Paris mayor backs ban of comedian from stage
Print Edition
The mayor of Paris yesterday joined France’s interior minister in calling for comedian Dieudonne, whose vitriolic brand of humour targeting Jews has caused outrage, to be banned from the stage.
Dieudonne has been part of France’s comedy scene for years, but while he started out with a Jewish comedian in sketches that mocked racism, he gradually veered to the far-right and alienated some fans with anti-Jewish comments — his latest being a joke about gas chambers.
Speaking on Europe 1 radio, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe likened Dieudonne to a criminal who “defends crimes against humanity”.
“We must ban the performances (of the comedian),” he said, echoing recent comments made by Interior Minister Manuel Valls.
Dieudonne has been fined several times for defamation, using insulting language, hate speech and racial discrimination, and a provocative arm gesture he makes has been described as an upside down Nazi salute.
Dieudonne argues that the horrors of the Holocaust are given too much focus to the exclusion of other crimes, like slavery and racism, and says his so-called “quenelle” gesture merely represents his anti-establishment views.
The gesture has landed several personalities in hot water, including footballer Nicolas Anelka, who used it to celebrate a goal.
“SOS Racisme,” an organization that fights racism, said yesterday it would take to court anyone who spread pictures of or did the “quenelle” in locations such as synagogues or Holocaust memorials “that leave no doubt” as to the anti-semitic nature of the gesture.
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