French anti-Semitic activist and comedian Dieudonné (French for “God Given”) M’Bala M’Bala has been arrested by French prosecutors for”defending terrorism,” after a Facebook posting indicating that he sympathized with a terrorist, Amedy Coulibaly, who murdered a black Paris policewoman on January 8 and who murdered four people at a Paris kosher supermarket on January 9.
On Facebook social media, French activist and comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala stated “Tonight, as far as I’m concerned, I feel like Charlie Coulibaly,” (“Je Suis Charlie Coulibaly”) in reference to the terrorist killer Amedy Coulibaly, who was the source of two terrorist attacks in France last week. The posting has been taken down.
The New York Times reports that Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala frequently makes anti-Semitic hate comments as part of his performances. The Times reports: “Mr. M’Bala M’Bala generally points to a supposed cabal of Jewish ‘slave drivers,’ secret rulers who cloak themselves in the memory of the Holocaust.” The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has reported that: “Dieudonne had called Jews “the world’s biggest crooks,” mocked the Holocaust, and called for the release of Youssouf Fofana, whose Gang of Barbarians had kidnapped, tortured, and murdered Ilan Halimi in 2006.” French commentators have been concerned about the growing anti-Semitism in France.
RFI, part of France Médias Monde, has been reporting on the investigation, along with AFP.
RFI has reported that French Interior Minister called French comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s comments “despicable.” The French Interior Minister stated at the end of December 2014 that there would be efforts to ban Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s performances in France, due to the comedian’s comments on the Holocaust and anti-Semitic remarks. In 2008, Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson appeared in one of his shows. Dieudonné has described Holocaust remembrance as “memorial pornography”. Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala has been convicted seven times for defamation and race hate. Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala has traveled to Lebanon for meetings with Global Terrorist Organization Hezbollah, and he has publicly stated that he has friends and supporters in the Hezbollah and the Hamas terrorist organizations.
The New York Times reports that “Mr. Valls’s decision followed the broadcast of a video in which Mr. M’Bala M’Bala laments that a prominent Jewish journalist (Patrick Cohen) did not die in ‘the gas chambers.’ Under French law, those words will probably be deemed ‘incitement to racial hatred.'”
France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls, stated “From one comment to the next, as he has shown in several television shows, he attacks the memory of Holocaust victims in an obvious and unbearable way.”
RFI has also reported that others praising the terrorist acts have faced legal action in France.
Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s anti-Semitic remarks and actions have been defended by extremist “Nation of Islam” organization’s website led by extremist Louis Farrakhan. During a campaign for president in 2007, Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’ had convicted Holocaust denier Serge Thion writing for his campaign web site under the pseudonym “Serge Noith”, as did also the longtime secretary of the Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy, Maria Poumier. Wikipedia reports that “On 26 December 2008, at an event at the Parc de la Villette in Paris, Dieudonné awarded the Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson an “insolent outcast” prize [prix de l’infréquentabilité et de l’insolence]. The award was presented by one of Dieudonné’s assistants, Jacky, dressed in a concentration camp uniform with a yellow badge.”
In 2013, anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala made news for popularizing a form of a downward Nazi salute called the “quenelle,” which also the name of a French fish dish. A year ago, on December 31, 2013, Dieudonné released a 15 minute video proposing that “2014 will be the year of the quenelle! “This anti-Semitic “salute” was increasingly performed near synagogues and other Jewish areas in France, as a promotion of hate speech. Some individuals have posed photos of themselves performing the “quenelle” salute at the Auschwitz concentration camp and at the Berlin Holocaust memorial.
Given all of the reprehensible history of Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s anti-Semitic remarks and actions, it would requires a lot of explanation as to how professional athletes from France who are his “friend,” could not possibly understand his stand on human rights, and the context of this anti-Semitic “salute,” which he chose to popularize.
Sports stars have performed the anti-Semitic “salute,” including French-Belgian Tony Parker who has played for the American basketball team San Antonio Spurs. After public criticism by the Simon Wiesenthal Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League, American basketball player Tony Parker apologized for the salute. Tony Parker claimed ignorance of the anti-Semitic nature of this “quenelle” salute, and apologized.
The San Antonio Spur’s Tony Parker had been photographed performing the “quenelle” salute with French anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala. Tony Parker was received at the White House on Monday, January 12, 2015, and along with his team presented the U.S. President with a jersey.
In addition, French soccer player Nicoloas Anelka, playing for the English Premier League’s West Brom team, has also been criticized for performing the “quenelle” salute. He stated that the gesture was “just a special dedication to my comedian friend Dieudonné.”
It should deeply troubling to this human rights group that sports figures and performers can promote such obvious anti-Semitic hatred, promotion of hatred, and even praise of terrorist attacks. In addition to the acts by the government of France to protect its citizens by the obscene and outrageous comments of those defending terrorism, we must recognize that such violence begins with the dehumanization of people of other identity groups.
The shameful efforts by anti-Semitic extremists to deny the tragedy of the Holocaust and to de-humanize the suffering of Jewish people and any other people, as part of a campaign of hatred, must be rejected by all those in support of our universal human rights.
We call upon the President of the United States of America, who has such time for various sports activities and honors, to also find the time to make a statement rejecting the anti-Semitic comments of individuals such as Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala. We call upon President Obama to make a statement rejecting such those anywhere in the world praising terrorist actions. We call upon President Obama to make a statement rejecting this anti-Semitic “salute,” as another form of bigotry and contempt for other religions and identity groups that all those supporting our universal human rights must reject. None of these actions by President Obama would be difficult or burdensome. They are actions which could much to clarify his views as a world leader.
We call for Tony Parker to use his position in sports to do more than make a meek apology about his involvement with Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, being photographed making an anti-Semitic salute together. We call for Tony Parker to publicly and aggressively reject and condemn the ideology, the hate, and praise of terrorist activities by Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala. We call for the city of San Antonio, Texas, not to look the other way on this matter, but to hold Mr. Parker accountable to defending the human rights and human dignity values that all those in American should represent.
To Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, we have an invitation to him to reject his praise of terrorist violence, and his anti-Semitic views. We remind him that the terrorist actions that he defends included the murder of a black French policewoman. We remind him that those who live by the standard of hatred and violence threaten not just one identity group, but threaten all of our human identity groups.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s position is that calls for hatred and violence against our human identity groups are a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Such anti-Semitic hatred and praise of violence is particularly despicable, given the context of the creation of United Nation’s Declaration of Universal Human Rights after the defeat of Hitiler’s Nazi Germany. The UDHR was in response to the “barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind,” by the Holocaust and crimes against humanity by Nazi Germany. This is the same Holocaust which such individuals seek to mock and deny. This is the same promotion of “barbarous acts” which such individuals seek to promote.
Article 3 of the UDHR states that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Article 7 of the UDHR states that “All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.” Article 28 of the UDHR states that “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.”
Fundamentally, Article 1 states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
We believe that living in accordance with the UDHR provides the pathway for resolving the hatred against identity groups, oppression, and violence.
We urge all to be: Responsible for Equality and Liberty.
