Kicking Antisemitism Out of English Football

The comedian and novelist David Baddiel has written passionately about the need to root antisemitism out of English football.

For instance, he's cited a song among Chelsea fans baiting Spurs (Tottenham Hotspur) fans (many of whom, like those in this picture, are Jewish) that goes:

'He's only a poor little yiddo, he stands all alone on the Shelf
He's only a poor little yiddo,
He stands all alone on the Shelf,
He goes to the bar
To buy a lager
And only buys one for himself!'

And Baddiel's also heard this ditty at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea Football Club's home ground:

'Who's that team they call the Chelsea?
Who's that team they all adore?
Barcelona, Real Madrid,
Tottenham are a bunch of Yids!'

As well as, he's attested,

 'just the simple chant of "Yiddo! Yiddo!", repeated, in a deliberately guttural, threatening echo, with added ever-so-slightly Nazi finger movements, every five or six minutes.

This happens every time Chelsea play Tottenham. Chants of "Yiddo!" are also meted out to any player who spent any time at Tottenham.... I don't know how many Jews do actually support Tottenham (a fair amount, certainly), nor do I know how much this behaviour is replicated at other grounds, but I would be surprised if local derbies with Arsenal or West Ham are entirely Yiddo-free....

Anti-Semitism is the "other" racism in football, and, because it so lags behind in visibility to racial abuse of black players, it is hardly ever discussed. But it's an important issue, not least because, in my experience, there are more Jewish fans at most grounds than black ones – it is virtually impossible to be Jewish and male and not interested in football – and I know that they all dread the starting up of these chants.'

For the remainder of the article see:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/david-baddiel-so-you-think-weve-kicked-racism-out-of-english-football-614251.html

Now, Baddiel and his brother Ivor have scripted a video featuring such sporting luminaries as Frank Lampard and Gary Lineker, calling for "the Y word" to be banished from football fans' vocabularies.

Explains Baddiel:

"The film is not intended to censor football fans. It's simply to raise awareness that the Y-word is - and has been for many, many years - a race hate word.

It's our belief that some football fans may not even realise this, and the film is designed therefore to inform and raise debate."

Says Spurs' executive director:

"It is unthinkable and wholly unacceptable that, in this day and age, supporters are subjected to anti-Semitic abuse such as hissing to imitate the gas chambers used during the Holocaust in the Second World War.

We are committed to eliminating all forms of racism and we shall support efforts to kick anti-Semitism out of the game."

See: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/906854/top-stars-feature-in-anti-semitism-campaign?cc=5739