French Soccer Star Nicolas Anelka Makes ‘Anti-Semitic’ Quenelle Gesture After Goal
Controversial Salute: Nicolas Anelka, center, celebrates his goal. He later flashed the ?quenelle,? a gesture reminiscent of the Nazi salute. Image by getty images
A French soccer star celebrated a goal Saturday by flashing the so-called quenelle salute popularized by comedian Dieudonne Mbala-Mbala, who has been accused of anti-Semitism.
Nicolas Anelka made the controversial gesture after scoring the first of two goals for his West Bromwich Albion team against West Ham United in England’s Barclays Premier League.
Anelka, a former star for Chelsea who has been photographed with Mbala-Mbala, said he was responding to the French government’s consideration of banning the comedian for stoking hatred.
West Brom said it was not intended as an anti-Semitic act, while Anelka tweeted: “This gesture was a special dedication to my friend Dieudonne,” according to the BBC
French Sports Minister Valerie Fourneyron criticised Anelka on Twitter. She wrote : “Anelka’s gesture is a shocking provocation, disgusting.”
Named after the word for a pastry, the quenelle has stoked serious controversy in France since first being used by Mbala Mbala in 2005.
Roger Cukierman, head of the CRIF umbrella group of Jewish organizations, described the quenelle as a “Nazi salute in reverse” in a complaint made to French President Francois Hollande.
Mbala-Mbala has countered by threatening to sue prominent Jewish critics.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
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 week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
