Anelka Anti-semitic gesture today

[dagraham]

But just because it doesn't offend you, it doesn't mean it's acceptable to others. My parents previously lived in France and we well aware of what it meant and the implications.

He performed it during a match aired live in France and I think the utter disgust of the French journo on the football weekly pod tells you just how offensive some did find it.

For me, its not necessarily about offence. Its about setting a marker. I absolutely guarantee you that if a player adopted an lslamophobic or anti-black gesture and performed it he would have the book thrown at him.

If the FA do nothing they are basically condoning it. All this anti-establishment bullshit is just a thinly disguised veil for good old fashioned jew baiting and it needs to be called out for what it is.

 

[onthetwo]

Montpellier defender Mathieu Deplagne did the same thing and not a word was said.



Deplagne told BFMTV:

It’s simple, it was a tribute to comedian Dieudonné. I went to see his show and I promised him that I will make a little dedication when I will score a goal. There is no political or anti-Semitic connotation as I could see. This is really a tribute the comedian.

I’d gladly do it again. For me, there really is no racist connotation as I could hear. It is a gesture that has no relation to anti-Semitism. The media and politicians are trying to hurt him and I find this a damaging process.

It is a gimmick. Just that.

In the locker room we often talk about it because many players also like the comedian. We laugh more than anything else, and we laughed after my gesture too. But I had no negative message.

And we wonder why people call footballers thick......

 

[tiger666]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25870640

West Bromwich Albion striker Nicolas Anelka has denied an FA charge brought against him for performing a "quenelle" gesture after scoring against West Ham.

Anelka, 34, has requested a personal hearing with the Football Association and could face a minimum five game ban.

The gesture drew criticism from political figures in France as it can be perceived as anti-Semitic.

On Thursday, Anelka asked the FA to lift the charges, stating he was "neither anti-Semitic nor racist".

More to follow.

 

[sim0n]

THIS:

Cukierman said he is "troubled" Anelka dedicated his quenelle to French performer Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, "whose own motives are incontestably anti-Semitic."

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.570278

END OF PLEASE MONSIEUR ANELKA..... just stop now

They should double the suspension for dragging this farce out...

 

[Mornstar]

Much ado about nothing. This whole fiasco has been blown waaay over the top as is everything related to jews/israel unfortunately. The attention and likely punishment being received bu anelka is completely disproportionate to the incident (a goal celebration!)....sigh

 

[sim0n]

Good Golly,.... dragging this out is ridiculous...

The Football Association hearing to rule on Nicolas Anelka's 'quenelle' gesture is not likely to begin until the end of February.

The West Brom striker's legal team are expected to be given around three weeks in order to construct a defence.

The former France international denies a charge of making a gesture that was "abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper".

 

[jj87]

Much ado about nothing. This whole fiasco has been blown waaay over the top as is everything related to jews/israel unfortunately. The attention and likely punishment being received bu anelka is completely disproportionate to the incident (a goal celebration!)....sigh

Completely fucking clueless.

If you are more concerned that a Premiership footballer should have to sit on his arse for a few Saturdays in a row than actually attempting to combat the public acceptance and proliferation of disgusting racism then I would suggest your priorities are completely out of fucking whack. All racism everywhere should be challenged head on, to suggest otherwise speaks volumes about your character.

Staggering ignorance.

 

[cozzo]

Completely fucking clueless.

If you are more concerned that a Premiership footballer should have to sit on his arse for a few Saturdays in a row than actually attempting to combat the public acceptance and proliferation of disgusting racism then I would suggest your priorities are completely out of fucking whack. All racism everywhere should be challenged head on, to suggest otherwise speaks volumes about your character.

Staggering ignorance.

Does his intentions come into play? Borini does what resembles a facist salute when he scores, should he be called up on that?

 

[jj87]

Does his intentions come into play? Borini does what resembles a facist salute when he scores, should he be called up on that?

I havent seen the Borini incident so I couldnt comment on that.

With Anelka, by his own admission, the gesture was in support of his friend, Dieudonne. Dieudonne is, and has been, propagating some quite vile Jew hatred, so the intention was to demonstrate support for racist behaviour. It is pretty clear cut.

 

[benski]

Religion lol

 

[Kingstheman]

Religion lol

I'm not sure this is a 'religion, lol' issue.

 

[Main Man]

Completely fucking clueless.

If you are more concerned that a Premiership footballer should have to sit on his arse for a few Saturdays in a row than actually attempting to combat the public acceptance and proliferation of disgusting racism then I would suggest your priorities are completely out of fucking whack. All racism everywhere should be challenged head on, to suggest otherwise speaks volumes about your character.

Staggering ignorance.

Firstly, I agree with your post entirely so don't get your knickers in a twist over this one...

How do you propose the FA prove Anelka's celebration was racially motivated?

For all intents and purposes, it seems only this guy uses this 'salute' is that correct?

With that in mind, could a tribute to a friend just be exactly that?

I honestly don't know what to think. All I can say is that when I saw him celebrate at the time I certainly wasn't offended, nor did I notice that the celebration mirrored any form of Nazi salute. I didn't have a clue what the celebration meant, nor did I care. That seems to be the case with 99% of the people who saw it.

That obviously does not make it it right, but if this wasn't flagged up back in France the FA/Premier League wouldn't have had a clue what the celebration was about would they?

Quite worryingly really if it is such an overt form of antisemitism.

 

[jj87]

Firstly, I agree with your post entirely so don't get your knickers in a twist over this one...

How do you propose the FA prove Anelka's celebration was racially motivated?

For all intents and purposes, it seems only this guy uses this 'salute' is that correct?

With that in mind, could a tribute to a friend just be exactly that?

I honestly don't know what to think. All I can say is that when I saw him celebrate at the time I certainly wasn't offended, nor did I notice that the celebration mirrored any form of Nazi salute. I didn't have a clue what the celebration meant, nor did I care. That seems to be the case with 99% of the people who saw it.

That obviously does not make it it right, but if this wasn't flagged up back in France the FA/Premier League wouldn't have had a clue what the celebration was about would they?

Quite worryingly really if it is such an overt form of antisemitism.

Without knowing the FA's internal disciplinary processes I'm not sure I'd be able to give you a completely accurate answer to that. But I would imagine a reasonable weight would be given to Anelka's own admission that the salute was a tribute to his friend, the one who has been repeatedly successfully prosecuted for racism in France. The evidence against his friend, would I suspect be enough to assert that Anelka is outwardly supporting a racist, and as such should be disciplined.

I too had no idea what the salute or the comedian he was supporting was about, but since looking into it, I can't believe there is still a debate about whether it is racist or not. Just because we didn't originally realise that he was being racist, is not an excuse to let him get away with it. How many people actually heard or saw what Terry said to Anton Ferdinand the first time?

Here is Anelka's mate's 'theme tune'



For those who don't know, Shoah is the Hebrew word for the holocaust - Ananas is the French word for pineapple - the whole song is about mocking the genocide of Jewish people. What the fuck this has to do with 'the establishment' (unless, as is a pretty common belief for anti-semites, Jews themselves are 'the establishment') I don't know.

Here is another one of Anelka's pal presenting famous Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson with an award on his 'comedy' show, helpfully presented by his assistant wearing a concentration camp uniform. Charming.



I agree, it is really quite concerning that this is so acceptable, but this is the political climate we live in. The internal politics and social issues in France, coupled with the Israel/Palestine conflict that have led to this particularly bizarre manifestation of anti-semitism being so popular, I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer definitively.

 

[ValenciaYid]

Just for the record and to further understand one of the reasons why anti semetism is so "acceptable":

For 50 years the UN has condemned virtually every conceivable form of racism. It has established programs to combat racism and its multiple facets -- including xenophobia -- but had consistently refused to do the same against anti-semitism until 1993, and then, only under intense US pressure.

 

[dagraham]

For those who don't know, Shoah is the Hebrew word for the holocaust - Ananas is the French word for pineapple - the whole song is about mocking the genocide of Jewish people. What the fuck this has to do with 'the establishment' (unless, as is a pretty common belief for anti-semites, Jews themselves are 'the establishment') I don't know.

Bingo.

 

[dagraham]

If anyone would like an insight into why the "quenelle" and Anelka's celebration have a far greater significance than merely an anti-establishment gesture, this is a very good article :

Full link here : http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/b...-international-threat-once-again-9087757.html

Brendan Simms: Anti-Semitism is an international threat once again
Nicolas Anelka’s controversial goal salute should alert us that prejudice against Jews is spreading worldwide


Published: 27 January 2014

Updated: 13:16, 27 January 2014


What do a major Palestinian political organisation, a French comedian of partly African descent, large sections of the Iranian elite and a rightwing Hungarian leader have in common? They all believe that the world is run by an international Jewish conspiracy.

Hamas, which currently runs the Gaza Strip, put an approving reference to the paranoid anti-Semitic forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, in its founding charter. Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, whose comic shows are particularly popular among young and disadvantaged Frenchmen from immigrant backgrounds, invented the now notorious “quenelle”, a disguised Hitler salute. It hit the mainstream news when West Bromwich Albion striker Nicolas Anelka gave the quenelle after scoring against West Ham in December of last year. The Iranian leadership and press routinely refer to the dominance of Jewish and Zionist forces — the two terms are used more or less interchangeably — in the world.

Gabor Vona, chairman of the racist Jobbik (“better”) movement in Hungary, now the third largest group in parliament, is more careful than some of his comrades. That did not stop him, however, from telling a rally in Budapest against the World Jewish Congress that, “These Israeli conquerors [Jews], these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves, because Hungary is not for sale”, accusing Hungarian “Jews” (pure and simple) of being “anti-Hungarian”. Vona’s arrival in Britain caused outrage among Jewish groups, and provoked demands from MPs, councillors and assembly members for his exclusion.

Traditional Jew-hatred is thousands of years old, but paranoid political anti-Semitism only goes back to the late 19th century. Central to modern anti-Semitism was anti-capitalism. Jews were seen as the vanguard of the department store, which impoverished small shopkeepers, of industrialisation, which enriched the few and exploited the many, and of the world financial system, which enslaved economies through the market and its servant, parliamentary democracy.

Adolf Hitler, for example, came to anti-Semitism via anti-capitalism, particularly of the “international” Anglo-American variety, which he accused of reducing post-First World War Germany to the status of a “colony”. Senior figures on the Left saw the connection to anti-capitalism: the German Social Democrat leader August Bebel referred to anti-Semitism as a form of socialism, albeit “a socialism of fools”.

Today, anti-Semitism unites a diverse but increasingly coherent coalition across classes, races and continents. Though partly feeding off hostility to Israel, its main strand is anti-capitalism and nationalist anti-globalisation. Thus Jobbik’s member of parliament Marton Gyongyos claims that Hungary is “subjugated to Zionism [ie the Jews]” and a “target of colonisation”. For this reason, he called on the government to establish “how many people of Jewish [not Israeli] descent there are here, and especially in the Hungarian parliament and the Hungarian government who represent a certain national security risk”.

Similar sentiments are routinely expressed in Iranian, Islamist and “anti-imperialist” discourse across the world. Likewise, Nicolas Anelka is being sincere when he claims that the quenelle is an “anti-Establishment” gesture, but only if one realises that in giving it, he believes that the Establishment is run by Jews.

Recently, anti-Semites in Hungary and Iran (and elsewhere) have begun to reach out to one another. For example, the Jobbik mayor of the small town of Tiszavasvari in eastern Hungary has inaugurated a twinning arrangement with the Iranian city of Ardabil. The erstwhile anti-racism campaigner M’bala M’bala is now allied with the anti-immigrant but fellow anti-Semite Jean-Marie Le Pen; the former National Front leader is godfather to one of his children.

Global anti-Semites also combine to deny or trivialise the Holocaust; M’bala M’bala refers to it as “Shoannas”, conflating the murder of six million Jews with a pineapple. In short, anti-Semites are now beginning to unite: in their eyes they have nothing to lose but the fetters of global Jewish or “Zionist” capital.

The authorities, both nationally and internationally, tend to treat anti-Semitism as routine “hate crime”. This is a mistake. Other groups — such as gypsies — suffer worse discrimination on a daily basis. Nobody, however, thinks that the Roma run the world.

What is distinctive about paranoid political anti-Semitism of the stripe of Hamas, Vona and M’bala M’bala is that it is not just another prejudice but a world view. This makes it dangerous not just to Jews but to those seen as their allies, most of the Western capitalist democracies, or plutocracies, as anti-Semites (but not only they) often call them.

This fact was nowhere better illustrated than by the attack on the Twin Towers at the heart of the financial district in New York, places as remote from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem or an Israeli kibbutz as it is possible to be but intimately linked to both in the minds of the perpetrators and of the many millions who cheered them on. Likewise, the real target of Jobbik is not Israel but the agents of its “enslavement”, the United States and the EU. For radical anti-Semites, the West is politically “Jewish” whether it is aware of it or not, and whether it likes it or not.

The authorities have largely kicked racism off the pitch in Europe. Now they need to banish anti-Semitism altogether. The French, who have banned further appearances by M’bala M’bala, are on the right track. So are the MPs who wanted to prevent Vona from addressing political meetings here. So too is the FA, which has called upon Anelka to explain himself. Such measures, of course, will be interpreted by anti-Semites simply as more evidence of “Jewish” subversion. That is a risk which we have to take. As writer CP Snow once said, the only way to deal with a paranoid man is to give him something to be paranoid about.

Brendan Simms is author of Europe: The struggle for supremacy, 1453 to the present (Penguin, 2013).

 

[ExpatFan]

Just for the record and to further understand one of the reasons why anti semetism is so "acceptable":

For 50 years the UN has condemned virtually every conceivable form of racism. It has established programs to combat racism and its multiple facets -- including xenophobia -- but had consistently refused to do the same against anti-semitism until 1993, and then, only under intense US pressure.

Hmm. US pressure, eh? Intense pressure? From the US Congress, by any chance? Now, I wonder why that was. Must be due to America's total commitment to human rights around the world. Unlike all those anti-semitic western European countries.

 

[sim0n]

The evidence against his friend, would I suspect be enough to assert that Anelka is outwardly supporting a racist, and as such should be disciplined.

Here is Anelka's mate's 'theme tune'

For those who don't know, Shoah is the Hebrew word for the holocaust - Ananas is the French word for pineapple - the whole song is about mocking the genocide of Jewish people. What the fuck this has to do with 'the establishment' (unless, as is a pretty common belief for anti-semites, Jews themselves are 'the establishment') I don't know.

Here is another one of Anelka's pal presenting famous Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson with an award on his 'comedy' show, helpfully presented by his assistant wearing a concentration camp uniform. Charming.

Anelka: Just supporting my "comedian" friend with an "anti-establishment" salute/gesture... what a load of bollox...

Repeating here: Cukierman said he is "troubled" Anelka dedicated his quenelle to French performer Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, "whose own motives are incontestably anti-Semitic."

5 games for the hateful "quenelle" and another 5 for this farce being dragged out,... Anelka salutes a scumbag and now gets him worldwide fame where many of us never heard of him before, so he got what he wanted...

 

[sim0n]

Ignorance is not a defence under the law...

The 34-year-old striker has been linked with a move to Italian side Lazio, but the Frenchman tweeted: "Why should I leave my club and England?

"I'm happy here and I did nothing wrong. Now it is time to stay focused on my football with my club."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25917104

I am just starting to wonder, is this ignorance, or is he being smug now?...

 

[ValenciaYid]

Someone who did what anelka did and truly did not realize the meaning of his actions,would be doing far more to make amends or demonstrate that he is not anti semetic, as he claims. If he was concerned. Especially given that yesterday was Holocaust memorial day, the perfect opportunity was there.

Actions speak louder than words.