To think the BBC shouldn't keep showing pictures of "the gesture"

[Catherine1932]

Every time the news comes on they seem to show Anelka making the anti Semitic gesture. Several times. I'd never heard of it but if it has that offensive meaning why keep repeating it?

Documentation purposes.

The same way when showing a feature about Hitler, they show his salute. It's not offensive to report what happened. At least I don't think it is.

Am Jewish btw.

Didn't know it was offensive, until all the fuss, spoke to some friends in france who said it wasn't generally anti semitic, but a gesture of how far to stick your head up your a**e.

Be interesting to see whether it is decided to be anti semitic or not

I agree. Itv widely portrayed it also when the incidence first came to light.

bobbywash- lots of Dieudonne's followers seem to think it is as they keep on taking photos of themselves doing it in front of synagogues and Jewish schools. Dieudonne himself has been fined for inciting racial hatred and similar offenses several times in the last decade.

I saw it and wasn't sure what the gesture was that caused the problem because I never watch football or people being antisemitic.

Showing it multiple times isn't going to help.

Because what ought to be offensive is the intent, not the physical manifestation of the gesture.

I get far more annoyed at them showing pictures of Saville grinning every time the pervert is mentioned.

It's not up to us to decide whether its offensive. If the intent is to be anti Semitic then the fact is it is being done with offense in mind and should be treated as such. Even if it began as being " anti establishment" as the apologists argue the fact is it is now used in an antisemitic way and as such should be banned.

Etoo has articulated the answer the OP is looking for perfectly.

I find it more offensive that the FA only thought to start issuing fines when sponsors started pulling out.

I actually wanted to see it because I couldn't imagine what the gesture looked like, after hearing it described on the radio, and should imagine a lot of people were curious.

So yes I did want to see it.

It's like any news item, once you have seen it once or twice, it then becomes tedious, but there is definitely an initial interest in seeing it.

Thanks, Chunderella - in the Suarez and Terry cases, both were insistent that they weren't racists, had loads of black friends, etc, and the FA decided that that wasn't relevant. Anelka is far worse, in my view, because he deliberately made a public gesture, whereas the others only intended it to be heard by one person. Anelka's not even apologised, either.

I wonder what would have happened if it had been a Jewish player making an anti-Muslim gesture

La Guardia - not sure what an anti-Muslim gesture would be. You wouldn't find many Jewish comics aligning themselves with the far right (as dieudonne has done) and asking supporters to take photos of themselves at Srebrenica while denying that anything had happened there. And if they did, I'm sure they'd be treated exactly like Anelka.

Thanks for the views. I don't buy the intent argument either, and I think the news on the main channels should observe the watershed. This was a high profile footballer (I think, don't watch football personally), and kids hero worship footballers.