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| Anti-Semitism or endearment?
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BERLIN (EJP)--- Franklin Foer, an American football fan, has written a book that uses football anecdotes to explain how the world works.
“How Soccer Explains the World – an Unlikely Theory on Globalisation” devotes an entire chapter to the London club, Tottenham Hotspur, where Germany’s current national football trainer, Juergen Klinsmann, used to play.
In part of his anecdote, he uses the former German football star to try and explain anti-Semitism and the strange ways in which it has manifested itself.
As far as Foer is concerned, there are two forms of anti-Semitism – an acceptable and an unacceptable kind.
He uses the behaviour of the Tottenham Hotspur fans to prove his point.
Hotspur fans call themselves the “Yids”, a name they adopted in 1936 when Oswald Mosley, leader of Britain’s fascist movement, led a march through London’s East End, calling “down with the Yids”.
In order to antagonise their football opponents and arouse more emotion and tension during football matches, the Hotspur fans adopted the name “Yid”.
Although the club had many Jewish fans, the club was not known for primarily catering to Jews.
Hotspur players were endearingly be called Yiddo or Jew – regardless of whether they were Jewish or not.
Walt Disney chant
German football great, Juergen Klinsmann played for the Hotspur team during the mid-90s.
He was usually welcomed into the stadium with Walt Disney Jimminy Cricket melody: “Chimm-chimminee, chim-chimminee, chim-chim-churoo, Juergen was a German, but now he’s a Jew”.
Foer believes that today, most Hotspur fans are totally unaware as to why they use chants about “Jews” and “Yids”.
One of the neighbourhoods close to the Tottenham Hotspur playing field has a large Chassidic population.
Most opposing fans, apparently a lower-class, anti-Semitic lot, would pass by the neighbourhood on their approach to the Tottenham stadium grounds.
The appearance of the caftan-wearing Jew would rile up their anti-Semitic hatred and lead their cry “down with the Yids” to be happily received by the Hotspur fans.
The neighbouring of Chelsea took their chanting further.
Emotions on both sides
Although Chelsea had as many Jewish fans as Tottenham, their rally cries went overboard with text like: “Hitler’s gonna gas ‘em again, we can’t stop them, the Yids from Tottenham.”
The rallying cries were meant to stir up emotions on both sides of the stadium. For many, it was intentional anti-Semitism.
For others, it was a battle cry that became a term of endearment – even if a great love for Jews and Judaism was not a fundamental aspect of the cry.
The Tottenham fan club website tries to explain the chants in a positive way: “The term Yids derives from the Jewish supportership of Tottenham Football Club. Coming from the language Yiddish, it is a slang term for a Jew.”
“Having had this name thrown at them in a derogatory fashion, the supporters of the club adopted it as their unofficial nickname so that it would not have the same effect if other clubs shouted it in an anti-Semitic manner.
“Therefore, Spurs fans chant "Yids" and "Yid Army !" to deflect the racist attacks of other clubs,” the website states.
Franklin Foer’s “How Soccer Explains the World” (How Football Explains the World - UK edition) was originally published in 2004. The German edition, “Wie Man mit Fussball die Welt Erklaert“, has just been released this year.
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