Dieudonne banned from Britain

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The French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, creator of the quenelle gesture that has been characterised as anti-Semitic, has been banned from entering Britain.

British newspapers reported on Monday that Dieudonne is subject to an exclusion order by the Home Office.

Dieudonne reportedly had announced that he would visit London to support Nicolas Anelka, a French national playing for the West Bromwich Albion British soccer team, who has been charged by Britain’s Football Association for ­performing the quenelle after scoring a goal.

“We can confirm that Mr Dieudonne is subject to an exclusion order,” a Home Office spokeswoman told British media.

“The home secretary will seek to exclude an individual from the UK if she considers that there are public policy or public security reasons to do so.”

Earlier this month, Dieudonne, who has been convicted seven times for inciting racial hatred against Jews, was banned from performing live on stage in several French cities.

The 46-year-old comedian has been repeatedly fined for “hate speech” in France, while his shows have been banned in several towns.

Dieudonne has said the quenelle, which is based on a Nazi salute, is not anti-Semitic but anti-establishment.

Meanwhile, a Jewish student group has petitioned a French court to order the removal of a YouTube video in which Dieudonne celebrates the quenelle.

The petition filed last week with the Paris Court of Grands Instances by the Union of Jewish Students of France, or UEJF, concerns a video posted on December 31 by Dieudonne. In the video, Dieudonne declares that 2014 will be “the year of the quenelle”.

A preliminary ruling on the union’s petition is scheduled to be handed down on February 12, the French Liberation daily reported Wednesday. More than 3.5 million viewers have seen the video, the paper reported.

Last year, UEJF won a legal battle against Twitter, requiring that the American social networking site divulge details about users who ­violated French laws against hate speech with anti-Semitic statements.

JTA