This appeared in the Guardian. It seems that Dieudonné's been banned from Britain. That's bad news but there's worse.
After I'd looked at it I scrolled down to the comments, just to get a feel for how people felt. They overwhelmingly towed the party line and were pretty anti-Dieudonné.
Then I saw a comment that had been deleted because it transgressed the Guardian's "Community Standards". After reading these I knew exactly why the Guardian is truly yesterday's news.
Below is the article but first, for your pleasure and delectation, are the Guardians 'Community Standards':
theguardian.com, Monday 3 February 2014
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Dieudonné: a Home Office spokesperson confirmed that the French comic is subject to an exclusion order. Photograph: Sipa Press/REX
The controversial French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala has been banned from entering Britain after several of his shows were cancelled in France.
Dieudonné had said he would travel to the UK to support his friend, footballer Nicolas Anelka, who is facing a disciplinary hearing after performing a "quenelle"– an allegedly antisemitic gesture – during a Premier League match.
The Home Office has declared the performer persona non grata and warned he will not be allowed into the country.
The Home Office has sent out a warning to airlines and other transport companies as well as border officials, that the performer, known by his stage name Dieudonné, is an "excluded" individual.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Mr Dieudonné is subject to an exclusion order. 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."
Several of Dieudonné's shows were banned in France last month at the start of a 22-date tour amid fears that his stereotypical portrait of Jews and mocking of the Holocaust were a risk to public order.
Dieudonné fans and civil liberties campaigners accused the French government of attacking free speech and of censorship. The comedian rewrote his shows dropping the most offensive material.
Anelka, a striker with West Bromwich Albion, has been charged by the Football Association after performing a quenelle when he scored a goal against West Ham on 28 December.
The 34-year-old player said he was expressing his support for his friend Dieudonné, who claims to have invented the gesture, described by some as an inverted Nazi salute.
Dieudonné, who has convictions for inciting racial hatred through his antisemitic jokes and comments, insists the gesture is simply anti-establishment. However, he has failed to distance himself from groups and individuals who have posted photographs of themselves doing the quenelle outside synagogues, Holocaust memorials, Jewish schools and even at the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
Anelka has insisted he is "neither antisemitic or racist". The hearing is not expected before the end of February.
The document outlining the ban on Dieudonné was leaked to the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger. It states that the 47-year-old comic "should not be carried to the UK" (pdf).
It warned transport carriers they faced a fine of up to £10,000 if they allow him to travel to Britain.
"The above-named has been excluded from the UK at the direction of the secretary of state on 31 January 2014. Carriers required to provide data to e-Borders will be refused authority to carry him to the UK He is not eligible for carriage. If he travels he will be denied entry at the UK border."
France's interior minister, who supported the ban on Dieudonné's shows, said he was no longer artistic or funny but engaged in the "mechanics of hate".
"We cannot tolerate antisemitism, historical revisionism and racism, and the highest jurisdiction in our country has agreed," he said.
Dieudonné was questioned by police two weeks ago after a bailiff who arrived at the comedian's home to serve a writ claimed he was attacked.
The comedian is at the centre of several official and police inquiries after allegations of unpaid fines, the "fraudulent organisation of bankruptcy" and another claim that he incited racial hatred after making antisemitic remarks about radio presenter Patrick Cohen.
During one of his shows Dieudonné told the audience: "When I hear Patrick Cohen speak, I tell myself, you know, the gas chambers … a pity."
After I'd looked at it I scrolled down to the comments, just to get a feel for how people felt. They overwhelmingly towed the party line and were pretty anti-Dieudonné.
Then I saw a comment that had been deleted because it transgressed the Guardian's "Community Standards". After reading these I knew exactly why the Guardian is truly yesterday's news.
Below is the article but first, for your pleasure and delectation, are the Guardians 'Community Standards':
Community standards
There are 10 simple guidelines which we expect all participants in the community areas of the Guardian website to abide by, all of which directly inform our approach to community moderation (detailed below). These apply across the site, while moderation decisions are also informed by the context in which comments are made.1. We welcome debate and dissent, but personal attacks (on authors, other users or any individual), persistent trolling and mindless abuse will not be tolerated. The key to maintaining the Guardian website as an inviting space is to focus on intelligent discussion of topics.2. We acknowledge criticism of the articles we publish, but will not allow persistent misrepresentation of the Guardian and our journalists to be published on our website. For the sake of robust debate, we will distinguish between constructive, focused argument and smear tactics.3. We understand that people often feel strongly about issues debated on the site, but we will consider removing any content that others might find extremely offensive or threatening. Please respect other people's views and beliefs and consider your impact on others when making your contribution.4. We reserve the right to redirect or curtail conversations which descend into flame-wars based on ingrained partisanship or generalisations. We don't want to stop people discussing topics they are enthusiastic about, but we do ask users to find ways of sharing their views that do not feel divisive, threatening or toxic to others.5. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia or other forms of hate-speech, or contributions that could be interpreted as such. We recognise the difference between criticising a particular government, organisation, community or belief and attacking people on the basis of their race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age.6. We will remove any content that may put us in legal jeopardy, such as potentially libellous or defamatory postings, or material posted in potential breach of copyright.7. We will remove any posts that are obviously commercial or otherwise spam-like. Our aim is that this site should provide a space for people to interact with our content and each other, and we actively discourage commercial entities passing themselves off as individuals, in order to post advertising material or links. This may also apply to people or organisations who frequently post propaganda or external links without adding substantively to the quality of the discussion on the Guardian website.8. Keep it relevant. We know that some conversations can be wide-ranging, but if you post something which is unrelated to the original topic ("off-topic") then it may be removed, in order to keep the thread on track. This also applies to queries or comments about moderation, which should not be posted as comments.9. Be aware that you may be misunderstood, so try to be clear about what you are saying, and expect that people may understand your contribution differently than you intended. Remember that text isn't always a great medium for conversation: tone of voice (sarcasm, humour and so on) doesn't always come across when using words on a screen.You can help to keep the Guardian community areas open to all viewpoints by maintaining a reasonable tone, even in unreasonable circumstances.10. The platform is ours, but the conversation belongs to everybody. We want this to be a welcoming space for intelligent discussion, and we expect participants to help us achieve this by notifying us of potential problems and helping each other to keep conversations inviting and appropriate. If you spot something problematic in community interaction areas, please report it. When we all take responsibility for maintaining an appropriate and constructive environment, the debate itself is improved and everyone benefits.In short:- If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should have no problems.
- Don't be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humour we know you possess.
- Take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you're participating. Help make this an intelligent place for discussion and it will be.
Dieudonné M'bala M'bala: French 'quenelle' comedian banned from UK
- Don't be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humour we know you possess.
- Take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you're participating. Help make this an intelligent place for discussion and it will be.
Home Office warns border officials not to let controversial comic into UK to support Nicolas Anelka in 'quenelle' gesture hearing
Kim Willsher in Paristheguardian.com, Monday 3 February 2014
Dieudonné: a Home Office spokesperson confirmed that the French comic is subject to an exclusion order. Photograph: Sipa Press/REX
The controversial French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala has been banned from entering Britain after several of his shows were cancelled in France.
Dieudonné had said he would travel to the UK to support his friend, footballer Nicolas Anelka, who is facing a disciplinary hearing after performing a "quenelle"– an allegedly antisemitic gesture – during a Premier League match.
The Home Office has declared the performer persona non grata and warned he will not be allowed into the country.
The Home Office has sent out a warning to airlines and other transport companies as well as border officials, that the performer, known by his stage name Dieudonné, is an "excluded" individual.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Mr Dieudonné is subject to an exclusion order. 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."
Several of Dieudonné's shows were banned in France last month at the start of a 22-date tour amid fears that his stereotypical portrait of Jews and mocking of the Holocaust were a risk to public order.
Dieudonné fans and civil liberties campaigners accused the French government of attacking free speech and of censorship. The comedian rewrote his shows dropping the most offensive material.
Anelka, a striker with West Bromwich Albion, has been charged by the Football Association after performing a quenelle when he scored a goal against West Ham on 28 December.
The 34-year-old player said he was expressing his support for his friend Dieudonné, who claims to have invented the gesture, described by some as an inverted Nazi salute.
Dieudonné, who has convictions for inciting racial hatred through his antisemitic jokes and comments, insists the gesture is simply anti-establishment. However, he has failed to distance himself from groups and individuals who have posted photographs of themselves doing the quenelle outside synagogues, Holocaust memorials, Jewish schools and even at the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
Anelka has insisted he is "neither antisemitic or racist". The hearing is not expected before the end of February.
The document outlining the ban on Dieudonné was leaked to the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger. It states that the 47-year-old comic "should not be carried to the UK" (pdf).
It warned transport carriers they faced a fine of up to £10,000 if they allow him to travel to Britain.
"The above-named has been excluded from the UK at the direction of the secretary of state on 31 January 2014. Carriers required to provide data to e-Borders will be refused authority to carry him to the UK He is not eligible for carriage. If he travels he will be denied entry at the UK border."
France's interior minister, who supported the ban on Dieudonné's shows, said he was no longer artistic or funny but engaged in the "mechanics of hate".
"We cannot tolerate antisemitism, historical revisionism and racism, and the highest jurisdiction in our country has agreed," he said.
Dieudonné was questioned by police two weeks ago after a bailiff who arrived at the comedian's home to serve a writ claimed he was attacked.
The comedian is at the centre of several official and police inquiries after allegations of unpaid fines, the "fraudulent organisation of bankruptcy" and another claim that he incited racial hatred after making antisemitic remarks about radio presenter Patrick Cohen.
During one of his shows Dieudonné told the audience: "When I hear Patrick Cohen speak, I tell myself, you know, the gas chambers … a pity."