Dieudonne Backers Hack French Jewish Websites in ‘Operation Triple Quenelle’
Supporters of the anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonne hijacked three French pro-Israel websites in a coordinated cyber attack.
The attack Thursday paralyzed the websites Israel-Flash.com, Europe-Israel.org and liguedefensejuive.com, the website of the French Jewish Defense League, and replaced their content with messages of support for Dieudonne, Le Nouvel Observateur reported.
On the hijacked websites, the hackers called the attack a “triple quenelle” — a reference to a gesture invented by Dieudonne, which French Interior Minister Manuel Valls last week termed “an inverted Nazi salute, an anti-Semitic gesture of hate.” The gesture involves placing one’s outstretched left palm on one’s right shoulder while pointing downward with one’s right arm.
Dieudonne has been convicted seven times for inciting hatred of Jews. On Thursday, a French court banned him from performing in Nantes in what was to be the debut of his new show, “The Wall.”
On the website of the far-right JDL, the hackers posted a caricature of the league’s logo, featuring the silhouette of a ballet dancer framed by the Star of David of the original logo.
“Dear Zionist enemies, some of you (all?) interpret the quenelle to a be secretly anti-Semitic. This is a mistake,” the text posted on the JDL’s website read. “I realize you don’t like Dieudonne but unfortunately, you don’t understand the material. This can be fixed.”
The hackers also posted videos claiming the quenelle is an anti-establishment expression.
On Monday, Le Monde reported that French police are looking to question a man who posted a photo of himself performing the quenelle in front of a synagogue in Bordeaux, one of dozens of such photos that have surfaced in French media in recent weeks.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Cornell pro-Palestinian student leader opts to leave US, as Columbia ‘self-deportee’ makes her case to return
-
Fast Forward ‘Need a final solution’: Podcast host calls for mass deportation of U.S. Jews
-
Fast Forward Britain’s Tate to return Nazi-looted painting to heirs of Jewish art collector
-
Fast Forward 3 sentenced to death for murder of UAE Chabad rabbi
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Cornell pro-Palestinian student leader opts to leave US, as Columbia ‘self-deportee’ makes her case to return
-
Fast Forward ‘Need a final solution’: Podcast host calls for mass deportation of U.S. Jews
-
Fast Forward Britain’s Tate to return Nazi-looted painting to heirs of Jewish art collector
-
Fast Forward 3 sentenced to death for murder of UAE Chabad rabbi
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.