SAN ANTONIO — Spurs All-Star point guard Tony Parker issued a statement Monday apologizing for a photo that shows him making a gesture with anti-Semitic connotations.
In the photo, Parker poses with the French comedian Dieudonne, making the gesture known in France as a “quenelle,” which critics describe as inverted Nazi salute.
“While this gesture has been part of French culture for many years, it was not until recently that I learned of the very negative concerns associated with it,” Parker said in the statement. “When l was photographed making that gesture three years ago, I thought it was part of a comedy act and did not know that it could be in any way offensive or harmful.
“Since I have been made aware of the seriousness of this gesture, I will certainly never repeat the gesture and sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding or harm relating to my actions. Hopefully this incident will serve to educate others that we need to be more aware that things that may seem innocuous can actually have a history of hate and hurt.”
Neither Parker, arguably the greatest French basketball player of all time, nor Boris Diaw, his teammate on the Spurs and the French national team, were made available to reporters following the Spurs’ practice Monday afternoon at their facility.
Jewish human rights groups had called on Parker to apologize. Dieudonne is a known supporter of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s views on the State of Israel, and his film, “The Anti-Semite,” was banned from the Cannes Film Festival last year.
“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, a New York newspaper that covers Jewish and Israeli news.
Parker and the Spurs will host the Nets Tuesday on New Year’s Eve before hosting the Knicks Thursday. The Spurs already have visited the Knicks, but will travel to Brooklyn on Feb. 6.
The controversy surrounding the “quenelle,” which has been described as the “the Nazi salute in reverse,” became an international issue this weekend when French soccer player Nicolas Anelka used it to celebrate a goal for West Bromwich Albion in English Premier League play Saturday. West Brom put out a statement Monday saying Anelka had agreed not to perform the gesture again.