'Yid'

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78Spur

This is about a David Baddiel campaign some months back to ask Spurs fans to drop the 'Yid' badge of identity because it was offensive to Jews.

At the time (and even now) I thought this was born of the horrific things that other Chelsea fans were saying and by asking us to lose the badge other teams fan's would lose and forget the anti-semitic chanting when they came to play us.

Actually the only time I've heard this season was when Everton came to call, they were making the hissing noises, I get to about 10 games a season but that was the first time I'd heard it in a while.

Does anyone know what the general consensus of Jewish people is when we label ourselves as 'Yids'? Is it still seen as a positive badge or is there a real desire for us to not use it any more??

I don't think our use of it is meant to be in any way offensive and it plays a big part in the club's history but I just wonder if using 'Yid' is something we'll be using in the future.
 
It's a bit outdated for oppo fans to refer to us as having a Jewish fanbase anyway - the Jewish community of South Tottenham have moved on to Stamford Hill and Golders Green for the most part. I think if any sort of research was done into it, I reckon Woolwich would probably have a larger Jewish fanbase than us.
 
I think it was always split between jewish communities, there was a time when there was a community of fans who would go to whichever of the two clubs that were at home. I believe there is still a small number of fans who have season tickets for both us and the scum.

But yeah them, they have always had Jewish directors too and if we were on the end of anti-semitism it would more likely be from West Ham or Chelsea, that was always the impression I got.
 
I know of a Jewish bloke who supports the scum and calls us the yids. You might think that sounds weird but I'm a cunt, and yet I call them lot the cunts.
 
I could understand slightly where Baddiel was coming from but I bet you if he was a Spurs fan he wouldn't have a problem with it. It is only because he goes to Chelski and has heard sectarianism at the bridge when we come so he somehow thinks we're the ones who antagonise it rather than accept it existed and will exist with or without us at his club.

Also, for a man who has made a career out of making fun of the controversial borderlines of language and religion, to complain about them now is incredibly contradictory. Why wasn't the campaign aimed at John Terry, or are we not supposed to talk about that either?
 
Surely this discussion does not need the specifics of Baddiel's fitness as a spokesperson in order to proceed in a useful way. The appropriateness (or lack thereof) of using the term predates his film.
 
Éperons said:
Surely this discussion does not need the specifics of Baddiel's fitness as a spokesperson in order to proceed in a useful way. The appropriateness (or lack thereof) of using the term predates his film.
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Of course, but the OP mentioned it... my point was more that the changing of language and evolution of semantics pre-date Baddiel as well, and he of all people should recognise that. I question if his motives are really to proceed the debate in a useful way or proceed his career in a useful way. We could debate the issue all day, with or without him, and people would still use the term Yid as they have done for 50 years regardless of who it does or doesn't offend.

If someone abuses a Jew because they are Jewish then I don't see what that has to do with THFC. You don't need the word Yid to do that. The same way you don't need the 'N' word to hate black people. The words black or white themselves can be given offensiveness. Shit, many people find us singing about the words Tottenham and Spurs and directions just as offensive as singing about Yiddos - you only have to ask a few Charlton youth team fans. Is that our fault as well?

Bottom line is I don't think our use of the word Yid is the cause of hating Jews. If someone hates Jews because they hate most Tottenham fans and most Tottenham fans don't hate Jews then is it a Tottenham fan's responsibility to start hating Jews in order to counter-discriminate and stop other team's fans hating Jews?
 
Evenin'all

first post.

I'm a yid in every sense of the bloody word and proud of it in every sense of the word.

Causes no offence to me whatsoever unless some total bloody stranger on the street comes up an uses it as an insult.
 
This has everything to do with the sentiment behind the word. Spurs fans 'claimed' the word and use it in defiance of racism.

If it is said with the express intent of causing offence then it is offensive. I call my mate a cunt it's handshakes and topless hugs, I call a bloke at the bar a cunt and it will kick off.
 
As a Red Sea pedestrian myself, and all round nice Jewish boy, I have never found our use of the word Yid offensive because the sentiment behind it is entirely positive.

But like Danny says above if someone else uses it another context my back does go up, for instance there's been a few occasions at work when customers who don't know I'm Jewish have said some thing about the "fucking Yids" they find very quickly about my roots which tends to embarrass the life out of the wankers.
 
All of my Jewish friends, Spurs fans or not, find it offensive. They say it is a hate-filled word and hate hearing it.

The non-Spurs fans hate hearing it on public transport and around pubs. Even on tattoos.

The problem they have with it is what right Gentile Spurs fans have to use it. You don't get white people calling themselves, n****, just because black Americans are allowed to claim it as their own. They say we have no right to reclaim the word if we are not Jewish.

As a result, I find myself thinking twice before using it nowadays, especially if there's a risk of me being caught on camera in the pub beforehand. I've seen myself on YouTube singing it and I wonder what my clients would say.

I love the way it was reclaimed for positive use, but I can see the point of view of Jewish people on the street or on trains that are subjected to it, many of whom have been racially abused with the word at school. And many of these don't understand the context of how Spurs fans use it.

It is offensive to them. Period.

Also, we mustn't forget that the majority of Spurs fans AREN'T Jewish. In fact, Arse have the same proportion of Jewish support.

It us a thorny issue. I am using it less and less nowadays and can see myself phasing it out over the years. I owe my Jewish friends that respect.
 
It's our war cry, that word is almost synonymous with Spurs. COME ON YOU SPURS doesn't have the same ring as YID ARMY. However, as a non-Jew, I'm not in a position to really defend the use of the word.

I can't help but use it when watching Spurs, when I do, I'm not thinking of the Jewish population, I'm thinking of my club.

My mate wanted Yid 4 Life on his Spurs shirt and they refused him.
 
I should add that I interviewed a Jewish person a month or so ago. He was complaining about stuff and said "I was queuing in the Post Office next a woman with 'Yid Army' tattooed on her arm. What is the world coming to? It's disgusting and offensive."

I explained the Spurs link, which he'd never heard of before. He had been very offended and said, "Well she wasn't Jewish. She was a fat Chav."

THAT struck it home to me. If non-Spurs fans hear or see it and they don't understand its context, then it is not a positive use of the word and we ought to be mindful of that.
 
Schoolboy'sOwnStuff said:
Hoozen said:
Causes no offence to me whatsoever unless some total bloody stranger on the street comes up an uses it as an insult.
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That's the point. It is used in public a lot.
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Agreed, but using it at a staium or on the way to a match in the context we use it is not offensive. Noone who's not a Spurs fan really listens to us anyway. IF and WHEN used it public and on an individual basis with racist intent, the offender should quite rightly get a mouthful or even possibly his arm torn out of its socket. I know of no jew, Spurs or otherwise, who are offended by the chants involving the word.
 
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