Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

French Soccer Star Nicolas Anelka Makes ‘Anti-Semitic’ Quenelle Gesture After Goal

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.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

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.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

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 credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link 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.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.