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| Europe |
| Amsterdam's Super Jews fall victim to "virtual" anti-Semitism |
| 2005-02-26 |
| Holland's leading football team, is locked in a dispute with its fans, but the row has nothing to do with coaching, the players or anything that happens on the pitch or in the club's boardroom. Instead, Ajax Amsterdam is struggling to stamp out the bizarre tradition by which its most devoted fans call themselves "Jews", even tattooing themselves with Stars of David and waving Israeli flags, although they are not Jewish and know little of Judaism. The dispute has escalated into the latest test case for Dutch tolerance, already under siege following the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, a populist politician, and last November's slaying of Theo van Gogh, a controversial filmmaker, by a Muslim extremist. At the same time, it has shone a harsh light on the growth of "virtual" anti-Semitism in Europe, in which the hate-filled slogans of the Middle East are adopted by those who wish merely to provoke or shock. Hardcore Ajax supporters have been calling themselves "Jews" or even "super Jews" for about 20 years in defiance of fans from rival clubs, who yell anti-Semitic jibes at them in reference to Amsterdam's long Jewish history. For years, the club's management turned a blind eye to escalating displays of "Jewish" pride among its supporters. Still Ajax did nothing when the jibes from rival fans turned increasingly disturbing, with chants of "there goes the Ajax train to Auschwitz" and "Hamas, Hamas, the Jews to the gas". The most sinister insult of all - a long hissing "ssssssss" to imitate a gas chamber - was invented in Rotterdam, the home to Ajax's rivals, Feyenoord FC. |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #2 "In the Ajax stadium, the visitors are kept behind bars, so you are safe," Best place for 'em. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-02-26 2:13:33 PM |
| #1 news to me ...thanks |
| Posted by: Anon 2005-02-26 12:33:14 PM |