Introduction
The controversial French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala has been prosecuted several times for antisemitic statements and incitement; in 2009 in Paris he was fined €10,000 for making such statements, and, most recently, in 2015, he was sentenced in Belgium to two months' imprisonment and fined €9,000 for inciting to hatred in a 2012 show he gave in that country.[1] In other shows, and in videos, Dieudonné depicted Jews as "Zionists" in black religious garb, and mocked the Nazi gas chambers as fake.[2]
Despite the trials and condemnation, Dieudonné remains very popular among a growing number of French young people, many of whom follow French conspiracy theorist Alain Soral and are affiliated with either the extreme-right Front National or the extreme left in France. Dieudonné's followers have created "Quenelle" pages on Facebook, with variations in spelling, named for the "f*ck-you" gesture that Dieudonné invented and popularized and that has sparked protests because of its resemblance to the Nazi salute.[3]
One of the "Quenelle" Facebook pages that post incitement content is the "Quenelle+" page; as it states on its "About" page, its name is aimed against France's Canal+ television channel, which it attacks for "acting like the whore" of the French "oligarchy," that is, the wealthy and powerful in the country.
The Quenelle+ Facebook page is very active; it posts daily, gets plenty of comments, and has more than 23,400 "likes" as of this writing. The many antisemitic and conspiracy-theory posts on this page originate from sources such as the conspiracy-theory Panamza website, Alain Soral's anti-U.S. conspiracy-theory Egalité et Réconciliation website, and others. Quenelle+ attacks a wide range of politicians and public figures, but focuses particularly on Jewish figures such as French philosophers Bernard-Henri Levy and Alain Finkielkraut; the latter invariably prompt antisemitic comments, which are allowed to remain on the page. For example, French Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut was invited to "leave and go to Israel," and Levy was ordered "to shut up physically and forever." Any mention of Israel is followed by antisemitic statements and furious commentary.
Following are examples of antisemitic posts and comments from April 18 to May 1, 2016 on the Quenelle+ Facebook page:
On French Jewish Philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy
French Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy is a favorite target of Quenelle+. A post with photos of Levy and dog excrement got over 100 "likes."
Commenter "Mehdy Le Juste" wrote "Beautiful! I can smell his [Bernard-Henri Levy's] shit even in my home." "Joel Cois" responded with a cartoon of a stereotypical antisemitic depiction of a hook-nosed Jew rubbing his hands in glee with the text "Never Forget, I am THE VICTIM."
The previous day, a video of Levy titled "Shabbathurbate" was posted on Quenelle+ with the text "The shitty finger of a masterful Zio-Jewish millionaire..." The video, which was first posted on the Facebook page "Cidre Vicious," shows Bernard-Henri Levy animatedly gesturing with his hand and speaking, with no words heard and a soundtrack of flatulence sounds and music added for comic effect.
In the comments, "Laurent Guillouet" posted a graphic of Dieudonné and the statement "Shut up - physically and forever." "Sylvain Caro" wrote: "May the bastard [i.e. BHL] die out!!!!" "Wahid WaAyari" wrote: "A video that hurts one's ass!
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On French Jewish Philosopher Alain Finkielkraut
The page posted a photo of the renowned French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut in a pose reminiscent of typical antisemitic depictions of Jews, along with the text: "This country (France) deserves our hatred: what it did to my parents is far more violent than what it did to Africans. What did this country (France) do - only good."
"Fabrice Haro" commented on the post: "'France, love it or leave it,' one 'major' politician [i.e. former French president Nicolas Sarkozy] used to say... so just leave - why not go to Israel!" "Moktar Benhamid" wrote: "[You] dung, your hatred of France is inside [you]! You know how to pretend, you big hypocrite, like your ilk!!!!!!"
On French Jewish Journalist Patrick Cohen
A post of a quote from the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur praising the well-known French journalist Patrick Cohen and calling him "the best interviewer in Paris" and a very hard worker triggered hostile commentary. "Joel Cois" wrote: "ahahahaha, I chitted a shoananas [when I read this]!!" -"shoananas," or "Holocaust Pineapple," is a derisive term coined by Dieudonné that first appeared in a song he wrote mocking the Holocaust.[4]
On The Stereotype Of Freemason Jews
A cartoon posted by Quenelle+, that was originally published in July 2013 by the French extreme right-wing newspaper Rivarol, which is openly antisemitic, shows a speaker identified as a Freemason Jew saying different things to the world and to the Jews. To the world, he says: "Peoples of the world, in order to establish peace, you need to fight nationalism, defend secularism, and mix with other races"; to the Jews, he says in an aside: "People of Israel, in order to dominate the world, you need to do the opposite."
On Israel, In Antisemitic Language
A YouTube video alleging a "connection" between 9/11 and Israel was posted on the page under the title "Israel and September 11 - The Great Taboo."
Quenelle+ also shared an April 28 article reporting on a suggestion by British Labour MP Naz Shah on her Facebook page that Israel be relocated to the U.S. Following a controversy about her post, she was suspended from the Labour Party and apologized before the House of Commons.[5] The Quenelle+ post triggered openly antisemitic comments:
"Jack Dupont" wrote: "No need to move. They are at home everywhere in the world. As [the Jewish economist Jacques] Attali clearly put it, France, for instance, is a hotel." "Henri Lebo" wrote: "Not a bad idea! They will be able to use Hollywood full blast to make the goyim cry." "PinoNuzzaci" wrote: "Israel controls the media of our allegedly free country." "Alain Detreloin" re-shared the antisemitic cartoon posted by "Joel Cois" above, of the hook-nosed Jew with the caption "Never forget, I am the victim."
In mid-April, Charlie Hebdo cofounder Philippe Val visited Israel and gave a lecture, titled "Jerusalem and Athens: Sources of Democracy" at a French-language conference on Jerusalem; in a subsequent interview with the Tel Aviv-based French-language radio station TAF he expressed friendship towards Israel. An April 18, 2016 post on Quenelle+ with quotes from the interview prompted the following comments: "Olifrugi Vore" wrote, "A big lick on the masters' ass"; "Gamenga Losso" wrote, "[That] son of a bitch, it should have been him who was shot [i.e. in the January 2015 terror attack on the magazine's Paris headquarters]."
*Nathalie Szerman is Director of MEMRI French.
Endnotes:
[1] See also: MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No.1055, French Comedian Dieudonné Promotes New Humor-Based Anti-Semitic Subculture, January 16, 2014; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4829, French Comic Dieudonné: 'Muslims and Christians Should Unite' Against The Jews; 'Together We Will Be Able To Fight This Satanic Spirit Which Now Heads The Highest International Institutions', July 11, 2012; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4738, Canadian Promoter Cancels Montreal Show by Antisemitic French Comedian Dieudonné, May 18, 2012; MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No.802, Iranian 'Conference on Hollywoodism and Cinema' Honors Prominent French Holocaust Deniers,February 23, 2012; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4445, Antisemitic Statements, Publications by Iranian Regime, January 25, 2012; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4913, Antisemitic French Comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala To Release Iran-Produced Film, 'The Antisemite', November 23, 2011.
[2] MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4517, Iranian-French Co-Production by Anti-Semitic French Comedian Dieudonné Presents Spoof on Auschwitz Gas Chambers, February 23,2012.
[3] In French verlan slang, which involves inversion of syllables within a word, "quenelle" is "nique-le," meaning "f*ck him."
[4] MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2920, French Comedian DieudonnéM'balaM'bala Promotes His New Song 'Shoahnanas' ('Holocaust Pineapples'), Claims: Greater Freedom of Speech in Iran Than in France; Most Slave Traders Were Jews, April 21, 2010.
[5] Independent.co.uk, 28 April 2016.
