Very good point Spurf, groups of people that differ should not highlight the fact by creating exclusive representatives and governing bodies. It does exacerbate the problem. Why was such an issue made of Obama being the first black President, it'll be the only thing he's remembered for in future rather than just being a President.
Ahaa I'm with you now. God I hate politics. If I'm honest though, I very much doubt it'll get barred from the Lane. People would sing it subconsciously even if threats of removal from the ground or such were put in place. For instance when we score, a natural instinct is shout "Yido" at the scorer. It's drilled into our heads now.
I'll ignore the other knuckle dragging ignoramous and respond to you directly SoS. I know that your fans do not intend to insult or deride the jewish community when you use the term 'yid', but if that community takes offence regardless and you continue to use it, does it not then become malicious?
This is the point. It depends on who takes offence. Spurs fans might feel justified in using the term 'Yid' as an empowering chant, but it remains a contentious word as it's likely to offend a large number of Jewish people who have no interest in football. The balance of law will side with the Jewish community, if they feel aggrieved by the use of the term Yid and Yido ect, which it might be argued that it's used frivolously in its football context, then Spurs may well find themselves in hot water.
Is there any evidence to suggest that it is offending the Jewish community? Drop the insults, by the way.
No, it won't. David Baddiel was crying about it before, despite following Chelsea, a club that hurled anti-Semitic abuse at it's own manager in front of his holocaust survivor father, and nothing happened.
I made a reasonable post in response to an interesting point, only for your boy notsosmart to go into a rage against me. Perhaps you could take your blinkers off and have a word with it instead? David Baddiel (a Jew) makes a good case against it being used.
In as much that there is now a huge focus on racism in football, largely thanks to Chelsea. If Spurs are going to be used as a test case to monitor anti-semitism, then it's quite plausible that any chants of a religious nature, whether they are intended to be derogatory or empowering, will come under scrutiny.
Notso disagreed with you and pointed out that you were trying to claim some sort of authority on something for no apparent reason. He didn't insult you, so drop the false outrage. No, he doesn't. He avoids confronting the disgusting chants of a minority of his fellow Chelsea fans by apportioning blame to those opposing such abuse.
There's absolutely nothing in either the laws of the land or of football to prohibit positive chants, whether they're religious or not. I'd love to see the attempt to implement such laws justified, though.
It's a grey area though PNP. Who determines whether the chant is used 'positively' ? There may well be members of the Jewish community who take offence to their religion being used to support a football team, it could be viewed as belittling to that community. What gives a non Jewish person the right to chant 'Yiddo' ? Also, there are probably just as many Jewish Arsenal supporters as there are Spurs fans. What's to stop a Gooner chanting 'Yiddo' at WHL and then claiming that he was celebrating his religion. ?
The chant's clearly being used positively and it has a history of it. That's not even up for debate, in my opinion. Nobody would claim otherwise. What's to stop a Gooner chanting Yiddo at the Lane? A swift smack in the mouth from his fellow Goons, I'd imagine! Honestly though, I don't think that's an issue. The reaction of some opposition fans might be, but only in the negative sense that some Chelsea and West Ham fans do it. As you point out, it simply isn't a problem with Arsenal.
Maybe, but I think it's dangerous to make assumptions just because Spurs fans have been chanting it for years. There's a large contingent of Spurs fans who aren't Jewish, so what gives them the right to chant 'Yiddo' ? It could be seen as derogatory or belittling by a Jewish person. It could be seen as akin to a white person chanting '******' and claiming that they are using it in a 'positive' manner to celebrate the achievements of black players in the game. I know that's an extreme example, but it illustrates a point about 'ownership' of a word and who is offended by it. The point is, that it's subjective and depends on who is offended by the chants and in the current fervor around racism and derogatory chanting at football matches, I think Spurs may need to look at this issue a little closer, rather than assume that it's part of their 'history', it's not. It's been appropriated by some fans, but the history and probably the balance of opinion would suggest that it's up to the Jewish community to decide about the use of the word 'Yiddo'
Rage! , you're not capable of putting anyone in a rage, least of all me. Just because i use the language I do, why is it in anger? You shouldn't assume. The tone of your comment was provocative, and I questioned it. Sorry you're so sensitive ducky! Following my mods reply, it would seem you are the misreader in this.
It's not an assumption, it's years of history as evidence. The fact that we have a lot of non-Jewish fans is precisely why we do use the chant, as it prevented those seeking to alienate our Jewish fans from doing so. It's impossible for anyone with any sense to see such behaviour as derogatory or belittling. It's clearly a show of solidarity. That's an inaccurate comparison, in my opinion. The origins of the word are completely different, for a start. This is just wrong. It clearly is part of the club's history and identity, plus that of other clubs, like Ajax. There's also nothing to suggest that the Jewish community is in any way offended by it, quite the opposite, in fact.
