btw, nasri already apologised for gesture, and mamadou sakho, who also has performed it, claimed he was "tricked":
http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... st-brom-faThe case for Anelka's defence is potentially supported by the emergence of photographs on social networking sites showing Samir Nasri, the Manchester City midfielder, and Mamadou Sakho, the Liverpool defender, also performing the quenelle.
The photograph of Nasri and a friend was taken outside City's training ground and posted on Facebook in early November before being re-published on social networks on Sunday, 24 hours after Anelka's celebration.
On Monday, Nasri apologised on Twitter: "It has absolutely nothing to do with being antisemitic or against Jewish people. I apologise for any hurt to anyone."
Photographs of Sakho also emerged on Twitter in November, but the Liverpool defender insists he did not know what it meant, saying: "This photo was taken six months ago, I did not know the meaning of this gesture. I was tricked."
in the states nba/san antonio spurs star, tony parker, was also photographed having made the gesture with the comedian, and he quickly apologised as well:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1905 ... le-gesture“While this gesture has been part of French culture for many years, it was not until recently that I learned of the very negative concerns associated with it. When l was photographed making that gesture three years ago, I thought it was part of a comedy act and did not know that it could be in any way offensive or harmful. Since I have been made aware of the seriousness of this gesture, I will certainly never repeat the gesture and sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding or harm relating to my actions. Hopefully this incident will serve to educate others that we need to be more aware that things that may seem innocuous can actually have a history of hate and hurt.”
another french nba player, boris diaw has also been photographed performing it with dieudonne.
what is interesting is that anelka has not backtracked as these other athletes have, i.e. not apologised, but said he will not perform it during games.
the right wing local new york tabloid the new york post, of course posted information suggesting the comedian holds views similar to former iranian prez,
http://nypost.com/2013/12/30/spurs-park ... i-gesture/Parker is seen using the gesture with French comedian Dieudonne, who invented the hand signal, in a photo taken backstage following one of Dieudonne’s shows in the fall. Dieudonne is a known supporter of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s views on the State of Israel and his film, “The Anti-Semite,” was banned from the Cannes Film Festival last year.
here's my thing. the whole thing is complicated and blurred by various biases people have. in america being anti-zionist is practically considered anti-semetic in some circles. for zionist identifying jews this scares them to death, fair or not fair. to more conservative christians they love israel, and the most conservative of course hold it key to their idea of 'the rapture.' criticisms of israeli policy towards palestinians has grown more popular but it's not as big of an issue here as it is in europe.
now, i don't claim to know much about dieudonne, but i am reading a few places that he is known to be critical of the state of israel, which for muslims is a widely held view, as are many of the players who have performed the gesture with the comedian. however, it's one thing to be anti-zionist, but IF he was a supporter of ahmadinejad, that person loses credibility.
that man used tricks and cons via pseudo-intellectual concepts like "we must question everything" (i'm paraphrasing) to challenge the idea that the extermination of jews by the nazis, something that is well documented historically, should be something to question as fact.
now, i don't trust what i read in the ny post because they are about as bad as the sun when it comes to reporting, but it would be interesting to know what was going on with the support of the comedian and his act. we know in france there is a strong divide between immigrants and musims and traditionally white french society that has festered for years.
i suspect some do support his views, at least on being anti-zionist or at least critical of israeli policy towards palestine, but it's a political nightmare to take that risk, and some didn't think it through. my other suspscion is anelka may have known more of what he was doing as he is a convert to islam in 2004, during the hight of the iraq war.
