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.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
