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Jean Sarkozy (AP)
Satirical jab at Sarkozy's son sparks cries of anti-Semitism
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Jewish World, France 

The dismissal of a veteran French satirist over allegedly anti-Semitic remarks regarding French President Nicolas Sarkozy's son has stirred a polemic among European intellectual circles, according to recent reports in Le Monde and other European newspapers.

Sine, a 79-year-old sworn communist and secularist, has denied the charges against him and filed a complaint for defamation.

The controversy began on July 2, when the satirist wrote in the weekly Charlie Hebdo magazine that 21-year-old Jean Sarkozy, who recently became engaged to the Jewish heiress of an electronics company, was "an opportunist who would go far in life."
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The comments were made following rumors that Sarkozy was planning to convert ahead of his marriage Jessica Sebaoun-Darty.

"Jean Sarkozy, worthy son of his father and already a UMP councillor, emerged almost to applause after his court case for not stopping after an accident on his scooter," Sine wrote as part of the cartoon's dialogue.

"The prosecutor even asked for him to be cleared. You have to remember that the plaintiff was an Arab. And that's not all. He has just said that he wants to convert to Judaism before marrying his fiancee, who is Jewish, and heiress of the founders of Darty. He will go far in life, this boy!"

The jab at the younger Sarkozy came after he was taken to court for allegedly ramming his scooter into the back of a car and leaving without identifying himself.

The Sarkozy and Darty families went into uproar after the comments were published and threatened to sue the magazine.

The magazine's director Phillipe Val, characterized the column as "peddling a falsehood."

He asked Sine to retract the cartoon, and was reportedly greeted with the response: "I would rather cut off my balls."

This led Val to fire the veteran cartoonist for writing a cartoon with "anti-semitic undertones."

Val called the incident "neither acceptable nor defendable before a court," and drew support from the International League Against Racism and Anti-semitism (LICRA) as well as from French Jewish organizations, according to European reports.

The cartoonist was also criticized by Culture Minister Christine Albanel who said the column "echoed cliches and cartoons from another time that one would like to see disappear once and for all."

Sarkozy's family can be traced back to the Jewish community in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki. Sarkozy and his brothers did not know of their Jewish roots until after their grandfather passed away in 1972.

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      1.   Criticise a Sarkozy at your peril 12:46  |  Chanalau, Tova 04/08/08
      2.   Mr Sine`s satirical jibe at Sarkozy`s son. 14:53  |  David Nigel Braham 04/08/08
      3.   The writer should be fired 15:03  |  Danny Hershtal 04/08/08
      4.   Limits to satire 15:20  |  Joseph 04/08/08
      5.   the French trak record 15:27  |  Rab Burns 04/08/08
      6.   ANTI-SEMITISM 15:28  |  Brant 04/08/08
      7.   How can accusations against a NON-JEW be anti-semitic?? 16:26  |  Kris Lazar 04/08/08
      8.   Mohammed cartoon AND this are part of free speech 16:33  |  Satirist 04/08/08
      9.   Another case of overreaction 17:09  |  MWass 04/08/08
      10.   Conclusion 17:29  |  Gordon 04/08/08
      11.   Badge-of-courage... 17:53  |  Esther 04/08/08
      12.   hurrah for the sarkos... 18:12  |  frenz 04/08/08
      13.   Jews doing the other way 18:19  |  HS 04/08/08
      14.   This article doesn`t say all 18:34  |  HS 04/08/08
      15.   Thicker skin & Sine withering on the vine 18:40  |  ZISD 04/08/08
      16.   this is not antisemitism, why should it be ? 18:43  |  mehmet 04/08/08
      17.   Did I miss something...? 19:09  |  Czarkazem13 04/08/08
      18.   Agree w/ #14-The full quote is pretty bad 19:54  |  Aphemia 04/08/08
      19.   Mehmet - Your interesting post 20:01  |  David Israel 04/08/08
      20.   IF HE WAS PROPHET MOHAMAD 20:22  |  indrajaya 04/08/08
      21.   Mehmet 22:39  |  utagawa 04/08/08
      22.   It was not funny 23:02  |  Elianah 04/08/08
      23.   Gordon: Sarkozy is touchable including in Charlie Hebdo! 23:16  |  Arthur 04/08/08
      24.   @indrajaya 23:18  |  thomas 04/08/08
      25.   #16 23:27  |  Jane 04/08/08
      26.   #20 23:28  |  Jane 04/08/08
      27.   Conversion includes circumcision: OUCH ! 23:36  |  Aaron 04/08/08
      28.   To Mehmet (#16) 23:49  |  Morris Valentine 04/08/08
      29.   I didn`t get the shaved reference...someone? 00:38  |  Curious George 05/08/08
      30.   conversion 01:41  |  Belgianexchristian 05/08/08
      31.   mehmet is dana 02:31  |  Danite 05/08/08
      32.   # 24, THOMAS 04:01  |  indrajaya 05/08/08
      33.   Free speech guarantees right to fire Sine 04:01  |  Michael 05/08/08
      34.   #32..Indy 04:53  |  Nemesis 05/08/08
      35.   Morris Valentine # 28 - Very Curious??? 04:55  |  WYSIWYG 05/08/08
      36.   #29 Curious George-Siné already condemned for anti-Semitism 06:07  |  HS 05/08/08
      37.   # 34, NEMESIS 06:30  |  indrajaya 05/08/08
      38.   What about Salman Rushdie? 08:13  |  Freedom speecher 05/08/08
      39.   Kind Of Sounds More Like A Last Straw... 08:48  |  Yosemite 05/08/08
      40.   Reply to Joseph from London 09:23  |  Jean-Paul DOGUET 05/08/08
      41.   Reply to HS from Rishon Lezion 09:27  |  Jean-Paul DOGUET 05/08/08
      42.   to Kris Lasar 12:32  |  a poor Hebrewman 05/08/08
      43.   #37, indrajaya 13:09  |  HS 05/08/08
      44.   Reply to Jean-Paul DOGUET Pathetic, Siné also misogynic and racis 13:45  |  HS 05/08/08
      45.   Reply to HS from Rishon Lezion 22:30  |  Jean-Paul DOGUET 05/08/08
      46.   Never mind. 01:35  |  HS 06/08/08
      47.   The couple. 14:05  |  Buick from Boca 06/08/08
      48.   Jean Paul Doguet 13:05  |  Hermina 07/08/08
      49.   indrajaya 01:05  |  Henry 08/08/08
      50.   No. 8, Satirist 01:49  |  W 08/08/08
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