Ooh to be a JEWner! – The Y word should be banned

Tottenham fans at White Hart Lane

So these are non-Jewish fans describing themselves as Yids as a badge of honour. Yet when Daniel Levy was negotiating the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, a small section of fans took to twitter to abuse Levy and the fact that he is Jewish. Maybe this will spur (no pun intended) the Spurs board to take action and encourage the ending of the use at White Hart Lane. The use of the word at White Hart Lane is somehow seen as endearing when quite rightly in modern society other terms are 100% frowned upon.

When Jermain Defoe appears for Spurs, his chant is heard loud and clear, “Jermain Defoe is a Yiddo! Jermain Defoe is a Yiddo!” Imagine the outcry if the song was actually – and I apologise for using this but imagine just imagine “Jermain Defoe is a N—–” Quite rightly it just wouldn’t happen.

As I said earlier, the vile and sickening chants of the 1980s have certainly reduced and at games at Emirates Stadium have almost died out. Yet the chant of “Yiddo Yiddo” does still echo after the ‘We Hate Tottenham!’ - Totally unacceptable and certainly not necessary. But fans of a certain age will remember much more sickening chants “Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz, Hitler’s gonna gas ‘em again” and “I never felt more like gassing the Jews when Arsenal win and Tottenham lose” echoing around Highbury. As I said, thankfully these have virtually disappeared from home games and aren’t common at away games.

Many Arsenal fans say their use of Yid and Yiddo is only aimed at Tottenham and has no Jewish connotations. I strongly disagree. Certain chants do remain and you can’t tell me singing “Driving down the Lane, in a black Mercedes Benz, shooting all the Yids, making lots of friends” doesn’t sound anti-Semitic? I strongly believe that if Tottenham stopped using the Y-word, the anti-Semitic replies would fade away and finally stop. Interestingly, the loudest and clearest singing of that Mercedes song I have heard was at Whitton station a couple of seasons ago. Arsenal had just won 2-1 with a last minute goal scored by Yossi Benayoun. Oh, the irony!

Going back to David Cameron’s quotes that “There’s a difference between Spurs fans self-describing themselves as Yids and someone calling someone a Yid as an insult.” What would Mr Cameron say if a club in a strong Conservative area called themselves the Tories, then it caused a rival club to sing “The Tories are on their way to Brighton, the IRA are going bomb them again”. My guess is he’d take that seriously and it would be resolved by the club dropping the Tory nickname.

The CST do a great job protecting the Jewish community and its prominent figures. But in its response to the FA Statement The CST said, “We have consistently said that Spurs fans’ use of the Y-word does not remotely compare with, nor in any way legitimise, the vile and unacceptable anti-Semitic abuse that is all too often heard from opposing fans. Ultimately, ridding football of anti-Semitism needs to involve Spurs fans voluntarily dropping the Y-word from their songbook.”

The CST seem to be implying it only has the interest of Jewish Spurs fans at heart. And the suggestion that Spurs fans should voluntarily drop the word is quite laughable.

Rabbi Schochet, who serves at the Mill Hill synagogue in north London, agrees with the Prime Minister in so far as he is of the opinion that the Tottenham fans’ use of the word is not offensive as it does not come from a place of hatred.

““I maintain that on the Spurs pitch, it is categorically not anti-Semitic and not offensive but rather it is rallying call of support for a team that has a strong Jewish following.” But he then goes on to say, “If the phrase ‘Yiddo’ was yelled at me on the street that would be something entirely different as then, in the first instance, it would be intended as anti-Semitic.”

In my honest opinion, it’s not different if the first use of it by Spurs fans leads to the second use of it as full blown abuse.

In conclusion, let the FA deal with Spurs fans. It’s time for the Tottenham board to realise they have a responsibility that reaches further than the 4 stands of White Hart Lane. Jewish Tottenham fans who think it is fine and turn a blind eye should realise their stance has a knock on effect leading to an increase in anti-Semitic abuse. Think to yourself if you are happy with that!

If you are an Arsenal fan, please remember the next time the Yid chants start, remember you are insulting fellow Arsenal fans too. There are plenty of other sticks to beat Tottenham with and it’s time now to consign the Y-word’s use to history.

I hope you have gained something from reading this and it has gone some way to explaining my hate of the word.

@R_Gooner