Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Jeremy Corbyn Doesn’t Think Jewish Soccer Fans Should Reclaim ‘Yid’ Slur

Accusations of anti-Semitism in the British Premier League flared up again this week after fans of Liverpool FC were heard on video calling the Tottenham Hotspurs “yid c**ts.” But now Jeremy Corbyn is saying that the blame also lies with Tottenham’s supporters, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Tottenham’s stadium is in North London, a heavily Jewish part of the city. Its supporters have reappropriated some of the slurs that are often directed at its fans and players during the game, including “yid.” Many Tottenham supporters now refer to themselves as the “Yid Army.”

On Thursday, Corbyn urged Tottenham fans to abandon the chant. He made his comments at a “Show Racism the Red Card” event organized to combat anti-Semitism and racism in UK soccer matches.

“The idea of adopting a term to neutralise it doesn’t really work because it is identifying a club by an ethnic group or faith, whereas you should be identifying club through supporters,” Corbyn said.

In 2013, British police told Tottenham fans they could face arrest for using the word “yid,” but reversed the decision six months later under pressure from the club.

“Yid chants are unacceptable,” Corbyn said. “It plays into something that’s not very good and we should be saying: ‘We’re the Spurs’ or ‘We’re the Arsenal.’”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.