Over forty years ago, I remarked to some SNP folk in Glasgow that their constitutional project would be centre stage in Fair Caledonia one day.
It was clear that they wanted to believe me, but the idea of Scottish independence seemed a remote possibility in Thatcher’s Britain.
They were indeed true believers in their country’s identity, and it was self-evident that membership in the SNP was NOT a vehicle to a comfortable career in those days.
However, I stated to them when the independence question was front and centre of Scottish politics, people in London would have local allies to call on.
For me, as an Irish Republican, it was crushingly obvious that the Ibrox klanbase could provide a ready-made pro-union cohort if it were needed.
I was reminded of this conversation when a buddy sent me this piece from the Scottish Daily Express last night.
I’ve read it so you don’t have to, and here is the best bit:
“In recent years, SNP politicians probably find themselves more at home at Parkhead where Palestinian flags have become as common as the green and white hoops. While a section of Celtic fans use the club as a vehicle for their politics, Rangers supporters are much less inclined to equate their football club with their views of the world.”
Ok, ok, let’s have that again:
“Rangers supporters are much less inclined to equate their football club with their views of the world.”
Dear reader, if I put that into a novel as a line of dialogue, it would look ridiculous.
Apart from their core belief in anti-Irish racism, there is the weaponising of the war dead with Poppy porn.
As some readers will know, I laid out this scenario in the plot of Native Shore.
For anyone au fait with British black ops in Ireland, it will not seem so fanciful.
Unlike many in the Scottish political firmament, Humza Yousaf has not been squeamish in accurately calling out one of Scotland’s oldest ethnic hatreds.
One of the good guys.
The continual lack of decent spelling in the previous comments is truly shocking. HH.
Not everyone has had the benefit of good schooling (or a settled home life) and some aren’t so blessed in the memory department when it comes to retention of said schooling even when they have received it.
What matters most in a comment section is the content and contextual point not grammatical excellence.
After all nobody dyed.
It’s funny how those on The Right use “Woke” as an insult and I take it as a compliment.
I’m afraid that the original story from the ailing Scottish Express is nothing more than “click bait” and should be ignored.
Anyway, I’m sure that a large majority of their “readers” don’t actually read these articles and just look at the pictures.
Hail and Hail again!
you’ve poked the bear Phil
Sorry I missed out 208. A man must not have sexual relationships with a man and 209. A man must not have sexual relationships with an animal.
Murphy I am not implying you are inferring
Is that nuanced enough for you
Please re read the article
I’ve read the article.
My view remains the same.
Why would me rereading the article alter it?
You don’t have to agree with me, but I suspect, with the passing of time, you secretly will.
I don’t believe there is any winners in the Palestine /Israeli conflict only losers and worst of all victims of circumstance.
On one ja d we have a people who claim Sovereignty because their Holy Book claimed it Millennia before Palestine ever existed.
Secondly we have a people who claim Sovereignty over the Land because they existed before the Israelites were promised it in their own Books and teachings.
Well here’s a quote from a former PLO Leader from Syria Zuheir Mohsen:
“The Palestinian people does not exist … there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese there are no differences. We are all part of one people, the Arab nation. Just for political reasons we carefully underwrite our Palestinian identity. Because it is of national interest for the Arabs to advocate the existence of Palestinians to balance Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons.Once we have acquired all our rights in all of Palestine, we must not delay for a moment the reunification of Jordan and Palestine.
Here are two key Surah from the Holy Quran :
Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:20
When Moses said to his people, “O my people, remember God’s blessings upon you, when He placed prophets among you, and made you kings, and gave you what He never gave any other people.”
Surah Al-Ma’Idah 5:21
“O my people, enter the Holy Land which God has assigned for you, and do not turn back, lest you return as losers.”
These two pieces of information would tend to back the claims of the former whilst put the claims of the latter under real scrutiny.
Meanwhile the body count rises and innocents continue to die on both sides.
I don’t get the flag waving on either side of the divide in Glasgow it totally reeks of the old adage my enemy of my enemy is my friend.
None of it will change a damn thing unfortunately as this argument has raged for way longer that either side of the didvide in Glasgow and will continue to do so until both sides can have a rational debate about the known facts rather than the wrongly perceived truths we have at present.
No side is without blame and both sides are blinded by hatred.
You could summarise that by saying, “my imaginary friend is better than your imaginary friend”.
Jesus was real and Israel was real.
Proven by historical fact.
Palestine was made up for political aims.
Firstly by Rome and now by the Arab Nations as confirmed by the former leader of a faction of the Syrian PLO.
The fact you choose not to believe in God or Gods wishes doesn’t alter the fact most of those directly concerned do.
The problem is one side is choosing to ignore their own teachings on the matter who has claim to these lands whilst denying those that do that right to do so.
This does not however absolve Israel of any of its crimes against them or God for that matter.
Of which there have been many historically and up to these days.
Dialogue should be the answer but a dialogue based on the facts on not political aims or ideology.
That mythical guy in the sky again. 90% of all buildings/infrastructure/hospitals in Gaza reduced to rubble. It’s called ethnic cleansing. Israel has cast it’s eye over its landgrab plan, it won’t stop there. Backed by the American military industrial complex it will bombat will.
That mythical being as you call it is the reason why there have been peoples and empires fighting over these lands for millennia.
To dismiss God in all of this is to dismiss yourself from the debate in the first place.
This place has been reduced to rubble many times unfortunately as it has been invaded over 40 times since the Israelites entered it.
By Gods command.
Here’s a list of a few other inconvenient commands which the idf planters conveniently ignore:
33. Not to murder
35. Not to kidnap
36. Not to testify falsely
37. Not to covet and scheme to acquire another’s possession
64. Not to oppress the weak
128. Return the robbed object or its value
225. Not to steal money stealthily
227. Not to rob openly
242. Not to take revenge
518. Not to move a boundary marker to steal someone’s property
527. Not to destroy food trees even during the siege
Any scope for accepting The Canaanites were the original Southern Levantine inhabitants, from whom The Nation of Palestine are descendents?
The whole issue stems from a genocidal wish to eradicate The Canaanites from their ancient pre-biblical lands through applying false and inhumane logic that is illegal under 21c international law.
And God willing of which they will be held accountable for when the time comes.
The whole issue stems from people who claim to believe in the Word and Commands of God simultaneously ignoring his Word and Commands to further their own agendas.
Israel has offered solutions to their Leaders previously but they in their own wisdom chose to completely reject any proposal that includes Jews inhabiting a region that they deem as their own.
I don’t condone a single aspect of what Israel has done past or present in regards the killing of innocents or the oppression of any people that’s not my point.
I do however acknowledge the wishes of the God who sent them there in exile from their own bondage of slavery in Egypt.
As any Christian should.
Their right to be there is only questioned by those who refuse to accept the Word of God.
Jesus a Jew after all was born in Judea not Palestine or Canaan.
What an absolute load of mince.
And the only reason anyone is waving the Palestine flag on “this side” is in solidarity with a people yearning for freedom from subjugation and atrocity
Absolute nonsense. That guy was considered an outlier by everyone in the PLO.
If you want an accurate lie of the land, relevant to today, rather than quoting guys making bullshit comments 47 years ago, why not quote the current Israeli extremist cabinet & their unapologetically genocidal comments?
Stop trying to ‘both sides’ a genocide by pretending you have some unique insight.
It’s an illegal occupation, by an apartheid regime, with illegal settlers, illegally stealing land, and keeping a whole population in an open prison and just casually murdering whoever they feel like.
Your gaslighting is frankly disgusting.
Yes because he dared to speak the truth about Palestine.
Now you’ve attempted to dismiss his claims what about the Quran?
After all it’s this book most of the Arab World adheres to when it comes to life.
Should that be dismissed because some fitba fan in the West decided it doesn’t happen to conform with his version of events?
The whole thing revolves around religion yet both versions comfirm it belongs to Israel.
That should be the start point and as far as I am aware Israel has offered a solution previously which has been rejected by the other side.
Apartheid is anti-human.
Netanyahu is this century’s most heinous figure. A callous child killer & inveterate liar.
Anyone with a scintilla of decency would be repulsed by him, & by apartheid.
Both-sidesism is enabling.
Conquer and divide, that is how the ruling classes survive. In the early twentieth century the Irish diaspora were seen as an ‘ infestation’ on Scotland by the very Church of Scotland.
Now it continues with the new arrivals. Similarly the Middle East confrontation only benefits the arms suppliers, I think the U.K. is one of these.
The so called media sell a viewpoint provided by their masters and the blind are easily lead, on both sides
Strangely enough I posted the below comment on X earlier, my comment was met with derision from the Klanbase who replied, doesn’t make any less true though…
“Why would they have a problem with a Club that died 12 years ago.
It would appear the Scottish Express has a problem with the SNP and are trying to curry favour with the fans of a 12 year old club from down Govan way”.
Yet another fiends of israel funded squirrel to distract from the knesset’s war criminals perpetuation of infanticide and genocide. All aided by our tax and gilts funded arms industry. No surprise they failed to mention the 175+ journalistic colleagues murdered too. How long before they begin attacking European Countries that form part of the Belt and Road?
Strangely enough I posted this comment on X when I read the article on that platform.
Obviously it was met with derision, does make it untrue though….
“Why would they have a problem with a Club that died 12 years ago.
It would appear the Scottish Express has a problem with the SNP and are trying to curry favour with the fans of a 12 year old club from down Govan way”.
#doesn’t
The express is only read by old people in transit from the funeral parlour to grave
Disgusting
Murphy Sevco do air their world views as Phil has pointed out,maybe not as intelligently as our support and certainly not as racist or bigoted
Have you engaged in dialogue with any of our support that you claim to support and endorse Hamas and their ideology ?
I also would like to think that Murphy may not be your birth name but then again I worked with a chap named Murphy who was a rabid Rangers the original supporter
Your reply highlights my point about a lack of nuonced thought.
You imlpy that because my view differs from the perceived concensus, then I must either be lying about my surname, or not support Celtic.
That’s pretty mental.
I am a Celtic supporter. I engage /debate face to face with Celtic supporting family and friends. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don’t.
Attempts to engage online get me blocked by the controlling moderator, so that my alternative viewpoint is not heard.
Although I agree that it is nonsense to suggest that Rangers* supporters do not let their football allegiances cloud their world view, there is no denying that many Celtic supporters do.
It sometimes seems to me like we’re “a club open to all” as long as we all agree with an extreme woke concensus.
The ability for politically nuanced opinion seems to have slipped from our support, and an ‘SNP = good / left = good’ mindset seems to dominate.
If a person has concerns about mass immigration, then they are viewed as a racist bigot.
Believe in biological sex, then they’re a trandphobic bigot.
Alarmed by Humza’s “White” peach, then they’re a right wing extremist.
Concerns about the SNPs utter incompetence and they’re a Brit.
A lot of our support are creeping toward supporting Hamas, just because Hamas fight Israel, and without considering Hamas’ extreme views and ideology.
We’re becoming foolish far left sheep, who are laughing at the fooling right wing sheep.
Our enemies enemy is not necessarily our friend.
Well said.
I think you have completely missed the point that Phil was making with this post.
The fact that a totally nonsensical and inaccurate claim has been made in a national newspaper is a bit mind blowing.
Many of the points you make in, what I could only describe as a rant, have absolutely no hard evidence to back your claims.
Waving of Palestinian flags in no way make you a Hamas supporter and not once as a fan have I ever felt forced to vote SNP.
It is a shame you feel this way as a fan but I see nothing but expression of freedom of speech and support for those less fortunate than ourselves.
Then you just chill then. The word “many” does not mean all.
lol, as soon as you came out with the tired old woke crap, you knew what was coming. Anyone who things being politically aware and caring for their fellow man is something to be scorned , will get on well with the Ibrox world view, assuming you know what woke means ofc.
There we go again, alternate view point, so get to Ibrox.
As a collective we, the Celtic support, are stumbling down a far left path while laughing at the collective Rangers support for stumbling down a far right path.
For me “woke” is the name given to identify based Marxism.
But to detail this view would take far to long.
“A lot of our support are creeping towards supporting Hamas” – you’ll have loads of evidence of this no doubt?
On October 7th 2023, only hours after the Hamas attacks that killed more Jews than on any single day since the Holocaust, Celtic’s Green Brigade unfurled two huge banners declaring “Free Palestine” and “Victory to the Resistance”.
Given the context, who do you think were the resistance that those banners were referring to?
My own “engagement” with fellow Celtic supporters, and their, justification of these Hamas attacks as being some sort of justified act of resistance, informed me of their thoughts.
The lack of condemnation from the collective support compounds this.
My own thoughts are that Hamas internally oppresses the Palestinian people, while the Israeli state externally oppresses them.
The PLO had a secular mission, Hamas has a jihadist mission.
If the banners read something like “Fuck the IDF, Fuck Hamas, Free Palestine” , then I would have no issue with it.
What is your opinion of the land grab since the end of WW2 in the middle east?
Therein lies the root of everything since.
My sympathy lies very much with the Palestinian prople, but Hamas are not good guys in this. Hamas are murderous Islamic jihadists.
exactly!!
Totally agree..
Scottish Daily Express writers have clearly never had their hearing aids turned on for the Ibrox song sheet with The Billy Boys and The Famine Song or enjoyed the impartial and welcoming ambience of an RFC supporters’ club bar. 🙄
It’s the Daily Express, a publication not known for balance.
Daily Express, Daily Mail, publications not exactly known for dealing in facts.
Not exactly unknown for stirring up racial hatred. There are others but not quite as blatant as these two.