I am really amazed at the level of furore and outcry over Anelka's gesture. I have just read on BBC website that a few more sponsors are thinking of pulling out from WBA. As far as I know, Anelka has not been charged with any criminal offence, let alone convicted. When Loius Suarez and John Terry were both charged by the FA for racist remarks, I do not recall sponsors rushing to pull out, despite the clubs publically backing their players. I wonder if is this is a case of WBA being a small club or the fact that it is ok to racially abuse the black man, or it is a sacrilege to cast aspersions on some race, or a combination of all the above.
It's case of who he plays for. The likes of 'Zoopla' probably got a lot of publicity out of this whole saga when they demanded that WBA drop the Frenchmen. Before that, I doubt anyone non-WBA fan could have told you who sponsored their shirts.
When did anyone suggest this was acceptable ? I'd never heard of the Quinelle before the Anelka celebration, I still don't fully understand it but if it has any racial connetations then it's wrong and must be punished. On no level is racial abuse ever acceptable, white against black or black against white, wrong wrong wrong.
What I am saying is that I did not hear sponsors rushing to cancel their sponsorship over the Suarez and Terry affair. My issue is the double standard.... I saw 12 years a slave last weekend and wondered how comes slavery does not have the same profile as the holocaust.... Never mind will keep on wondering.
If you Google Quenelle you'll see plenty photos of Nazis making the gesture outside Auschwitz <sic> Anne Frank's house etc.As far as i'm concerned Anelka knew what he was doing when he made the gesture.
Maybe it's to do with the fact that most of the main football sponsors are some of the biggest users of slavery/near slave like conditions in the world. At the end of the day, the Holocaust ranks amongst the most horrific acts of recent, and indeed all human history, (not too belittle slavery), and was clearly perpetrated by one set of people against the other, whereas the historic enslavement of Africans was slightly more muddled. And I don't think that all racism against black people stems from the history of slavery, in fact it probably mainly comes from the fear of the unknown/different.
I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion. I think if you Google the French comic that Anelka got it from you will see it has many other meanings. Unfortunately nowadays, the Internet is becoming like statistics, you can produce evidence to support just about anything. I honestly can't believe he intended a Nazi salute when he did it. He is hardly a model for white supremacy! I dare say if it comes to a trial, he could make a decent insanity plea. Also looks suspiciously like the gesture Americans make when they make the pledge of allegiance.
That is just the standard hand on heart. Besides the issue with the french comic is that he has been charged with antisemitism according to the bbc "Dieudonne owes thousands of euros in unpaid fines for a range of offences, including anti-Semitic hate speech." Which is where the controversy comes from Anelka might be supporting his mate, but then he should know his mate is in trouble for making antisemitic comments.
What conclusion is that ? The photos taken outside Auschwitz or my assertion that Anelka knew what he was doing ? I don't know if you're being naive or just argumemtative by saying it looks like a pledge of allegiance gesture
I give Anelka the benefit of the doubt that he was supporting his mate, rather than showing off his own 'beliefs'. However if you are doing it for someone who has been charged with hate speech and for using a gesture that is attributed to the nazi movement you have to accept you are showing a sign of acceptance towards it. Maybe he didn't realise what the symbol meant but then he is an idiot for using it when he knew the media would be all over it. The least you can accuse him off is being a naive idiot the worst is much worse. Where he actually lies in that spectrum I don't know as I don't know him.
The Quenelle is interpreted as anti-Semitic in some quarters and, as Cym points out, is often used as such. Even if the gesture has other meanings, as Anelka claims, if you use it you know what sort of response you'll get. That the co-owner of Zoopla is Jewish might also explain their stance. I'm happy to see some consistency from the FA at least. The Quenelle is supposed to be an indication of how far you'd shove your arm up someone's arse, so if Wilshere got a two game ban for offering up his finger then Anelka should get longer for, well, longer.
I'm just saying that gestures are open to interpretation. Are we going to ban someone from the far east if they have a good luck swastika on their uniform. I think asking them to remove it and informing them that it isn't a good idea is probably enough. There is enough evidence, from his skin colour alone, to give the benefit of the doubt to Anelka, that he isn't a Nazi. The Nazis were not just anti-Jew, they were anti-black as well. I think this is just plain silly to be honest. It is like the scene in Lethal Weapon when Danny Glover goes into the South African Embassy the emigrate there. "But...but yer bleck!" I imagine the same scene with Anelka going into the Nazi party recruiting office.
Anelka's friend has seven convictions for anti-semitism.I'm sure Anelka was aware of this when he made the quenelle in support of his friend
Well, we are going to have an ironic situation (if this one isn't ironic enough) if that comic has a Jewish friend who makes that sign to support him. I seem to often be on the PC side of the debate, but my moral compass isn't twitching on this one at all I'm afraid. Edit: I think Anelka would be supporting his friend because he doesn't think he is a Nazi. He is, I would imagine, saying, "Look here am I, one of the last people that would be a Nazi, making this salute and I don't think it is racist!" Misguided as that might be, I can't make the logical jump to believing that he supports Nazism. That would just be too f**ked up. And if we ban him because it is a "Political Gesture" then anyone who raises a fist over their head, needs a ban, we have seen plenty of politicians with a hand up palm forward, so shearer needs to be stripped of his awards and so on. I had never even heard of this salute before now, this is just too obscure.
personally I wouldn't have a mate who denies the holocaust or who believes all Jewish people are involved in a world wide conspiracy...just like I would not have a mate who hated all Asian or African or all white people...the fact Anelka does have this Holocaust denier as a friend speaks volumes about his ****ishness
I am not sure where you get this - here is an article about the comedian talking on the gesture http://news.sky.com/story/1199869/exclusive-dieudonne-breaks-silence-on-quenelle In fact, having seen it, I would think that the comedian would claim that by denying people use of the sign, you are pro-racism.
