WHAT'S ODD ABOUT IT?:

Le Pen's tricky business (Meg Bortin, January 4, 2007, International Herald Tribune)

One of the odder phenomena of the current electoral season in France has been a mating dance between Dieudonné, a virulently anti-Semitic black comic, and Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far- right National Front, who has sought in recent years to temper his extremist message to attract a broader following.

It is a tricky business for Le Pen, who came in second in the presidential elections five years ago and is expected to do well again this year. Embracing Dieudonné could cost him the backing of rightist voters attracted by Le Pen's hard line on immigration but repulsed by the comic's jokes about the Nazi gas chambers. At the same time, it could win Le Pen support among anti-establishment youth, many of black African and North African descent, whose anger has not died down since rioting erupted across France more than a year ago.

Dieudonné, previously a popular mainstream comic and activist for progressive causes, has acquired pariah- hero status for elements of this fringe through anti- Jewish and anti-American satire far beyond the bounds of polite political discourse, and sometimes beyond the law.

He was sued (unsuccessfully) under anti-terrorism laws in 2003 for saying he preferred "the charisma of bin Laden to that of George Bush." He was sued again after appearing disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew on France 3 television in December 2003 and appealing to "young people in the projects who are watching us today" to "join the axis of good, the American-Zionist axis."