Furore grows over French comic Dieudonne's 'anti-Semitic' gesture
Amid moves to ban him from the stage, comedian says his sign is anti-establishment
It's caught on like a dance move - one hand pointing downward, the other touching the shoulder with an arm across the chest. But for many, the gesture popularised by a French comic is hateful and anti-Semitic.
Now, France's top security official wants to ban him from the stage.
Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala has a small but faithful following of fans from disparate walks of life. Some are marginalised immigrants from France's housing projects. Some are Muslims. Some are even adherents of the far-right. But Dieudonne's profile has soared since the gesture dubbed the "quenelle" went viral in recent months.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls called it an "inverted Nazi salute". He is exploring ways to ban gatherings he says threaten public order as a means of keeping the comic from performing.
But Dieudonne, who goes only by his first name, is adamant the quenelle - named after a fish dumpling eaten in some parts of the country - is an anti-establishment sign. Valls' critics caution that going after the comic has the whiff of a witch-hunt and fear it may endanger a fundamental right to freedom of speech.
Dieudonne, 47, has been convicted more than half a dozen times for inciting racial hatred or anti-Semitism over the years.