Belgian university posts hooked nose gesture for ‘Jew’ in sign language video

A Belgian university included in its sign-language dictionary a gesture meaning “Jew” which involves signalling a hooked nose.

The European Jewish Association on Monday protested in a statement the gesture’s inclusion in online videos on the website of the dictionary compiled by the University of Ghent.

The first videos, that function as sign language definitions for Jew, “seem standard,” the Association’s director, Menachem Margolin, wrote in the statement. Both videos show a presenter stroking an imaginary beard. “The second involving side-locks are borderline acceptable if misleading, and the last two are simply racist and demeaning to Jews, using a gesticulation of a large and hooked nose to define Jew,” he added.

Margolin asked campus authorities to remove the two gestures from their dictionary.