Small towns and villages often have slightly strange and oddly endearing names. Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein is easily one of the best ones in SA, but not all of these odd names are so amusing.

There is a little village in France with a rather more offensive and politically loaded name: La Mort aux Juifs or Death To Jews.

This is not the first time that calls to change the anti-Semitic name have surfaced, but with the increased tension and violence in Gaza it is perhaps more pertinent now than ever before.

The director of the US-based Jewish organisation expressed shock at discovering “the existence of a village in France officially named ‘La Mort aux Juifs”, in a letter to Interior Minister Bernard Cazenave.

“It is extremely shocking that this name has slipped under the radar in the 70 years that have passed since France was liberated from Nazism and the (pro-Nazi) Vichy regime,” Mr Samuels wrote.

Requesting the name change, Mr Samuels said “the current surge in public and violent expressions of anti-Semitism makes us uneasy regarding the motives of those seeking to reside at such an address”.

He said the name could have been in existence since the Crusader pogroms that led to the expulsion of France’s Jews in 1306.

But the deputy mayor of Courtemaux, Marie-Elizabeth Secretand, appeared to downplay any concerns over the name, telling Agence France-Presse news agency: “It’s ridiculous. This name has always existed.”

With one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe, it seems surprising that France is not more bothered by this. Should they be changing this town’s name?

Full story at BBC.