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| Tony Parker under fire for giving controversial 'quenelle' salute | Tony Parker under fire for giving controversial 'quenelle' salute |
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| The San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker has attracted criticism from a leading Jewish human rights organisation after being photographed giving a salute considered to be antisemitic. | |
| The French NBA star was pictured giving the “quenelle” salute with its originator, the French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, reportedly after a performance by the comic in the fall. The quenelle has been described as a “reverse Nazi salute”; Dieudonné, a controversial figure whose film The Anti-Semite was banned from the 2012 Cannes festival, maintains that it is intended as an anti-establishment gesture. | The French NBA star was pictured giving the “quenelle” salute with its originator, the French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, reportedly after a performance by the comic in the fall. The quenelle has been described as a “reverse Nazi salute”; Dieudonné, a controversial figure whose film The Anti-Semite was banned from the 2012 Cannes festival, maintains that it is intended as an anti-establishment gesture. |
| French authorities are currently considering banning performances by Dieudonné. French soccer star Nicolas Anelka, a friend of Dieudonné, provoked a furious reaction in France after he used the quenelle gesture in a Premier League match on Saturday. | French authorities are currently considering banning performances by Dieudonné. French soccer star Nicolas Anelka, a friend of Dieudonné, provoked a furious reaction in France after he used the quenelle gesture in a Premier League match on Saturday. |
| On Sunday, the Algemeiner, a New York-based Jewish newspaper, contacted the NBA and the Spurs about the story. Neither organisation immediately offered comment. | On Sunday, the Algemeiner, a New York-based Jewish newspaper, contacted the NBA and the Spurs about the story. Neither organisation immediately offered comment. |
| On Monday, the Simon Wiesenthal Center included Parker's gesture in its list of the Top Ten Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Slurs of 2013, and issued a statement calling for an apology. | On Monday, the Simon Wiesenthal Center included Parker's gesture in its list of the Top Ten Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Slurs of 2013, and issued a statement calling for an apology. |
| “The Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging NBA star Tony Parker to apologise for using the Nazi-like quenelle introduced by antisemitic French comedian, Dieudonné,” it said. | |
| “The salute has been denounced by French authorities and leaders of the French Jewish community. It is now widely used by neo-Nazis; far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen posed using it. Another prominent French sports figure, [Nicolas] Anelka, flashed the salute during a game in England in late December.” | “The salute has been denounced by French authorities and leaders of the French Jewish community. It is now widely used by neo-Nazis; far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen posed using it. Another prominent French sports figure, [Nicolas] Anelka, flashed the salute during a game in England in late December.” |
| Anelka made the salute after scoring a goal during a 3-3 draw between West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United on Saturday. The striker, who faces a five-game ban on anti-discriminatory grounds, said he had performed the salute in tribute to Dieudonné. However, on Monday, Anelka said he would not make the salute again, and used Twitter to say: | Anelka made the salute after scoring a goal during a 3-3 draw between West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United on Saturday. The striker, who faces a five-game ban on anti-discriminatory grounds, said he had performed the salute in tribute to Dieudonné. However, on Monday, Anelka said he would not make the salute again, and used Twitter to say: |
| “(The) meaning of quenelle: anti-system. I do not know what the word 'religion' has to do with this story! This is a dedication to Dieudonné.” | “(The) meaning of quenelle: anti-system. I do not know what the word 'religion' has to do with this story! This is a dedication to Dieudonné.” |
| Anelka's salute prompted condemnation across French society. The minister for sport, Valérie Fourneyron, called it “shocking and sickening”. On Twitter, Anelka continued: | |
| “With regard to the ministers who give their own interpretations of my quenelle, they are the ones that create confusion and controversy without knowing what it really means, this gesture.” | “With regard to the ministers who give their own interpretations of my quenelle, they are the ones that create confusion and controversy without knowing what it really means, this gesture.” |
| Two other Premier League footballers, the Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri and the Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho, have been photographed performing the quenelle. | Two other Premier League footballers, the Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri and the Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho, have been photographed performing the quenelle. |
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