps and communities in Hebron and Jerusalem. “For us, as Palestinians, being in one place and meeting each other means a great deal. It goes far beyond just playing football,” al-Azzeh said.

Lajee Celtic took part in organised football for the first time. The club was due to join the Palestine championship three years ago, but the league was cancelled when Israel's genocidal war in Gaza began. Today, despite travel restrictions between Palestinian cities and the wider disruption to football, the club has taken part in the Thousand Martyrs Cup, a tournament named in memory of the 1,014 athletes killed in Gaza since October 2023.

Bassil Mikdadi, a journalist and founder of Football Palestine, argues that the international reach has given Lajee Celtic a significance beyond the club itself. “Lajee Celtic is a model for how supporters of European clubs can directly support those in Palestine. It is connective tissue,” he said.

For Martin, the popular shirts are not merely merchandise. “When people buy a shirt, they know the money is funding football, sport and youth development in Palestine. Then when they wear it, whether in Glasgow, London or New York, each person is carrying out their own act of solidarity.”

Lajee Celtic has built bridges between clubs and communities in Palestine and supporters and campaigners abroad. “It is solidarity that is cross-cultural, cross-border,” Martin said.

That link has become increasingly important as Palestinian football has struggled to sustain itself since the genocide in Gaza. For Mikdadi, the survival of grassroots clubs is essential: they are the foundation for the national team. “The success of the Palestine national team in recent years… the basis of that success has always been players provided by clubs in the West Bank and Gaza,” he said.

The club's ambitions go beyond football. It has expanded into sports such as boxing and table tennis, and created opportunities for Palestinian youth across Palestine and the diaspora. “Fundraising campaigns come and go. But when you create a football club and have a tangible idea at its centre, you are creating a journey,” Martin said.

Mohammed al-Azzeh recalled a meaningful memory on a beach in Cape Town, South Africa, where the team played two friendly matches in 2025. Samir al-Amir, a coordinator with Lajee Celtic, had spent more than 19 years in Israeli prisons. When he travelled with the team to South Africa, it was the first time he had been able to leave the walls and checkpoints of the West Bank.

Al-Azzeh remembers him on the beach. “He behaved like a little boy because it was the first time he had seen the sea. Without Lajee Celtic, I am not sure Samir would have had that opportunity. That shows how important the project is,” he said.