The Dutch soccer club Ajax's supporters have been called "Jews" for the last fifty years by the fans of rival squads. In response, the Ajax's fans take pride in their adopted identity. The bizarre thing is that few of these fans are actually Jewish. When I first read this article, I wasn't sure what to make of it. It just seemed confusing. After thinking about it a bit, it seems an awful lot like minstrel shows in the United States over the last two centuries. This is where white people "perform" in blackface and mock black people. Some of these "performers" have, unfortunately, also been Jewish.
It is perfectly legitimate to take pride in another's culture. I would welcome anyone to take pride in the legacy of persistence and courage of the Jewish people. We might take pride in that same type of courage and willingness to fight for their rights that black Americans have displayed. Or in the Indians determination to obtain self-rule and cast the British out of their land. Or the honor and grace of the Native Americans in their dealings with the European colonists. And the list goes on and on. We do not have to be a member of a particular group to appreciate what they have given the world.
Having said that, these fans do not seem to comprehend the meaning of being Jewish. Being Jewish is more than withstanding anti-Semitism's notorious past or unfortunate present. In addition, withstanding anti-Semitism is more than receiving a few quips at a soccer game and then having the ability to forget on the way home after the game. Being Jewish is a set of rules and rituals for sure, but it is also an identity. One that does not leave after a match is over. It is one that never leaves us. Sometimes it haunts us, sometimes it is a source of pride, and sometimes it is neutral, but it is always there for those of us who are truly Jewish. It may seem exotic and thrilling to some to be the recipient of some crude anti-Jewish remark, but for the Jews who have been on the end of such vile, it is a pain that stays with us until our dying day, whether we acknowledge it or not. Being Jewish is not for amateurs or part-timers, for some of us, it is reality.
Here's the highlights:
A Dutch Soccer Riddle: Jewish Regalia Without Jews
Amsterdam Journal
By Craig Smith
"Jews, Jews, Jews!" thousands of voices cried.
Fans arrived with hats, jackets and scarves embroidered with Hebrew writing.
Few, if any, of these people are Jewish.
For years, the team's management supported that unique identity. But over time what seemed to many people like a harmless - if peculiar - custom has taken on a more sinister tone.
Fans of Ajax's biggest rivals began giving the Nazis' signature straight-arm salute or chanting "Hamas, Hamas!" to provoke Ajax supporters. Ajax games have been marred by shouts of "Jews to the gas!" or simply hissing to simulate the sound of gas escaping.
Nonetheless, the club became identified in the public mind with Jews in the 1950's, and by the 1970's, opposing fans began to call Ajax supporters Jews. The supporters adopted the identity in a spirit of defiance.
"Not only Jews are bothered by this," said Mr. Jaakke, "I'm not Jewish and I hate it, too."
Mr. Jaakke said there had been some suggestion that fans substitute the word "Goden," or gods, for "Joden," or Jews, and call themselves "sons of gods," on the logic that Ajax was a sort of god.
Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/international/europe/28ajax.html?incamp=article_popular_2
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