French rapper accused of praising Toulouse killer
Watchdog group files complaint with police against artist for ‘endorsing’ anti-Jewish, anti-French murderer
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A French watchdog group filed a complaint this week against a rap artist it accuses of glorifying the anti-Semitic murderer Mohammed Merah.
The National Bureau for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, filed the complaint with police against Elie Yaffa, better known in France by his stage name Booba, in connection with the lyrics of a song titled “Porsche Panamera.”
The video was removed from Booba’s official YouTube channel on Wednesday, the day BNVCA published a statement condemning the video.
Mohammed Merah, who killed three children and a rabbi in 2012 in Toulouse, is mentioned twice in the song, which Booba performed together with the rap group S.D.H.S Family.
“We’ll shoot anyone for a cause, Mohammed Merah,” the group sings. “Bang bang in your head, we’ll blow you away, we’re angry like Merah.”
Later in the number, they sing: “Allah Yerahmo [Arabic for ‘May Allah have mercy on him’], because only crime pays off.”
“Booba’s lyrics amount to endorsing the anti-Jewish and anti-French killer of Toulouse, who is clearly referenced,” Sammy Ghozlan of BNVCA told JTA.
Booba, the son of a Muslim father from Senegal, last year drew anti-Semitic social media attacks when a song he released called for vengeance for the victims of slavery and the Holocaust.
Booba has sold more than 1 million albums in France.
The Times of Israel Community.