By Andrew Warshaw
February 26 – The hearing into former French international striker Nicolas Anelka’s infamous ‘quenelle’ gesture is reported to have begun at an undisclosed location. Anelka has been charged by the English Football Association for use the reverse Nazi salute, brought to prominence by controversial French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, as a goal celebration. The much-travelled striker, who faces a minimum five-match ban if found guilty, has denied the charge of making a gesture that was “abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper”.
Anelka has rubbished suggestions that his straight-arm gesture was anti-Semitic insisting he made it in solidarity with Dieudonne who claims it is merely an anti-establishment symbol. Dieudonne’s critics, including the French government, argue that the ‘quenelle’ is in fact an inverted Nazi salute and is anti-Semitic.
Anelka made the sign during his current club West Bromwich Albion’s draw with West Ham in December and a three-member panel is understood to be part of an independent commission considering evidence from lawyers representing both sides.
The hearing is expected to be completed by Friday and is a major test case for English football’s new anti-discrimination regulations. Anelka has not spoken publicly about the case, but has used social media to deny he is racist or anti-Semitic.
Yet Dieudonne is a hugely contentious figure in France, with several convictions for inciting racial hatred even though his shows are often sold out. He was recently banned from a number of French cities and was also barred from entering the United Kingdom where he wanted to prove his show was not anti-Semitic.
Simon Johnson, interim chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council and a former FA director with responsibility for equality, says the outcome of the Anelka case is “a vital test case for the whole fight against racism in this country”.
And Jonathan Arkush, the vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “The excuse which Anelka and Dieudonné trot out is exposed by what Dieudonné calls ‘the establishment’. Dieudonné says the establishment are the Zionists who have taken France’s government prisoner. This is a blatantly anti-Jewish gesture.”
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