Royal Spanish Academy defines Jew as “a person being greedy”
The Royal Spanish Academy has included inflammatory definitions of the words “Jew” and “Jewish” in its official dictionary.
The Dictionary of the Spanish Language, which is published by the Royal Spanish Academy, currently defines the term, “Jew” as “in relation to a person being greedy or money lending” in one of its given definitions.
The notion of Jewish greed is a classic antisemitic trope, with its origins in the supposed betrayal of Jesus by Judas for money, and in the professional limitations on Jews in mediaeval Europe, which forced many to work as money-lenders because of antisemitic restrictions.
Under the term, “Jewish”, one of the definitions reads, “a dirty trick or an action that is detrimental to someone”. It is noted in the entry that the word was previously used with “antisemitic intent”.
Some twenty Jewish groups that represent Spanish-speaking communities have written a joint letter to the Royal Spanish Academy to ask that it use more “respectful and inclusive language”.
The letter observes: “The definitions of the words Judío [Jew] and Judiada [Jewish] in no way reflect the true meaning of these terms.”
The letter continues with an explanation that the definitions of the words are “the product of a mediaeval and renaissance terminology of rejection, envy and hatred directed at Jews who, because of their work, had the highest incomes – which was one of the factors that led to their expulsion from Spain by the Catholic monarchs.”
Boja Luján Lago, a lawyer who represents the organisations that signed the letter, said: “Dictionaries have the task of reflecting the use and evolution of language, and their content is based on linguistic and academic criteria.
“In a context in which Spanish and Ibero-American society is increasingly sensitive to diverse identities and that the lack of respect to defining groups is mostly rejected by our society, we believe that these meanings should be updated to correctly reflect the use of the language in our days.”
The Royal Spanish Academy has confirmed receipt of the letter and is looking into the request.
This is not the first time that an inflammatory definition has been found for the word, “Jew”. Last year, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to Google after it was discovered it defined the word as a verb, to “bargain with someone in a miserly or petty way”. Google subsequently removed and corrected the definition.
Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout Europe.
