Being one of the only British Jews to play professional football has only gotten more difficult for Joe Jacobson this season, with the Wycombe Wanderers captain becoming the object of hatred.
The 37-year-old required a security escort to the stadium in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas atrocity and Israel’s war in Gaza, but the Ligue 1 club resisted calls to sever ties with him. He told Sky News how he did it.
Mr. Jacobson has avoided commenting publicly about the attack, which was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. aftermathBut he expressed concern about protesters who he believed were “celebrating genocide” in the streets.
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Data obtained by Sky News from Kick It Out reveals the hostile reaction Jacobson is discussing for the first time amid fears of a spike in anti-Semitism in football this season. .
Jacobson told Sky News: “I’ve received a lot of messages on social media. The club has received several emails and letters asking for an apology. If we don’t apologize, we’ll be at the Adams Park gate on match day. “We demanded barricades be built,” a few days later. “
When he arrived at the stadium where he has played for 10 years, there was a rush to protect him as he entered.
“I was led inside, and I found out later that they were worried someone was going to be there,” Jacobson said. “So there were some plainclothes security guards watching, looking for something.
“And luckily nothing happened. But I’m just going to work and there are people who are worried that something could happen. And it’s not the right thing to do. It is.”
That wasn’t the end.
“I have fans…or so-called fans, who send me messages like, [I] He shouldn’t play for this club, he shouldn’t be captain of this football club,” Jacobson said.
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A surge in anti-Semitism
There was support from the entire club, from the owner down.
“They were like… you didn’t do anything wrong, so you don’t have to apologize,” he said. “What you said is perfectly fine.”
Kick It Out data obtained by Sky News shows there has been five times as much anti-Semitic abuse in football this season compared to the first half of the 2022-23 season.
While the increase from 11 to 57 may seem small, given that Kick It Out relies on receiving reports, this data can be seen as a snapshot of the broader problem. can.
Islamophobia is also a serious issue, with incidents of anti-Muslim abuse quadrupling across England matches this season, highlighting the pervasiveness of faith-based hatred in football. ing.
Jacobson, who represented Wales at Under-21 level, feels football authorities have ignored Jewish concerns for too long due to a lack of players from the community.
“There are positive things to take from it.”
For Jacobson, a visible manifestation of the lack of unity was that the arch at Wembley was not lit in Israeli colors in October, as the FA had previously done similarly to commemorate atrocities elsewhere. That’s what happened.
“They didn’t want to upset anyone, which is fine, but I think they set a precedent that they did something years ago,” Jacobson said.
“One of the things Jews always say is, ‘Why is it always us? Why are we different from everyone else?'”
“And I think that was a prime example of that. In terms of what happened on October 7th, they weren’t going to push back on that.”
The FA has issued an apology and announced new policies. do not light the arch In case of future terrorist attacks and the creation of an anti-Semitism task force.
“It wasn’t like that before, so anti-Semitism will probably be seen in a way it wasn’t before, and there will be some positives to come from that,” Jacobson said.
Call to ban offensive terms
According to data from Kick It Out, there were two incidents of anti-Semitic hatred against players in the first half of this season, but the remaining 20 incidents involved fan-on-fan abuse.
It is believed that many of these incidents may be related to the use of the ‘Y-word’.
It is an offensive term derived from the word for Jew in Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazi Jews in Central and Eastern Europe, and is used in an abusive chant against north London club Tottenham.
Complicating matters, the term has also been adopted by Tottenham’s traditionally Jewish fans as an affectionate nickname for the club.
“The best thing to do is get rid of it,” said Jacobson, who supports the Spurs. “I think it removes the gray area because if opposing fans start using that word against Spurs fans to try and get a point back, they’re doing it in a derogatory way. And that’s not good.”
“There was nothing like that before.”
A recent post on Wycombe Wanderers It’s better,” I received a reply.
“That hasn’t happened before,” Jacobson said. “It’s sad that people express opinions like that on social media when they don’t even know what the other person thinks.”
“And I think people need to understand that what they’re saying isn’t right and it’s not acceptable.”
