Friday 20 December 2013

These are not simply football chants, but just worst kind of racism

Spurs football fans are savagely attacked in Italy and one is stabbed by a murderous mob chanting "Tottenham Jews".

Back home, a week later, Spurs are playing West Ham and the latter team's supporters can clearly be hear chanting "Can we stab you every week?" "Adolf Hitler" and hissing. Hissing? Hissing to mimic the gas coming into the death chambers - and the choking sounds of the victims of Nazi genocide.

Hilarious, eh?

Tottenham, and their supporters, have been targeted, both home and away, because of the team's traditional links to the Jewish community. But is this anti-Semitism? Does anti-Semitism even exist any more?

Not if you are to read some commentators who would suggest that anti-Semitism is all in the mind of Jews and their supporters.

Maybe a little anti-Semitism can be admitted in the case of those right-wing Ultras behind the fan's stabbing.

But lefties just don't do anti-Semitism, Jew-hating or racist bigotry in any sense, do they?

The singling out of the Jewish state for a scrutiny, criticism and castigation afforded no other? That's just coincidence isn't it?

Petty, shabby little stunts like the paint-bombing of a Belfast skin care stand staffed by a bunch of young Israelis?

That's making an important statement, apparently.

With its dark history, Europe should be particularly alarmed by the rising tide of vicious, dangerous, almost casual racism displayed towards Jewish people by both far left and far right.

But what is particularly frightening is the refusal to call such racism for what it is.

Anti-Semitism. The hate that dare not speak its name.

Latest News

Latest Sport

Latest Showbiz