Antisemitism in Dutch football: From (no) punishment to education

This chapter explains contemporary antisemitic discourse in Dutch professional men’s football, as well as responses to challenge it. The chapter focusses on the different uses and meanings of the word ‘Jood’ (‘Jew’) and forms of antisemitic behaviour within Dutch football fan culture. Ajax has historically been othered as an alleged ‘Jewish club’ and contemporary antisemitic rhetoric in the Netherlands is predominantly targeted at Ajax. Over time Ajax supporters have adopted ‘Jood’ (‘Jew’) and ‘Super-Jew’ (‘Superjoden’) as a badge of honour. The Royal Dutch Football Organisation’s (KNVB) policy to prevent antisemitic chanting and hate speech is mostly focussed on its repression, and supporters guilty of antisemitic chanting are punished. However, in recent years some Dutch football clubs (notably Feyenoord and Utrecht) have developed educational programmes to persuade their fans to abstain from antisemitic behaviour. These programmes are outlined and appraised as a means of effectively challenging antisemitism in football.