The Day that Celtic Football Club Played To Raise Money for Land Theft in Palestine

Glasgow’s Zionist community has played a key role in supporting the JNF’s efforts to erase Palestinian landscapes and histories, as can be seen in the above images.

Greenwashing Genocide: Celtic v Real Madrid Fundraiser for the Jewish National Fund in the 1960s

So how exactly did a colonisers’ project in Occupied Palestine become intertwined with a football club in the East End of Glasgow? In 1961, the JNF signed a covenant with the Israeli Government, allowing it to ‘fundraise’ for its colonial activities while receiving state support to spread propaganda in both Israel and abroad, and in doing so, opening the door to new lucrative fundraising channels such as football.

This was also around the time of the collapse of the forgotten third force in Scottish football: Third Lanark. Around a quarter of its supporters were reportedly Jewish in the 1960s, but its financial demise triggered a mass exodus of fans. Between 1960 and its dissolution in 1967, the Club lost 90% of its paying customers. Many jumped ship to support one of the larger Clubs in Glasgow, namely Celtic, which was on the cusp of the most successful period in its history. 

One man who capitalised on this exodus was a Glasgow businessman and Celtic fan named Max Benjamin. Benjamin was a Jewish immigrant to Glasgow who worked as a tailor and bookmaker. He was also a Zionist and the Entertainments Officer for the aforementioned Glasgow Blue and White Committee of the JNF, as reported in the Daily Record on 20 December 1962.

Seizing his opportunity, Benjamin tried to organise a JNF fundraiser between Celtic and Eintracht Frankfurt, but faced fierce opposition from members of Glasgow’s Jewish community, which objected to hosting a German side so soon after World War II. The opportunity to bankroll Israel’s campaign of genocide in Palestine, however, was met with less resistance. So, together with Glasgow Evening News’ football correspondent, Gair Henderson, the two men “sent cables across the Bay of Biscay to Spain and eventually Real Madrid agreed to come to Glasgow”, as the Glasgow Evening News reported on 23 November 1962.

On 10 September 1962, Benjamin’s wish came true: Celtic hosted Real Madrid in the ‘Blue and White Trophy Challenge Match’ for the JNF. The match was praised for raising £11,000 for “the rehabilitation of refugee women and children from Europe and North Africa”, which of course was code for its ethnic cleansing project in Palestine.