Hundreds of demonstrators protested outside the Paris Olympia concert venue Friday in support of a French comedian whose show was canceled after he performed a "Nazi Jew" skit on national television.
The Olympia announced Wednesday it was giving refunds for the 1,500 tickets sold for the comic Dieudonne's show, which was to have taken place Friday, because of an apparently organized campaign of telephone calls and faxes opposing the performance.
Some were so threatening that the police advised the hall that it would be jeopardizing public safety if it did not implement security measures including X-ray machines and bag checks for explosives.
PHOTO: AP
Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala -- known simply as Dieudonne in France -- told Europe 1 radio on Friday that "this is the first time in France, I believe, that an artist has been banned from the stage like this."
"Free Dieudonne, freedom of expression," the crowd shouted outside the venue in central Paris, which blocked traffic on the street while the comedian held his arms aloft to salute his fans.
"There are a lot of people here, that is a great compensation to me," he said.
"The fact that today they have stifled the voice of a black man has great importance for these people. There's no need to censor people, you shouldn't cut short the words of Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala and blacks in general," he said. "The real racism is against the blacks and the Arabs."
The uproar surrounding Dieudonne started on Dec. 1, when the comedian went on national television dressed as an Orthodox Jew and jokingly urged France's disaffected youths -- many of them from Arab backgrounds -- to "join the Axis of Good: the American-Zionist Axis."
He finished the skit with a Nazi salute, saying "Israel heil."
The incident elicited immediate outrage from French Jewish groups, a reprimand to the network from the broadcasting regulator and a court hearing for Dieudonne that is yet to be set.
Dieudonne, a 38-year-old atheist born in France of a French mother and a Cameroonian father, has repeatedly apologized to "people who might have been offended" by the skit, but insists he has always parodied various religious, political and ethnic groups in the name of humor, but without malice.
"I played an Israeli extremist -- hey, they exist.," he said.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS