The GSG and Responding to Insults

[c.d.]

There certainly seems to be a lot of insults being tossed around on the boards lately even more so than usual. You can round up the usual suspects -- the Trump thread, the Lechmere thread, the Diary thread etc. Now one thing that is consistent in all these threads is that whenever one poster delivers a snarky comment aimed at a fellow poster, he or she is almost guaranteed to get an equally snarky comment back. It is simply human nature.

So how does this relate to the GSG? Well I know that some posters are absolutely adamant that the GSG is anti-semitic. Now while I think that they could very well be right I don't think it is at all unrealistic to think that the message could be pro-Jewish. If a Jewish person is an 1888 Whitechapel resident and sees insults aimed at Jews written all about would he not respond in kind just like pretty much everyone on these boards? And just like these boards he does not have to fear reprisal in the form of a punch in the face. Trade the anonymity provided by a computer keyboard for a piece of chalk and you are safe. I don't think it is far fetched considering the wording and the way we all respond to insults to believe that the message could be saying "we Jews are tired of being blamed for things we did not do" especially if the GSG was not written by the killer.

c.d.

[Scott Nelson]

That's my interpretation as well. The GSG was written by a Jew complaining of their treatment and he wasn't the Whitechapel Murderer.

[Damaso Marte]

The fact that the GSG can be easily interpreted as either anti-semitic or pro-semitic is one of my favorite examples of how we truly don't know anything about the Jack the Ripper case.

[Fisherman]

One small matter is how the writer calls the Jews "the men", and nothing derogatory. In a sense, that may be interpreted as recognition of the Jews. "Be a man" and all that...

[Harry D]

Would a Jew use a cockney double-negative?

There is a degree of ambiguity, as only the original author will know the intent behind it, but I'm 99.9% confident that whoever wrote it was proclaiming that Jews never take responsibility for their behavior. If the killer did write the graffiti, this might support the notion that he was religiously-motivated.

That said, I waver on the graffiti's authenticity. I haven't ruled out that it was chalked by one of the local kids. Perhaps he'd heard his parents complaining about the Jews and decided to take action the way kids do. That would explain the 'round schoolboy hand', the awkward height of the graffiti and it's rather tentative nature.

[Pierre]

There certainly seems to be a lot of insults being tossed around on the boards lately even more so than usual. You can round up the usual suspects -- the Trump thread, the Lechmere thread, the Diary thread etc. Now one thing that is consistent in all these threads is that whenever one poster delivers a snarky comment aimed at a fellow poster, he or she is almost guaranteed to get an equally snarky comment back. It is simply human nature.

So how does this relate to the GSG? Well I know that some posters are absolutely adamant that the GSG is anti-semitic. Now while I think that they could very well be right I don't think it is at all unrealistic to think that the message could be pro-Jewish. If a Jewish person is an 1888 Whitechapel resident and sees insults aimed at Jews written all about would he not respond in kind just like pretty much everyone on these boards? And just like these boards he does not have to fear reprisal in the form of a punch in the face. Trade the anonymity provided by a computer keyboard for a piece of chalk and you are safe. I don't think it is far fetched considering the wording and the way we all respond to insults to believe that the message could be saying "we Jews are tired of being blamed for things we did not do" especially if the GSG was not written by the killer.

c.d.

It wasn´t about jews.

[Pierre]

Would a Jew use a cockney double-negative?

There is a degree of ambiguity, as only the original author will know the intent behind it, but I'm 99.9% confident that whoever wrote it was proclaiming that Jews never take responsibility for their behavior. If the killer did write the graffiti, this might support the notion that he was religiously-motivated.

That said, I waver on the graffiti's authenticity. I haven't ruled out that it was chalked by one of the local kids. Perhaps he'd heard his parents complaining about the Jews and decided to take action the way kids do. That would explain the 'round schoolboy hand', the awkward height of the graffiti and it's rather tentative nature.

Hi Harry,

The GSG has a very simple explanation. It is a total explanation, i.e. it is connected to the motive, to the history of the killer, to his own personal problem and to his intent to communicate with someone who understands the communication. It is not an outlandish statement I make here, it is a very tragic and terribly egoistic history, where there are very interesting sources. So there is a very good chance that the GSG is solved. I think that when I can finally tell you about it, you will all understand it, or rather, I know you will.

Best wishes, Pierre

[Abby Normal]

There certainly seems to be a lot of insults being tossed around on the boards lately even more so than usual. You can round up the usual suspects -- the Trump thread, the Lechmere thread, the Diary thread etc. Now one thing that is consistent in all these threads is that whenever one poster delivers a snarky comment aimed at a fellow poster, he or she is almost guaranteed to get an equally snarky comment back. It is simply human nature.

So how does this relate to the GSG? Well I know that some posters are absolutely adamant that the GSG is anti-semitic. Now while I think that they could very well be right I don't think it is at all unrealistic to think that the message could be pro-Jewish. If a Jewish person is an 1888 Whitechapel resident and sees insults aimed at Jews written all about would he not respond in kind just like pretty much everyone on these boards? And just like these boards he does not have to fear reprisal in the form of a punch in the face. Trade the anonymity provided by a computer keyboard for a piece of chalk and you are safe. I don't think it is far fetched considering the wording and the way we all respond to insults to believe that the message could be saying "we Jews are tired of being blamed for things we did not do" especially if the GSG was not written by the killer.

c.d.

Perhaps. But I think more than likely it reads as the Jews won't take the blame for anything.

Also, would a Jew spell the word wrong?

[Henry Flower]

Pierre, if you can't yet tell us, why not hold your tongue until you can?

Your boring game of "I know but I can't tell you!" really does make you look like an immature fool. I'm sure you don't want to look like a fool, so why not just show some restraint, like an adult, and come back when you can actually tell us what you think and show us your sources? Until that time you're just acting like a real prat.

[Henry Flower]

Perhaps. But I think more than likely it reads as the Jews won't take the blame for anything.

Also, would a Jew spell the word wrong?

I agree Abby. There's a world of difference between "will not" and "should not". If we substitute a contemporary name, for example:

"Jose Mourinho is the man that will not be blamed for nothing"

I think the import is quite clear. If the writer had written a slight variant - "Nothing is ever the Jews' fault" I think we'd all be quite clear what message was intended.

Of course the writer didn't use those words so we are left with this slight shadow of doubt, but I would bet on the commonly accepted reading being the right one.

And I'm guessing it had nothing to do with the killing. I don't see Jack carrying chalk, and if he did I imagine we'd not be left with this solitary example of his rather dull thoughts. Regardless of Pierre's convoluted melodrama, I see no evidence the message was connected to the murder, for the simple reason that there is absolutely no connection between the message and the murders. It was a racist message in an immigrant area, a message that had nothing to do with killing, with women, or with prostitutes. Were it not coincidentally adjacent to the discarded fabric nothing would connect it to the killings at all.

[Ginger]

I don't think it is far fetched considering the wording and the way we all respond to insults to believe that the message could be saying "we Jews are tired of being blamed for things we did not do" especially if the GSG was not written by the killer.

c.d.

I think that's a reasonable interpretation, certainly. On the whole, though, reading it aloud, I tend to go with an anti-Semitic meaning. It just sounds sarcastic to me.

[c.d.]

Just to be clear, I am not arguing that the GSG is pro-Jewish only that it is not unreasonable to think that that might be the case. If I had to guess, I would say it is probably anti-semitic. I was simply trying to point out that being adamant about its meaning one way or another is not really warranted in my opinion.

c.d.

[Elamarna]

Just to be clear, I am not arguing that the GSG is pro-Jewish only that it is not unreasonable to think that that might be the case. If I had to guess, I would say it is probably anti-semitic. I was simply trying to point out that being adamant about its meaning one way or another is not really warranted in my opinion.

c.d.

c.d.

Think that is a very fair point, have never been in the slightest convinced that it is related to the apron or killings, however admit I may well be total wrong about that.



Steve

[Robert St Devil]

playing off the idea that Elizabeth Stride,s murder was an interrupted assault and leading to the thought that Catherine Eddowes, murder was unintended, how do you interpret the GSG if it had been written on the side of the IWEC?

[Henry Flower]

playing off the idea that Elizabeth Stride,s murder was an interrupted assault and leading to the thought that Catherine Eddowes, murder was unintended, how do you interpret the GSG if it had been written on the side of the IWEC?

If my aunty had bollocks I'd interpret that to mean she was my uncle. But she didn't.