Pro-Israeli group lauds ban on comic
Canada turns away French comedian
SOMEONE WHO INCITES RACIAL HATRED ... ISN’T WELCOME IN MONTREAL.
Federal border officials “made the right call” this week to turn away a controversial French comic at Montreal’s airport, Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said Wednesday.
Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, who has been convicted multiple times for inciting racial hatred and antiSemitism, had been scheduled to perform a series of shows in Montreal starting Wednesday night.
“Admissibility to Canada is not a right but a privilege,” Rabbi Reuben Poupko, the centre’s co-chair, said in a statement.
“Dieudonne forfeited this privilege with his numerous criminal convictions for hate speech, incitement to violence and glorification of terrorism. Border Services Canada agents made the right call yesterday in upholding the specific criteria required for entry into the country.”
However, it was reported Wednesday afternoon that those who had purchased tickets to see Dieudonne perform might still get to see him.
Show promoter Gino SteMarie told VICE News that technology would allow ticket holders to see the comedian “virtually.”
Details could not be immediately confirmed.
Marie-Claude Chiasson, a Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman, said Wednesday she could not speak to specific cases. However, she said those seeking entry into Canada may be deemed inadmissible for a variety of reasons, including involvement in criminal activity and human rights violations.
Dieudonne, who invokes what has been described as a Nazi-like salute in his shows, has courted controversy for years. In 2012, Belgian authorities reportedly forced Dieudonne to stop mid-performance after determining his act contravened local laws.
In 2014, Britain banned the comedian from entering the country.
“In the context of a rise in violent and deadly antiSemitism in Europe, professional anti-Semitic agitator Dieudonne is not welcome in Quebec or Canada tomorrow any more than he was today,” Poupko said.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre previously tweeted that “someone who incites racial hatred and foments social tensions in Europe isn’t welcome in Montreal.”
Gilbert Rozon, founder and president of the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, has previously described Dieudonne as an “exceptional artist” and defended his right to free speech.
“We are a kind of United Nations,” he said in an interview in 2006. “We welcome all forms of humour and all forms of creativity.
We are definitely not a court, and we cannot allow ourselves as a festival to judge and convict. That is for the Canadian state or justice system.”
Asked if his comments still stand, Rozon said through a spokesman Wednesday that after 2006, “we decided as a festival to not present (his show) anymore” due to conflicts.
“It’s a sad story because he’s still considered one of the most skilled comedians of his generation,” he said. “We remain convinced that freedom of speech is a core value in Canada.”