Dieudonne
YT / sott.net
Mon, 12 Jan 2015
Little more needs to be said. Watch.
Comment: this video of BBC reporter Tim Wilcox pointing out to a Jewish woman in Paris yesterday that the Palestinians suffer at the hands of the Israelis, to which she responds, "we cannot do an amalgam", which basically means that when discussing Jewish suffering or terrorist attacks, context is not allowed.
Vineyard of the Saker
I have been contacted today by the producers of a most interesting and unique documentary entitled Jacob Cohen "Documenterview" who informed me that their video was now available on YouTube in a seven-part series you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzHtFW-mC6vGh07g8RK7sUITTYsQYBlN0
When I asked them to make the video available in one file, they told me that they would do that, but that in the meantime I could use a special embed code which makes all the seven series available in one window. Since I do not want to wait, this is what I will do today, but I will let you know when the full documentary becomes available in one file.
Jacob Cohen is an extremely interesting person. This French Jew, born in Morocco, is the author of several very interesting books. This ex-Freemason and ex-Zionist, Cohen is the first person to write a full book dedicated to the topic of the voluntary Jewish collaborators of Israel known as "Sayan" (plural: "Sayanim"): Le Printemps des Sayanim which, needless to say, is not available in English. And since the English language Wikipedia does not offer any info about Cohen, the best I can do is to give you a link to a Google-translation of his French Wikipedia entry. Here is a link to his blog (in French): http://jacobdemeknes.blogspot.com/
This documentary also discusses the "Dieudonné" phenomenon and the general problem of the struggle of the French people against the Zionist-controlled nomenklatura. At a time when Berhard-Henri Levi travels to Kiev to declare his full support for the Nazi junta in power, it is very timely to get an insight into what is really happening in France as told by a extremely well-informed ex-insider.
The full series is long (4,5 hours) but I nevertheless highly recommend it to everybody.
The Saker
PS: for my previous articles about Dieudonné, Soral and the French anti-Zionist dissident movement please see here:
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2009/05/israel-lobby-commits-maje-blunder-in.html
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2009/06/dieudonnes-anti-zionist-campaign-in.html
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2013/11/is-new-revolution-quietly-brewing-in.html
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2014/01/state-repression-in-france-only-makes.html
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2014/01/quenelle-warfare-in-france-report-from.html
French Dissidents
An Interview by Alimuddin Usmani
Translated by Romain Redouin
Article taken from Gilad.co.uk
French version here
Alain Soral and Gilad Atzmon have each faced (and perhaps welcomed)
criticism and controversy as a result of their intellectual inquiries
and honest reasoning. Neither man has shied away from politically
incorrect observations including those on issues of Zionism, culture,
Europe or freedom of speech.
How did you get to know each other?
AS: I first got to know Gilad through his music. I
am a jazz lover and have long appreciated Gilad who is an
internationally known and admired musician. Gilad also played with
Robert Wyatt who has been my favorite musician since I was 16.
Gilad and I met in person two years ago at the Paris Book Fair. He
was there to finalize the contract of his latest book, “The Wandering
Who?” which is co-published by my publishing company, Kontre Kulture.
I am blown away by Gilad’s courage and lucidity. By culture and
experience I have seen that those Jews who are able to tear the veil of
tribalism to reach the authentic universal are very rare, although they
are always the best!
GA: Soral published one of the two French editions
of my latest book, “The Wandering Who.” I met him at the Paris book fair
2 years ago and in spite of the language barrier between us, I have
managed to learn a lot from him. Soral is one of the last European
intellectuals. And it is far from surprising that the Left is outraged
by his profound political and ideological insights. For quite a while
those who oppose, satirize or criticize the domination of the Zionist
lobby within French politics and media, seem to be subject to political
abuse and judicial persecution.
Why do you think the Zionist elite choose to target France in particular?
AS: It should be noted first that France has, or
suffers from – depending on your point of view – what is by far the
largest Jewish community in Europe, with nearly 700,000 members, while
Italy or Spain, for example, have about 40,000. The pressure and the
influence of this very organized community on French power and policy
are inevitably proportional to its size.
There are also some historical components that are particular to
France: France prides itself on being the country of human rights, it
was the first nation to emancipate the Jews of Europe, it had the
Dreyfus affair, the maintained guilt of Petainism, the Zionism of the
Fourth Republic, the dominance of the Grand Orient masonry on the
supposedly French socialist left … These are some of the many factors
that give our “organized Jewish community” as it defines itself, its
effective and overwhelming position of moral watchdog.
GA: I think that the Jewish Lobby is particularly
forceful in France as a result of the impact of the ’68 student
revolution. French society has been broken into a multitude of identity
groups, and the more broken a society is, the more it tends to subscribe
to Jewish politics.
The reason is simple. After 3000 years of tribal exilic operation,
the Jewish intelligencia is the most advanced in identity sectarian
politics and cultural manipulation. The gist of identity politics is an
attempt to transform the cohesive host nation into a myriad of godless
synagogues. To some extent, Soral and Dieudonné have managed to unite
what is left of the French working class; which includes Muslims, Arabs,
Blacks and Whites. And as we have seen, the Jews and the Socialists see
this development as an imminent danger.
A controversial anti-immigration initiative won the backing
of the Swiss electorate on February 9. EU politicians reacted harshly,
some even threatened Switzerland. For its part, the State of Israel
continues to enforce an immigration policy based solely on the criteria
of Jewish ethnicity, without receiving any criticism from the EU. How
should we interpret this discrepancy?
AS: I think one of the best definitions of power,
for those who have ceased to harbor illusions of democratic equality is:
“Give to yourself and yourself alone the right to do the opposite of
what you brutally require from others”.
The Zionist Jewish community, which dominates the Western discourse,
requires the goyim to behave as men of the left: anti-racist and
anti-nationalist … While they themselves behave as far right-wing men
through their shameless support of a country (Israel) which is openly
racist and ultra-nationalist.
GA: It is very simple. As much as Jewish
intelligencia, wants to break the host nation, to dismantle its cohesive
narrative, and debase the patriotic impetus, the Jewish State is
committed to Jewish interests that represent the complete opposite of
the ideology it espouses. Israel defines itself as the Jewish State and
it subscribes to a racist, expansionist, nationalist and patriotic
ideology. This may seem to be a discrepancy, but in fact it isn’t.
The above dual ethic is actually engraved in Jewish emancipation
philosophy. The Jewish Haskala (enlightenment) motto that is mistakenly
attributed to Moses Mendelssohn instructs the Jew- “be a Jew in your
tent and a man on the street.” It teaches the Israelite to behave as a
Jew at home but, while in the street to pretend to be a goy. This
perplexing dishonest dualism (one lies to God at home while misleading
the Goy in the street) explains the contradiction between the Jewish
intelligencia call for diversity in the West, on the one hand, and the
adherence to hard core patriotism in the Jewish State, on the other
hand.
The Jewish Haskala dual existential mode allows a clear distinction
between the ‘Goyim universe’ and the ‘Jewish ghetto.’ In practice,
Jewish intellectuals would teach the Goyim about diversity and
tolerance, yet defend vile Judeo-centrism at home, i.e., Israel.
The expression “Judeo-Masonic conspiracy” is mainly used to
discredit those who criticize the bond between the Masonic and the
Zionist network. Is it possible to demonstrate this bond without being
locked up in a “reductio ad hitlerum”?
AS: No. The term “Judeo-Masonic Plutocracy” has cradled all the 30’s far-right discourse, so it’s now an unusable phrase.
Yet, it is enough to look at the claimed alliances currently in in
the mondialist process to objectively determine that international
finance, the Masonic networks and Zionism are openly working in concert
to impose on us their unequal vision and domination.
GA: For a long time I have suggested that there are
no hidden conspiracies in the Jewish world – all is done in the open. I
strongly suggest that instead of looking for conspiracies under the
carpet, we learn to analyze mainstream news. Everything is there and in
the open. In fact I argue that the real meaning of Jewish Power is the
capacity to silence the discussion of Jewish power. To look for the
‘hidden agenda,’ in that context, is to surrender to Jewish power. We
must do the opposite. Look into the work of George Soros, AIPAC, CRIF,
CFI, Lord Levy, Wall Street, etc.
Finally what is your reaction to the strategic coalition conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah with Christendom?
AS: The utmost respect.
Facing the “clash of
civilizations” strategy advocated by the American-Zionists, the
transcurrent alliances – Middle-class/Proletariat but also
Christians/Muslims – are the only solution. It took years of civil war
for the Lebanese to understand this and I just hope we will not have to
go that far in this disaster in France, in order to embark on this path
of wisdom.
GA: I guess that such an inevitable coalition is
what torments the Jewish intelligencia as inspired by the Frankfurt
School to operate forcefully against the so -called ‘patriarchal West.’
It is possible that true diverse humanism (as oppose to ‘diversity’)
poses the ultimate danger to Jewish cultural narcissistic chauvinism.
In true diverse humanism, we’re all united in our search for the
ethical and the universal, we revert to Athenian thinking and oppose the
Bernard Henri Levis and the rest of the Jerusalemite cantors.
Since the 1968 Student Revolution, the European and American Left,
together with a herd of Jewish progressive intellectuals, have
invested enormous effort in attempting to break society down into
multiple segments of identities. The Left adopted this peculiar approach because it could never cope with its own failure to bond with working people.
The Jewish intellectuals, who led the campaign, realized that
fragmented and divided nations are far less dangerous for Jews. As we
know, Jews are threatened by cohesive, patriotic nationalism, and for a
good reason. After all, they were amongst the prime victims of such an
ideology.
Bizarrely enough, dazzled by the emerging false prophecy of post-68
‘identity politics,’ the Left was quick to drop its universal ethos.
While in the past it aimed to cross the divide and unite the working
people, the post-68 Left actually split and ghettoized the Western
subjects by means of identification.
Instead of being and celebrating who and what we are, we’ve learned
to identify with ready-made soundbites. Rather than simply being Jill,
Joseph, Abe or Youssef, we are now identified ‘as a woman’, ‘as a gay’,
‘as a Jew’, ‘as a Muslim’, and so on. In practice, the New Left has been
erecting walls around us in an attempt to separate us into
infinitesimally small, marginal identity groups. Peculiarly, it is the
post-68 Left, rather than the capitalists, that drove us into
segregation, isolation and political paralysis.
But then, pretty much out of the blue, Dieudonné, a black French
comedian, has managed to re-unite the working people: the migrant
communities, the Black, the Muslim, the North African as well as the
White proletarian and at the same time, to deliver a universal message.
Dieudonné has reminded us what the Left stood for in the first place,
before it was conquered by Marcuse and his Frankfurt Yeshiva’s pals.
It is the French entertainer who brings to light the most instinctive
Left insight – we are actually united and identified in opposition to
our oppressors, namely, the establishment.
The ‘quenelle’ — a salute that was initially introduced by Dieudonné —
embodies a modest and graceful openness of true resistance. It is a
simple, restrained and poetic take on the crude Anglo-American ‘up
yours’. The gesture is obviously universal and an open call — everyone,
including Jews, are welcome in, as opposed to the post-68 identity
discourses that are largely defined by biology and race. Being an emblem
of an ethically driven and universalist standpoint the quenelle also
symbolizes an opposition to the primacy of Jewish suffering and the
tyranny of political correctness.
Dieudonné is the definitive hero of genuine socialist thinking in the
spirit of the Paris Commune, and as such, he indeed poses a great
danger to fake New Leftists and their paymasters at CRIF. The kosher
Frankfurt graduate sees the French masses gathering momentum and the
people marching in the streets of Paris shouting ‘the emperor has no
clothes’. In fact, there is not much to be concealed or suppressed
anymore. Once again, the bare truth reveals itself and against all odds.
The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity politics and Jewish Power in particular – available on Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkUq-3JF3M
Counterpunch
Diana Johnstone
The Bête Noire of the French Establishment
French mainstream media and politicians are starting
off the New Year with a shared resolution for 2014: permanently muzzle a
Franco-African comedian who is getting to be too popular among young
people.
In between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, no less than the President
of the Republic, François Hollande, while visiting Saudi Arabia on (very
big) business, said his government must find a way to ban performances
by the comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, as called for by French
Interior Minister, Manuel Valls.
The leader of the conservative opposition party, UMP, Jean-François
Copé, immediately chimed in with his “total support” for silencing the
unmanageable entertainer.
In the unanimous media chorus, the weekly Nouvel Observateur
editorialized that Dieudonné is “already dead”, washed up, finished.
Editors publicly disputed whether it was a better tactic to try to jail
him for “incitement to racial hatred”, close his shows on grounds of a
potential “threat to public order”, or put pressure on municipalities by
threatening cultural subsidies with cuts if they allow him to perform.
The goal of national police boss Manuel Valls is clear, but the powers that be are groping for the method.
The dismissive cliché heard repeatedly is that “nobody laughs at Dieudonné any more”.
In reality, the opposite is true. And that is the problem. On his
recent tour of French cities, videos show large, packed theaters roaring
with laughter at their favorite humorist. He has popularized a simple
gesture, which he calls the “quenelle”. It is being imitated by young
people all over France. It simply and obviously means, we are fed up.
To invent a pretext for destroying Dieudonné, the leading Jewish organizations CRIF (Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France, the French AIPAC) and LICRA (Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l’antisémitisme,
which enjoys special privileges under French law) have come up with a
fantasy to brand Dieudonné and his followers as “Nazis”. The quenelle
is all too obviously a vulgar gesture roughly meaning “up yours”, with
one hand placed at the top of the other arm pointing down to signify
“how far up” this is to be.
But for the CRIF and LICRA, the quenelle is “a Nazi salute in
reverse”. (You can never be too “vigilant” when looking for the hidden
Hitler.)
As someone has remarked, a “Nazi salute in reverse” might as well be
considered anti-Nazi. If indeed it had anything to do with Heil
Hitler. Which it clearly does not.
But world media are taking up this claim, at least pointing out that
“some consider the quenelle to be a Nazi salute in reverse”. Never mind
that those who use it have no doubt about what it means: F— the
system!
But to what extent are the CRIF and LICRA “the system”?
France needs all the laughter it can get
French industry is vanishing, with factory shutdowns week after
week. Taxes on low income citizens are going up, to save the banks and
the euro. Disillusion with the European Union is growing. EU rules
exclude any serious effort to improve the French economy. Meanwhile,
politicians on the left and the right continue their empty speeches,
full of clichés about “human rights” – largely as an excuse to go to war
in the Middle East or rant against China and Russia. The approval
rating of President Hollande has sunk to 15%. However people vote, they
get the same policies, made in EU.
Why then are the ruling politicians focusing their wrath on “the most
talented humorist of his generation” (as his colleagues acknowledge,
even when denouncing him)?
The short answer is probably that Dieudonné’s surging popularity
among young people illustrates a growing generation gap. Dieudonné has
turned laughter against the entire political establishment. This has
led to a torrent of abuse and vows to shut down his shows, ruin him
financially and even put him in jail. The abuse also provides a setting
for physical attacks against him. A few days ago, his assistant Jacky
Sigaux was physically attacked in broad daylight by several masked men
in front of the city hall of the 19th arrondissement – just opposite the Buttes Chaumont Park. He has lodged a complaint.
But how much protection is to be expected from a government whose
Interior Minister, Manuel Valls – in charge of police – has vowed to
seek ways to silence Dieudonné?
The story is significant but is almost certain to be badly reported
outside France – just as it is badly reported inside France, the source
of almost all foreign reports. In translation, a bit of garbling and
falsehoods add to the confusion.
Why Do They Hate Him?
Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala was born in a Paris suburb nearly 48 years
ago. His mother was white, from Brittany, his father was African, from
Cameroun. This should make him a poster child for the
“multiculturalism” the ideologically dominant left claims to promote.
And during the first part of his career, teaming up with his Jewish
friend, Elie Simoun, he was just that: campaigning against racism,
focusing his criticism on the National Front and even running for office
against an NF candidate in the dormitory town of Dreux, some sixty
miles West of Paris, where he lives. Like the best humorists, Dieudonné
always targeted current events, with a warmth and dignity unusual in the
profession. His career flourished, he played in movies, was a guest on
television, branched out on his own. A great observer, he excels at
relatively subtle imitations of various personality types and ethnic
groups from Africans to Chinese.
Ten years ago, on December 1, 2003, as guest on a TV show
appropriately called “You Can’t Please Everybody”, dedicated to current
events, Dieudonné came on stage roughly disguised as “a convert to
Zionist extremism” advising others to get ahead by “joining the
American-Israeli Axis of Good”. This was in the first year of the US
assault on Iraq, which France’s refusal to join had led Washington to
rechristen what it calls “French fries” (Belgian, actually) as “Freedom
fries”. A relatively mild attack on George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil”
seemed totally in the mood of the times. The sketch ended with a brief
salute, “Isra-heil”. This was far from being vintage Dieudonné, but
nevertheless, the popular humorist was at the time enthusiastically
embraced by other performers while the studio audience gave him a
standing ovation.
Then the protests started coming in, especially concerning the final gesture seen as likening Israel to Nazi Germany.
“Anti-Semitism!” was the cry, although the target was Israel (and the
United States as allies in the Middle East). Calls multiplied to ban
his shows, to sue him, to destroy his career. Dieudonné attempted to
justify his sketch as not targeting Jews as such, but, unlike others
before him, would not apologize for an offense he did not believe he had
committed. Why no protests from Africans he had made fun of? Or
Muslims? Or Chinese? Why should a single community react with such fury?
Thus began a decade of escalation. LICRA began a long series of
lawsuits against him (“incitement to racial hatred”), at first losing,
but keeping up the pressure. Instead of backing down, Dieudonné went
farther in his criticism of “Zionism” after each attack. Meanwhile,
Dieudonné was gradually excluded from television appearances and treated
as a pariah by mainstream media. It is only the recent internet
profusion of images showing young people making the quenelle sign that
has moved the establishment to conclude that a direct attack would be
more effective than trying to ignore him.
The Ideological Background
To begin to understand the meaning of the Dieudonné affair, it is
necessary to grasp the ideological context. For reasons too complex to
review here, the French left – the left that once was primarily
concerned with the welfare of the working class, with social equality,
opposition to aggressive war, freedom of speech – has virtually
collapsed. The right has won the decisive economic battle, with the
triumph of policies favoring monetary stability and the interests of
international investment capital (“neo-liberalism”). As a consolation
prize, the left enjoys a certain ideological dominance, based on
anti-racism, anti-nationalism and devotion to the European Union – even
to the hypothetical “social Europe” that daily recedes into the cemetery
of lost dreams. In fact, this ideology fits perfectly with a
globalization geared to the requirements of international finance
capital.
In the absence of any serious socio-economic left, France has sunk
into a sort of “Identity Politics”, which both praises multiculturalism
and reacts vehemently against “communitarianism”, that is, the assertion
of any unwelcome ethnic particularisms. But some ethnic particularisms
are less welcome than others. The Muslim veil was first banned in
schools, and demands to ban it in adult society grow. The naqib and
burka, while rare, have been legally banned. Disputes erupt over Halal
foods in cafeterias, prayers in the street, while cartoons regularly
lampoon Islam. Whatever one may think of this, the fight against
communitarianism can be seen by some as directed against one particular
community. Meanwhile, French leaders have been leading the cry for wars
in Muslim countries from Libya to Syria, while insisting on devotion to
Israel.
Meanwhile, another community is the object of constant solicitude. In
the last twenty years, while religious faith and political commitment
have declined drastically, the Holocaust, called the Shoah in France,
has gradually become a sort of State Religion. Schools commemorate the
Shoah annually, it increasingly dominates historical consciousness,
which in other areas is declining along with many humanistic studies.
In particular, of all the events in France’s long history, the only one
protected by law is the Shoah. The so-called Gayssot Law bans any
questioning of the history of the Shoah, an altogether unprecedented
interference with freedom of speech.
Moreover, certain organizations,
such as LICRA, have been granted the privilege of suing individuals on
the basis of “incitement to racial hatred” (very broadly and unevenly
interpreted) with the possibility of collecting damages on behalf of the
“injured community”. In practice, these laws are used primarily to
prosecute alleged “anti-Semitism” or “negationism” concerning the Shoah.
Even though they frequently are thrown out of court, such lawsuits
constitute harassment and intimidation. France is the rare country
where the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement against Israeli
settlement practices can also be attacked as “incitement to racial
hatred”.
The violence-prone Jewish Defense League, outlawed in the United
States and even in Israel, is known for smashing books shops or beating
up isolated, even elderly, individuals. When identified, flight to
Israel is a good way out. The victims of the JDL fail to inspire
anything close to the massive public indignation aroused when a Jewish
person falls victim to wanton violence. Meanwhile, politicians flock to
the annual dinner of the CRIF with the same zeal that in the United
States they flock to the dinner of AIPAC – not so much for campaign
funds as to demonstrate their correct sentiments.
France has the largest Jewish population in Western Europe, which
actually largely escaped the deportation during German occupation that
expelled Jewish immigrants to concentration camps. In addition to an
old, established Jewish population, there are many newcomers from North
Africa. All this adds up to a very dynamic, successful population,
numerous in the more visible and popular professions (journalism, show
business, as well as science and medicine, among others).
Of all French parties, the Socialist Party (especially via the
Israeli Labor Party of Shimon Peres in the Socialist International) has
the closest historic ties with Israel. In the 1950s, when France was
fighting against the Algerian national liberation movement, the French
government (via Peres) contributed to the Israeli project of building
nuclear weapons. Today it is not the Labor Party that rules Israel, but
the far right. Hollande’s recent cozy trip to Benjamin Netanyahu
showed that the rightward drift of policy in Israel has done nothing to
strain relations – which seem closer than ever.
Yet this Jewish community is very small compared to the large number
of Arab immigrants from North Africa or black immigrants from France’s
former colonies in Africa. Several years ago, a leading Socialist Party
intellectual, Pascal Boniface, cautiously warned party leaders that
their heavy bias in favor of the Jewish community could eventually cause
electoral problems. This statement in a political assessment document
caused an uproar which nearly cost him his career.
But the fact remains: it is not hard for French people of Arab or
African background to feel that the “communitarianism” that really has
clout is the Jewish community.
The Political Uses of the Holocaust
Norman Finkelstein showed some time ago that the Holocaust can be
exploited for less than noble purposes: such as extorting funds from
Swiss banks. However, in France the situation is very different. No
doubt, constant reminders of the Shoah serve as a sort of protection for
Israel from the hostility aroused by its treatment of the
Palestinians. But the religion of the Holocaust has another, deeper
political impact with no direct relation to the fate of the Jews.
More than anything else, Auschwitz has been interpreted as the symbol
of what nationalism leads to. Reference to Auschwitz has served to give
a bad conscience to Europe, and notably to the French, considering that
their relatively small role in the matter was the result of military
defeat and occupation by Nazi Germany.
Bernard-Henri Lévy, the writer
whose influence has grown to grotesque proportions in recent years (he
led President Sarkozy into war against Libya), began his career as
ideologue by claiming that “fascism” is the genuine “French ideology”.
Guilt, guilt, guilt. By placing Auschwitz as the most significant event
of recent history, various writers and speakers justify by default the
growing power of the European Union as necessary replacement for
Europe’s inherently “bad” nations. Never again Auschwitz! Dissolve the
nation-states into a technical bureaucracy, free of the emotional
influence of citizens who might vote incorrectly. Do you feel French?
Or German? You should feel guilty about it – because of Auschwitz.
Europeans are less and less enthusiastic about the EU as it ruins
their economies and robs them of all democratic power over the economy.
They can vote for gay marriage, but not for the slightest Keynesian
measure, much less socialism. Nevertheless, guilt about the past is
supposed to keep them loyal to the European dream.
Dieudonné’s fans, judging from photographs, appear to be
predominantly young men, fewer women, mostly between the ages of twenty
and thirty. They were born two full generations after the end of World
War II. They have spent their lives hearing about the Shoah. Over 300
Paris schools bear a plaque commemorating the tragic fate of Jewish
children deported to Nazi concentration camps. What can be the effect
of all this? For many who were born long after these terrible events, it
seems that everyone is supposed to feel guilty – if not for what they
didn’t do, for what they supposedly might do if they had a chance.
When Dieudonné transformed an old semi-racist “tropical” song, Chaud
Cacao, into Shoah Ananas, the tune is taken up en masse by Dieudonné
fans. I venture to think that they are not making fun of the real
Shoah, but rather of the constant reminders of events that are supposed
to make them feel guilty, insignificant and powerless. Much of this
generation is sick of hearing about the period 1933-1945, while their
own future is dim.
Nobody Knows When to Stop
Last Sunday, a famous football player of Afro-Belgian origin, Nicolas
Anelka, who plays in the UK, made a quenelle sign after scoring a goal –
in solidarity with this friend Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala. With this
simple and basically insignificant gesture, the uproar soared to new
heights.
In the French parliament, Meyer Habib represents “overseas French” –
some 4,000 Israelis of French origin. On Monday he twittered: “Anelka’s
quenelle is intolerable! I will introduce a bill to punish this new
Nazi salute practiced by anti-Semites.”
France has adopted laws to “punish anti-Semitism”. The result is the
opposite. Such measures simply tend to confirm the old notion that
“the Jews run the country” and contribute to growing anti-Semitism.
When French youth see a Franco-Israeli attempt to outlaw a simple
gesture, when the Jewish community moves to ban their favorite humorist,
anti-Semitism can only grow even more rapidly.
Yet in this escalation, the relationship of forces is very uneven. A
humorist has words as his weapons, and fans who may disperse when the
going gets rough. On the other side is the dominant ideology, and the
power of the State.
In this sort of clash, civic peace depends on the wisdom of those
with most power to show restraint. If they fail to do so, this can be a
game with no winners.
Diana Johnstone can be reached at diana.johnstone@wanadoo.fr
