Beware of the Jews

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:05 am

A sign that appeared to issue a warning about Jews that was seen near a north London synagogue was actually part of a street art project.

French-born artist Franck Allais, who has lived in London for 16 years, told BuzzFeed News he was sorry for any offence caused by the sign, which was reported to police by local neighbourhood watch groups and condemned by MPs.
Allais, 43, said the sign was part of a project celebrating London’s “different identities”.

He said that over the last three years he had put up 20 other signs featuring silhouettes of photos he had taken in those same locations, such as runners, a woman with her shopping, a dog-walker, and a cat, to indicate the different people who live in London.
“I apologise,” he said. “The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt people.”

The image was shared by local neighbourhood watch group Shomrim after it was reported to the group by a passerby in Stamford Hill on Tuesday. It showed an Orthodox Jewish man wearing a fedora hat.
“The people of Stamford Hill are very sadly used to instances of anti-Semitic hate crime, but most of those times it will be verbal abuse or even assault,” Barry Bard, of the local group, told the BBC.

It was immediately condemned by MPs.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:06 pm

That looks more like "Warning: Charlie Chaplin Impersonators" to me...

Crackpot · Post by **Crackpot** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:49 pm

I think it's the wide brim and long sideburns Jim. (Zoom in)

Edited to add a "n" to "log"

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:59 pm

Ahh, now I get it...

You really have to look closely to see the sideburns and how big the hat is...

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:55 pm

I thought it was an Amish guy.

Joe Guy · Post by **Joe Guy** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:53 pm

I thought it was a Jew Crossing sign.

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:40 am

In Cornwall we give them whole streets...

Sue U · Post by **Sue U** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 12:45 pm

x a bajillion.

Personally, I don't see anything to get worked up about; there's nothing apparently offensive to me about the sign. Before flying off the handle with charges of anti-Semitism, I would have found out who posted it and why. A celebration of diversity seems exactly the opposite of anti-Semitism, and the MPs and others were wrong to condemn the signage. If Jews gonna Jew, it should come as no surprise that they're recognized as Jews. There's nothing wrong with expressing that identity and sharing it with the larger community.

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:09 pm

The image aside, what does a red bordered triangular sign mean in Cornwall? In the US, putting the image in an octagonal sign would connote something different from putting it in, say, a rectangular one.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 2:06 pm

I decided to look up the history of "Market Jew Street"...

My assumption was that I would find that it was probably hundreds of years old, and most likely got its name from being located in what was the Jewish section of the town, and was probably the street where the Jewish merchants living in the area sold their wares...

Well, I was right about the hundreds of years old part, but there seems to be some dispute about how the street got its name (and whether it has anything to do with Jewish people at all):

Market Jew Street? An unusual name, no? London’s Old Jewry is named after the Jews who lived is that ghetto of medieval London.

A discussion ensues.

John Coles says:

(NOTE; Marazion is the ancient town giving access via a causeway to St. Michaels Mount. Often called in the past ‘Market Jew’ (hence, Market Jew Street in nearby Penzance) this was said to be one of the trading and shipment points from which the ‘jews’ (?Phoenicians) ran the early tin industry, and shipped the tin overseas. Marazion is in Mounts Bay (where the Wherry Mine was situated in a reef about 3 miles south west.

Vince says:

Market Jew Street derives its name from the Cornish “Marghas Yow” which means Thursday Market. Neither the name Marazion or Market Jew Street has anything to do with Jewish people.

Wikipedia surmises:

Little in the way of corroboration exists for the following speculations; however, mining has occurred in Pendeen for over 3000 years. 2000 years ago the Romans brought Jews to Pendeen to work the mines. These Jews, suggests Horsefield, came as slaves from the then recently sacked Jerusalem. Moreover, when Horsefield wrote his book, he claimed that locals still called a piece of tin a ‘Jew’s piece’. Jewish influence can be witnessed around Pendeen through names such as the village ‘Bojewyn’ (meaning ‘abode of the Jews’); (Bojewyn is more likely to be translated from its Brythonic origins as meaning “John’s Place”, Jowan being a common Cornish family and first name whilst the prefix “Bos” could be most likely referring to a location or domain; Bosjowan is converted to Bojewyn through development of the indigenous dialect of West Penwith. ‘Market Jew street’ in Penzance, and the small town of ‘Marazion’ (of St Michael’s Mount fame).

Or as Wikipedia says elsewhere:

The name Market Jew comes from the Cornish language Marghas Yow, meaning Thursday Market, the name of a nearby village now absorbed into Marazion, to which Market Jew Street leads.

http://www.anorak.co.uk/379661/strange- ... kers.html/

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:39 pm

Here you go BigRR

Econoline · Post by **Econoline** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 7:52 pm

It's a little bit different in the USA....

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 1:09 pm

Thanks gob; given the shape of the sign and its meaning, I could see how some might find such a warning sign ("Warning....Jews Ahead") offensive, whether that was the intent or not.

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:07 pm

Joe Guy · Post by **Joe Guy** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:49 pm

'Beware of Michael Jackson' ?

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 6:15 pm

RayThom wrote:

Notice first the dashed lines which indicate a crosswalk. Now observe that the figure on the sign has three young children in tow (and a fourth in the pram), his pockets appear to be turned inside-out, and his straggly hair ... which means he apparently can't even afford to get a decent haircut.

It's obvious. This sign clearly means

CAUTION:
'Penniless man whose wife took everything and left him with the kids' crossing

-"BB"-

rubato · Post by **rubato** » Fri Mar 24, 2017 10:48 pm

Lyrics for "Poor Papa" a little different from those on the piano roll:

"Now, don't get married, don't get married", said my friend Mc Bride
If you take a wife, you're out of luck for life
He had all his little sons and daughters by his side
Like happy hooligans, sixteen kids, they all lined up and cried

Mama's got shoes, Mama's got clothes
Mama's got these and Mama's got those
But poor Papa, poor Papa, he's got nothin' at all

Mama goes here, Mama goes there
Mama goes out to every affair
But poor Papa, poor Papa, he waits out in the hall

Now, Christmas comes and Mama gets
The most expensive frocks
Papa gets a necktie
And a pair of ten cent socks **

Everyone cheers when Mama appears
And she's got diamonds stuck in her ears
But poor Papa, poor Papa, he's got nothin' at all

And Mama eats ham, Mama eats lamb
Mama eats bread with strawberry jam
And poor Papa, poor Papa, he eats nothin' at all

Mama says "Oh!", Mama says "Ah!"
Mama says "Boo!" and Mama says "Bah!"
But poor Papa, poor Papa, he says nothin' at all

Papa bought a limousine
And the most expensive kind
Now he wears a chaffeur's suit, hah-hah
And Mama rides behind

Mama's got silk, satin beneath
She's got gold in all of her teeth
But poor Papa, poor Papa, he's got no teeth at all

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