SPURS CONSULT FANS ON USE OF ‘YID’
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR Football Club has launcheda fan consultation over the use of “Yid”.
The term has been sung by members of the club’s fanbase for decades — initially in defiant response to the term being used in a derogatory sense by rival fans.
The survey asks fans whether they agree with excerpts from a series of opposing newspaper articles — including a JC opinion piece by Gerald Jacobs and a Times article by David Aaronovitch.
Respondents are also quizzed on whether they feel the use of the term effectively deflects or attracts antisemitic abuse, and whether it contributes to a lack of clarity over what constitutes antisemitic abuse.
The survey closes on Sunday August 18.
After attempts by the Metropolitan Police and campaigners to prevent its use in 2013, the issue resurfaced last season after antisemitic language was used by Chelsea and Arsenal fans was used during matches.
Three Spurs fans were arrested in an attempted crackdown in 2014 for using “Yid” during a Europa League game, but the Crown Prosecution Service discontinued these cases.
The World Jewish Congress, the Board of Deputies, Community Security
The fans were asked whether they agreed with excerpts from a series of newspaper articles
Trust (CST) and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) have all called on the club to clamp down on fans using the word to describe themselves in match chants. Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club itself has a “zero-tolerance position” regarding antisemitism but has insisted that fans’ use of the word has never been “intended to cause offence”.
Earlier this year, the club said that a re-assessment of the use of “Yid” could only take place “within the context of a total clampdown on unacceptable antisemitism”.