It’s the end of the year but instead of celebrating, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker is probably trying to deflect some of the heat he’s getting after the above picture was shared with the world.
In what Jewish human rights groups are calling “anti-Semitic,” Parker was caught using a gesture called the “quenelle” — described as “the Nazi salute in reverse,” — in a picture with French comedian Dieudonne backstage at one of his shows this fall.
Dieudonne, a known supporter of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s views on the State of Israel and his film, “The Anti-Semite,” is said to have created the signal.
Now The Simon Wiesenthal Center is asking the All-Star to apologize after multiple French newspapers posted pictures of Parker doing the “quenelle.”
The call for the apology comes just one day after French soccer star Nicolas Anelka sparked outrage by displaying the same gesture after scoring a goal for West Bromwich Albion of the English Premier League.
Anelka claimed his use of the “quenelle” was simply a tribute to Dieudonne, whose supporters have performed the same gesture in front of former Nazi concentration camps and synagogues. But on Monday, Anelka agreed to halt the celebration.
“The club fully acknowledges that Nicolas’ goal celebration has caused offense in some quarters and has asked Nicolas not to perform the gesture again,” West Brom said Monday in a statement, according to the AP.
“Nicolas immediately agreed to adhere to this request.”
Neither the NBA or the Spurs have commented on Parker’s use of the gesture.
“As a leading sports figure on both sides of the Atlantic, Parker has a special moral obligation to disassociate himself from a gesture that the government of France has identified as anti-Semitic,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said, according to The Algemeiner.
Think he knew what he was getting himself into? Or was Parker just posing for a picture? Sound off below…
SOURCE: NY Post | PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter
