Pressure mounting to keep anti-Semitic French comedian out

French comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala WIKI COMMONS PHOTO
French comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala WIKI COMMONS PHOTO

Jewish groups believe that French standup comedian Dieudonné, who has an extensive criminal record related to incitement to hatred and violence, in particular toward Jews, should not be allowed into Canada. He is scheduled to give 10 shows next month at a Montreal venue, and the more than 2,000 tickets available are sold out.

B’nai Brith Canada has filed an official complaint with the Canadian Border Services Agency, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has told the federal government that this “convicted anti-Semitic agitator” should be inadmissible.

READ: B’NAI BRITH LOOKING TO BAN DIEUDONNÉ FROM ENTERING CANADA

The 50-year-old Cameroon-born Dieudonné M’bala M’bala has become infamous for ridiculing the Holocaust and the Nazi-style salute known as the quenelle, as well as for blatant attacks on Jews.

Dieudonné is booked for May 11 to 15 at the 200-seat Espace Mushagalusa on Ontario Street East, a gallery of African art.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre also is opposed to Dieudonné’s coming here. He tweeted in French on April 22: “A person who incites racial hatred in Europe and is a fomenter of social tensions is not welcome in Montreal.” He signed off with the English, “Dieudonné OUT.”

The show is titled En Paix (In Peace), and the venue’s owner Guy Chigoho said the tickets went quickly after the run was announced via Facebook. Chigoho said that he has reviewed the script of the show Dieudonné is scheduled to give and found “nothing insulting, nothing degrading, nothing racist. I can’t be responsible for what he has said in the past.”

Dieudonné is also booked for a Trois-Rivières performance and possibly Quebec City.

Dieudonné remains popular with some in the province, despite mounting condemnation against him in Europe. He first performed in Montreal in 2004 at the Just for Laughs Festival, and returned a couple of times afterward until it became obvious to major promoters that his humour had crossed the line from controversial to criminal.

He was last scheduled in Montreal at the Corona Theatre in 2012, but the show was cancelled by promoter Evenko after the Jewish  community protested.

Dieudonné is today considered a threat to public security by authorities in France, Belgium, Britain and Hong Kong. He has been repeatedly found guilty of hate speech by French and Belgian courts since 2007.

In January, he was banned from entering and performing in Hong Kong following warnings by the French and Israeli consulates about the nature of his performances. He has been prohibited from entering Britain since 2014.

Within France, he is regularly prevented from going on stage by municipal officials and the Public Security Ministry.

Most recently, in November, the Belgian correctional tribunal in Liège sentenced Dieudonné to two months in prison and a 9,000-euro fine for anti-Semitic comments and incitement to genocide. The judgment referred to a 2012 performance in Belgium as a “catalogue of anti-Semitic clichés” and worse, for calling on Christians and Muslims to “unite to kill the Jews.”

In March 2015, a Paris tribunal sentenced Dieudonné to two months in jail, which were deferred, for “praising acts of terrorism” after he expressed solidarity with the perpetrator of the murderous attack on a kosher supermarket two months earlier.

The same month, he was ordered to pay a 22,500-euro fine for his show Le Mur (The Wall), which was deemed anti-Semitic.

B’nai Brith Quebec region executive director Harvey Levine said that border services agents have the power to make a decision on the spot whether to admit a person to Canada.

“I’m sure [Dieudonné] has been red-flagged. I’m sure they know who he is,” Levine said.

Levine added that B’nai Brith is “astounded” that so many tickets have been sold for the Montreal shows. “It’s really scary that so many people want to see that kind of hate speech on stage.”

READ: MONTREAL MAYOR PROMISES THAT STREETS NAMED AFTER NAZI SYMPATHIZER WILL BE CHANGED

CIJA Quebec public affairs director David Ouellette said his organization is encouraged by remarks issued by federal Immigration Minister John McCallum’s office that the matter is being watched, and by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. The latter said that Dieudonné’s criminal record will be taken into account by border services agents when they make a decision at his point of entry.

Ouellette affirmed that in Quebec’s entertainment industry, Dieudonné has become persona non grata, the turning point coming after the French government sought to ban his new show in 2014.

“He is now denounced in Quebec, after for a while being defended on the basis of freedom of speech, or that it was only humour and that he laughed at everyone,” Ouellette said.

“It is now clear that this is not humour, but rather the most foul anti-Jewish rhetoric.”