Spain village votes to change its 'Kill Jews' name

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: SF Gate

Voters in the tiny Spanish village of Castrillo Matajudios, whose name means "Camp Kill Jews," overwhelmingly decided Sunday that it's time to change the name their town has had for nearly four centuries.

Mayor Lorenzo Rodriguez said the vote was 29-19 in heavy turnout for the village with just 56 registered voters about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of Madrid.

Documents show the town's original name was Castrillo Motajudios, meaning "Jews' Hill Camp."

The "Kill Jews" part of the name dates from 1627, more than a century after a 1492 Spanish royal edict ordering Jews to become Catholics or flee the country. Those who remained faced the Spanish inquisition, with many burned at the stake.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Spain-village-votes-to-change-its-Kill-Jews-name-5503599.php

[840high]

1. About time.

[Enrique]

2. political correctness run amok

[sakabatou]

3. Better late than never

[XemaSab]

4. It's not like there have been centuries of organized oppression against Jews

I'm sure the name is an isolated occurrence.

[rpannier]

5. Good for the 29 who voted to change. As for the 19...

It kind of dampens the celebration and makes me wonder why
I'm sure (as was pointed out above) someone will bitch it's PC.

[happyslug]

12. Have you read about opposition to change street names???

Most people oppose such changes for it confuses people. You live on "Main Street" and that is your address to everyone you know, including people who only deal with you in business. When a City decides to change a name, all type of opposition to that change occurs, not because they oppose the new name, or the person , event etc the new name is to honor, but the need to change their address AND inform everyone their deal with. It is the same as moving, without getting a new home.

We in the US are considered the most mobile people on earth, we think nothing of moving clear across the country. Most other nations have a problem even moving out of the town they were born in (Women move more then men). This is similar to how Chimpanzees move, female Chimpanzee move out of the area where they were born, while all of the males stay in the same band. The Males do NOT move and that is the norm for HUMANS outside of the US (China has also seen a massive movement of its people, but during the Chinese New Year, they have a tendency to return to their family village making the Chinese New Year the most massive movement of people in the world).

Just a comment, that most people will oppose a change in name, because it is a change in name. That change in name, in the modern world, is almost the same a moving and in a change of name of this magnitude it is like having everyone in the town move. People are going to oppose that, do to the cost such a change imposes on them. You see this when a City decides to rename a street after someone, they do their best to rename a street no one lives on and has not business on. When you a City can not find such a street, opposition to the renaming is immense, thus I am surprised that the election was not closer.

Please note, I do NOT support the old name, appropriately it was opposed by most people living in that town, but pointing out the people who voted against it, do have good reason to oppose the change, and those reasons have nothing to do with being anti-Semitic or racist.

[AverageJoe90]

6. I'm glad they did. =) nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. Hey, what about Matamoros?

You know, that Mexican border town just across from Brownsville. "Kill Moors" sounds so Kingdom of Castille these days.

[EmilyAnne]

11. I believe it was technically named after St. James the Moor-Slayer (Santiago Matamoros).

But, yep. Pretty creepy.
I suppose the only salvation is that the term "moors" or "moros" is not really used today to describe modern people in the way that "judios" still refers to modern Jews.

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. Who knew? That James sounds like a real charmer. Thank you.

[bpollen]

8. Good on 'em!

The Sephardim who ostensibly converted in the Inquisition period were sometimes called "Conversos" or "Marranos." The terms were not apt to be lovingly applied, shall we say. For some reason, it was suspected that those who converted under duress might not have been sincere converts. Imagine that... Spain has a pretty rich history, with influences from Moors (Muslim) and Jews and Christians and the Roma. Unfortunately, most countries history includes some very dark chapters. It may be just one tiny town, but it is nice to see people moving beyond their past.

[Bigmack]

9. Like your post, thoughtful and reasonable as it is! NT Ms Bigmack

[Nye Bevan]

10. Simple. Insert the word "Don't" before the original name (nt)

[FSogol]

14. Daniel Snyder claims that the name "Camp Kill Jews" honors the Jewish people.