Fans ridicule Jewish man at European Championship soccer final
A Jewish actor and satirist detailed on Twitter how he was “racially abused” on Sunday night at Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom as he watched the UEFA European Championship final between England and Italy.
Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Jolyon Rubinstein said he wore to the game a jersey that had his last name on the back and immediately after he took off his coat, a group of six men in their 50s asked, “Are you even from this country?” and then said, “He’s a Jew,” which was followed by “laughs and jeers.”
Rubinstein wrote: “I told them that my grandad fought the Nazis. They laughed. My message to them is that you will never win. That this team represents unity and diversity. You are the past. You’re dying out.”
He added that the experience “only strengthens my anti-racist belief.”
He wrote, “I stand with progress and a new progressive patriotism that is about inclusion and respect. We have work to do in this country. Those at the very top need to lead by example.”
Italy won the European soccer championship for the first time since 1968.
JNS
