London performance by anti-Semitic French comedian canceled after protests

A performance by the anti-Semitic French comedian Dieudonné in London has been cancelled following complaints from the Jewish community, the ‘Jewish Chronicle’ reports. Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, who was last year fined by a French court for performing an anti-Semitic sketch, was due to perform in Kensington this weekend.

Dieudonné previously stood for the European Parliament as head of the Anti-Zionist Party (see campaign poster above), which he formed together with Alain Soral, an ex-member of the extreme-right National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen. After discovering that he was due to appear in London, campaigners urged the hotel where the comedian was due to appear to reject the booking and cancel the event.

A spokesman for the Millennium Gloucester Hotel and Conference Centre said: “It’s not going to take place. We had an enquiry from someone representing Dieudonné and then recently we had some calls from the Jewish community, telling us what the situation is with him. We decided not to pursue the booking and now it will not happen.”

Last year, judges fined Dieudonné €10,000 (US$ 13,500) for "public anti-Semitic insults" and awarded the same amount in legal costs to the organizations that had sued him, including the Union of Jewish Students in France. In October 2009, a London theater also canceled a performance by the stand-up comedian.