Monday, November 21, 2016

France: Fundraiser for pets ended up unleashing rabid anti-Semitism

From the JTA:
When he locked himself up for three days inside a cage at an animal shelter in France, standup comedian and video artist Rémi Gaillard sought to raise awareness and money for abandoned pets.
But Gaillard’s fundraiser last week took a nasty turn, unleashing a vulgar shaming campaign with anti-Semitic dog whistles against Elie Semoun — one of the country’s best-known comedians, whose only sin was declining to help Gaillard’s cause.
The tweet referred to Semoun as a “television whore” who refused to support Gaillard because “he has an image.” Gaillard noted his 72-hour stay in the cage led to donations of more than $200,000 despite Semoun’s alleged refusal to help. It was retweeted almost 6,000 times and received 5,300 “likes.”
Taking the high road, Semoun replied by tweeting a picture of his three cats, which he said he had rescued, adding they are sending kisses, “purrs and love.” Meanwhile, some members of France’s stand-up scene defended Semoun, saying Gaillard’s attack against him was uncalled for.
The exchange might have ended there had it not caught the attention of Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala — another comedian and a former friend and partner of Semoun before he became a “professional anti-Semite,” as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called Dieudonne for his multiple convictions for incitement for hatred against Jews. (...) 
On Nov. 15, Dieudonne posted online a video entitled “Dieudonne supports Rémi Gaillard versus Elie Semoun.” In it, he applauded Gaillard for insulting Semoun and repeated the insult, calling his former partner a “whore.”
That video has been viewed nearly 100,000 times and touched off an avalanche of anti-Semitic comments on YouTube and other social media (one of them spoke of “Rothschild parasites”).
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