In a unprecedented move, France is trying to ban the material used by a French comic, which is seen as anti Semitic.
Even in a country where freedom of expression is sacred, a comedian has been signaled as anti-semitic and the Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, is trying to ban his performances.
Dieudonne`, a famous actor and comedian in France, has a one man show in Paris, in which he makes no bones of his overtly anti-Semitic beliefs. Some of his statements are downright hateful, and have qualified as hate speech. In one of his shows he called commerations of the Holocaust, "memorial pornography".
Minister Valls' action comes on the heels of earlier convictions for public defamation, hate speech and racial discrimination against the comic. But these earlier sanctions have not diminished the comic's vitriol. Undeterred, Diedounne` continues to spew hatred.
At issue is a concern that if Diedounne` is allowed to continue, he could incite violence. His gatherings are seen as a recruitment tool for the young, and a vehicle for hateful propaganda.
Dieudounne` has also tried to incite violence towards Jewish radio personality Patrick Cohen, saying that his telecasts bring the following thoughts to his mind: "Gas chambers....too bad [they no longer exist]".
Amazingly enough, Muslim radicals like Dieudounne` have lately become close to right wing groups, whose resurgence in Europe is the subject of renewed focus from authorities. Dieudonne` even employs a gesture that has been compared to an upside down Nazi salute, called the 'quenelle'.
Diedounne` is also a close friend of Jean Marie Le-Pen, himself a politician sanctioned for his extreme right wing ideals and hateful propaganda, and has previously entertained Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson during his performances.
Source : France 24 /12.27.13
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