Erm, are you quite sure about that???
I find it quite interesting as to what slang for particular races or types of people can be acceptable and what are not. For example, "******" is unacceptable yet, say "pommie" (or for that matter "Aussie") are not regarded to be pejorative.
But turning back to this thread, it seems to me that "Pikey" is clearly an offensive word for romany that is regarded as unacceptable - although presumably not in the same category as the 'n' word. I am not convinced that "Yid" is anything like the same. Obviously it comes from Yiddish people/language and my understanding is that it is widely used by jews (whether Spurs fans or not) in general. I am not sure that I would go around calling my jewish colleagues yids for fear of over-stepping the mark, but it is surely at worst a border-line word for jewish.
That said, obviously "****" is simply short for Pakistani yet is generally regarded as rascist and offensive, so maybe the fact that 'yid' is short for yiddish doesn't in itself mean that it is inoffensive. I think it is more the fact that it is widely used by jews themselves (although you could argue even against that as '******' is sometimes used by blacks about themselves, mostly in the US, yet it is clearly not an acceptable word).
So I reckon that if there is a scale of offensiveness then "Pikey" is more offensive than "Yid".
Mind you, nazi salutes and gas chamber hissing. Who in their right mind could regard that as banter? Mind you, I don't believe the hissing allegation at least. As someone else pointed out, you'd have to have the whole crowd doing that for it to be audible at a football match. Sounds like a lot of embellishment to me.
Edit - in case it's not obvious, the edited out word is n****r.
Sorry. SOSMAN. I have to put you right.
We Jews don't call ourselves Yids. Or at least I've certainly never heard it. No matter what the word that it's been derived from, it's been used in a less than endearing way over the many years of anti-semitic persecution. I never use the word and I don't know of any Jews who use it. It is deeply offensive. It's almost as offensive to me as if some Southend fans had turned up waving yellow Stars of David at the Tottenham fans. (For those who don't know, Jews in Nazi Germany had to wear yellow Stars of David to identify them.)
The use of the word "Yid" has become blurred at Spurs, because non-Jewish Spurs fans have used it and shout "Yid Army" as a term of endearment for the club that they support, because of its historic association with North London Jews (although I know that at least as many Jewish people are involved with Arsenal, but that's another story).
As with anything, context is important.
For example, why is it ok for any blacks to say the n word? Because of context. Why not others to say it? Because it has often been used in a negative way by non-blacks. Why is it ok for Jackie Mason to laugh at Jewish traits? Because he's Jewish and it's clear he's not acting anti-semitically. Why is it a fine line for non-Jews to tell Jewish jokes? Because Jews have so often been the subject of horrendous persecution over many centuries, so the presumption for Jews when hearing jokes about us is that people are hostile towards us (unless it's absolutely clear that that's not the case, in that context).
If Spurs chant "Yid Army" it is not meant in any way as offensive. But because of the association of the term with the persecutions of the Jews, it is deeply offensive to Jews if the context of use of the term is anything but friendly.
On the subject of context, because of the way the name "Jew" has often been used, I feel concerned when I hear non-Jews using that term (rather than "those Jewish people"). If you'd seen the abusive venomous way in which people use the name "Jew" as I have, you'd understand why. Doesn't mean to say using "Jew" is wrong, of course, but it's all about context of use.
I was at the Spurs FA Cup game, and I was not happy with what I heard. Fortunately, I didn't hear the gas chamber chants or Nazi salutes. Yes, SOME Spurs fans were also out of order with what they were chanting. But two wrongs don't make a right.
I also went to another game at the Withdean 10 years ago and was unhappy with the bigotry I heard from our fans there. Until then, I'd thought we had very open-minded, tolerant, friendly fans compared to some clubs' support that I'd seen. Sadly, that Brighton game changed my views of our fan base. I've also witnessed some extreme bigotry on this site.
Those of us who stand back and watch attacks on others without objecting are guilty by association. Saying nothing and silently agreeing was exactly what happened in Germany in the 1930s.
I'm afraid to say there's a lot of racism and anti-semitism in this country. I have personal experience of this.
I hope our fans, on the whole, are still a tolerant bunch, but I'm deeply concerned by some of what I read on here sometimes.
