PARIS (EJP) --- Controversial comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala will stand as candidate in an ‘anti-Zionist party’ (PAS) in parliament elections in the city of Dreux where once he stood against a National Front candidate in 1997 when he fought the extreme right party.

Despite having been tried and convicted many times by the courts on anti-Semitsm charges, Dieudonne will be one of four candidates standing for the PAS.

In 2006, he aligned himself with the National Front, and in particular its leader at the time Jean-Marie Le Pen, whom he made godfather of one of his daughters.

His political standing has increasingly veered towards anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. He is a close friend of university professor Robert Faurisson, who is renowned for denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers and concentration camps, and has previously invited him to participate in his shows.

In 2009, Dieudonne stood for the first time as PAS candidate in the French elections to the European Parliament. He received 1.3% of the vote in the first round.

A series of the controversial French-Cameroon humourist’s recent scheduled shows in Montreal were cancelled following protests, notably from The Centre for Jewish and Israel Affairs in Montreal:

“This man has long been notorious for ceasing to be a comedian and transforming himself into a virulent anti-Semitic campaigner, who not only aligns himself with and promotes Holocaust deniers, but is also subsidised by the anti-Semitic Iranian regime”, stated the Director of Public Relations for the Montreal centre, David Ouellette.

A total of four shows were cancelled in Montreal over concerns about his reputation for performing anti-Semitic material. One of his recent shows in Brussels was also interrupted by police and eventually stopped, following accusations of incitement of racial hatred and xenophobia.

Dieudonne had previously been subject to judicial proceedings, following a show he performed in March in Liege. He was also convicted by Parisian courts in 2009 for a performance in Paris during which Robert Faurisson was awarded a prize by a person dressed up as a deported Jew.

Cross-European pro-Israel lobby Europe Israel has launched a protest against the PAS, in light of the news of Dieudonne’s candidacy, which it accuses of “being the source of a new form of anti-Semitism that’s infiltrating the suburbs and infecting uneducated and impressionable youths with the mantra of certain radical Islamists”.

In a statement, the group said: “Militant anti-Zionism tries to relocate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to French ground, but it has no place in the national parliament   elections...That is why we ask the French government to ban all candidates put forward by the PAS, especially the notorious anti-Semite Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala.”