Michael Gannon takes a swipe at Celtic fans on the Liel Abada and Celtic question. But is it a no win for both parties?

Liel Abada seems like a young man who is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Through no fault of his own, he is caught between a crossfire involving the Israeli football association, and the football club he plays for.

It is not Abada’s fault that the Celtic fans support the people of Palestine.

But for Abada, being Israeli, he has no choice but to support the country of his birth.

You, or I, would do the same.

In reality, Abada is a young man of 22 years, who probably just wants to get on with living his dream of being a footballer.

But, as I said at the outset, through no fault of his own, he has been dragged into a situation that is not of his making.

However, Liel Abada’s plight should not be an opportunity for the media to launch an attack on Celtic fans either.

Michael Gannon has taken it as an opportunity to do exactly that.

In his scathing article in the Daily Record this evening, he lashes out at Celtic fans, while at the same time writing an article with a complete lack of balance.

Gannon wades in on behalf of Liel Abada, and while I understand where he’s coming from, there has to be context in a situation like this.

So, I’m going to put a bit of context on it.

As of today, since October 7th, 28,730 Palestinian men, women and children have lost their lives.

Israel states it has lost 1,139 men, women and children in this conflict.

I alluded to balance earlier, in these figures, there is none.

Here’s a bit of context for you which might open your eyes to what’s going on here:

For 8 months, and 5 days, the blitz raged during World War 2.

By the time the Luftwaffe had ceased their heavy bombing campaign over Britain, 43,000 British citizens had lost their lives.

It is just over 3 months since the current stage of the conflict in Palestine began, a conflict I might add, that did not just begin on October 7th 2023.

In that space of time, only 14,270 less Palestinians have lost their lives.

Which begs the question, by the time 8 months, and 5 days have passed, what will the death toll in Palestine amount to?

In his article this evening, Gannon neglects to even touch on statistics like these.

But instead uses his piece as an avenue to attack a support that sympathises with the suffering of the Palestinian people.

While the rest of the world stands by and watches it happen.

But Celtic fans are pilloried for showing support for the Palestinian people?

They say that football and politics should never mix.

UEFA decrees that politics has no place in football.

Only when it suits them.

When Russia invaded the Ukraine in 2022, football and UEFA stood together in support of the Ukrainian people, and rightly so.

The Ukrainian people were shown unequivocal support by the footballing world, and it’s authorities.

This conflict is now 2 years old.

Here’s some more context, 10,000 Ukrainian men, women and children have lost their lives in that space of time.

But according to UEFA, a Ukrainian life holds substantially more value than a Palestinian life.

Simply because UEFA forbids you to show support for the plight of the Palestinian people.

The hypocrisy here is breath taking.

In a world where we are constantly hearing about tolerance and understanding for all human beings, we should just not bother with the Palestinians, is that it?

This is why I, as a Celtic fan, cannot turn my back on their suffering.

This is why I cannot accept being criticised for it.

And it is why I cannot tolerate the likes of Michael Gannon using this conflict as an avenue to attack the Celtic support.

However, by the same token, I will not stop supporting Liel Abada as a Celtic player.

He has been a great servant to our club since joining in August 2021.

I will not hold his nationality against him, because he is not responsible for the actions of the right wing government that is in control of his country.

I do not know if he supports the actions of his government, whether he does, or he doesn’t, is irrelevant.

What is relevant is that his career as a footballer is suffering as a result of the conflict his country is involved in.

And at the end of the day, that is neither his fault, nor is it fair on him.

What is even more unfair on him, is the pressure his national association is putting on him to quit Celtic.

Liel Abada, in footballing terms, is a casualty of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He is being put in an untenable position.

Nobody wins in this situation, not Celtic, not Liel Abada, not the Celtic support, nobody.

Unfortunately, I see this situation ending with Liel Abada departing the club.

That is a huge loss for Celtic, and I’m sure after nearly 3 happy, trophy laden years at Celtic, a huge loss for Liel Abada too.

But it’s clear from his performances of late, the player is not happy.

And at the end of the day, he needs to be somewhere he’s happy.

Right now, Celtic is not that place.

It’s very hard to see that changing.

Either way, I wish him all the best.

I have nothing but respect for what he’s contributed to Celtic during his time at the club.

Michael Gannon, on the other hand, will garner no respect from me.

Then again, he writes for a rag that completely ignores the reality in Palestine.

And uses a situation, involving an Israeli Celtic player, to take a cheap shot at our fans.

For that he deserves contempt, nothing else.