Israeli police have warned fans of the Celtic Glasgow soccer team that they’ll take a zero-tolerance approach if PLO flags are waved during Tuesday’s return leg of the Champions League qualifying round in Be'er Sheva.
Celtic is already under investigation for the hundreds of PA flags held up by Celtic fans during their team's 5-2 win over Hapoel in Scotland.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld made clear that police do not have patience for a repreat of the events of last Wednesday: “This is a professional football game and not a political opportunity."
He added, "It is not illegal to have a Palestinian flag in Israel but provocation by fans of either side is and we will not tolerate it. Any material that would cause incitement to violence would definitely not be permitted to be taken to the game to prevent any disturbances inside the stadium or outside."
Fans will be searched for PA flags, which will be confiscated. Fans with those flags could face arrest.
Hapoel has the odds stacked against them for the upcoming game; they will require a win by a margin of three goals or more in order to eliminate Celtic and advance to the next stage of the competition. So far biggest victory within the context of Champions League competition was in the 1995/96 preliminary round, when they beat SK TIrana 2-0.