Cameron: Tottenham fans can chant 'Yid'
After Spurs supporters warned against using derogatory term for Jews, British PM says fans should be allowed to use it to describe themselves as 'they are not motivated by hate'
VIDEO – British Prime Minister David Cameron says that Tottenham fans should be allowed to use the word "Yid" in their chants because they are not motivated by hate.
Tottenham, which has a strong Jewish fan base, has been targeted by anti-Semitic insults for years and the club's supporters use the word "Yid" to describe themselves. Tottenham's firm is also called the "Yid Army."
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
But the Football Association has recently warned Spurs fans that they could be prosecuted if they continue to use the term.
Cameron told The Jewish Chronicle that "there's a difference between Spurs fans self-describing themselves as Yids and someone calling someone a Yid as an insult. You have to be motivated by hate.
"Hate speech should be prosecuted - but only when it's motivated by hate."
Cameron's comments were welcomed by Darren Alexander, joint chairman of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust.
"Our use of it is in a positive sense," Alexander, who is himself of Jewish origin, told Reuters.
"I freely admit that some Jewish people of a certain age and a certain persuasion may be offended.
"But there's a difference between when a Spurs supporter chants the word and the supporter of another club: First of all they never use the Y-word, it's always Jew this or Jew that," Alexander said, referring to what he said was genuine anti-Semitic abuse by supporters of other clubs.
Britain's Board of Deputies of British Jews, which represents the interests of the Jewish community, said it backed the FA and hoped people would stop using the term.
"We support the FA's stance in defining the 'Y' word as an offensive term and we hope that once and for all its use will die out," vice-president Jonathan Arkush said in a statement.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
