French Court Upholds Ban on ‘Quenelle’ Comic Dieudonne’s Shows
Image by getty images
A French court upheld a ban on a show scheduled in the central city of Tours for Friday by a comedian accused of insulting the memory of Holocaust victims, the second performance in a nationwide tour to be banned.
A lawyer for comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala said he would seek to appeal the decision, which came after the opening show in the western city of Nantes was prohibited by a last-minute court ruling on Thursday.
Dieudonne, 46, has been repeatedly fined for hate speech and local authorities in several towns across France have barred his shows on the grounds of risk to public order.
His lawyer, Jacques Verdier, has argued that a ban on his client performing would breach his freedom of speech.
The appeals court’s decision is a victory for Interior Minister Manuel Valls and President Francois Hollande, who had called for local authorities to take a hard line in determining whether or not to ban the shows.
Originally active with anti-racist left-wing groups, Dieudonne began openly criticising Jews and Israel in 2002 and ran in the European elections two years later with a pro-Palestinian party.
Critics say the comic’s trademark straight-arm gesture is a Nazi salute in reverse. Dieudonne counters that it is anti-Zionist and anti-establishment, but not anti-Semitic.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
