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Israel ambassador to Spain celebrates town ditching 'Kill Jews' name
Source: Associated Press
Israel ambassador to Spain celebrates town ditching 'Kill Jews' name
AP in Castrillo Mota de Judios
Friday 23 October 2015 19.07 BST
Israel’s ambassador to Spain celebrated with officials over the changing of an ancient Spanish town’s name from Castrillo Matajudios – which translates as Camp Kill Jews – to Castrillo Mota de Judios, or Jews’ Hill Camp.
The renaming on Friday came a year after the north-central village of 50 inhabitants voted for the name to change after the mayor argued it was offensive and the village should honour its Jewish origins.
Documents show the village’s original name was Jews’ Hill Camp and that the Kill Jews name dates from 1627 after a 1492 Spanish edict ordered Jews to convert to Catholicism or flee the country. Those who remained faced the Spanish inquisition, with many burned at the stake.
Ambassador Daniel Kutner said the town’s decision to celebrate its Jewish past was to be praised. “It must be remembered that the expulsion from Spain was for Jews a traumatic event of historic dimensions and set out the trajectory for the Jewish people from there on,” he said at a brief ceremony where the town’s new name was unveiled.
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AP in Castrillo Mota de Judios
Friday 23 October 2015 19.07 BST
Israel’s ambassador to Spain celebrated with officials over the changing of an ancient Spanish town’s name from Castrillo Matajudios – which translates as Camp Kill Jews – to Castrillo Mota de Judios, or Jews’ Hill Camp.
The renaming on Friday came a year after the north-central village of 50 inhabitants voted for the name to change after the mayor argued it was offensive and the village should honour its Jewish origins.
Documents show the village’s original name was Jews’ Hill Camp and that the Kill Jews name dates from 1627 after a 1492 Spanish edict ordered Jews to convert to Catholicism or flee the country. Those who remained faced the Spanish inquisition, with many burned at the stake.
Ambassador Daniel Kutner said the town’s decision to celebrate its Jewish past was to be praised. “It must be remembered that the expulsion from Spain was for Jews a traumatic event of historic dimensions and set out the trajectory for the Jewish people from there on,” he said at a brief ceremony where the town’s new name was unveiled.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/23/israel-ambassador-to-spain-celebrates-town-dropping-kill-jews-name
