In France, a black comedian who impersonated a Jew, found himself facing a court hearing, with his show’s cancelled and his career prospects plummeting, while across the Channel in England, a Jewish comedian who parodies a black man with a character called Ali G, was given his own TV series.

Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala’s crime was to dress as an Orthodox Jew and urge his disempowered audience, comprised mostly of Arabs from North Africa, to join the Zionist/American ‘Axis of Good’ – this offence, which was formerly known as a joke, could carry serious penalties, amidst accusations of ‘anti-Semitism.’

Sacha Baron Cohen however, in the persona of Ali G, portrays a patois-speaking wannabe ‘gangsta’ who is as thick as two planks, and he exhausts every black stereotype, from the guns and garb, to pimping, drugs and ho’s. Booyakacha! Cohen plays another character too; you guessed it... a Muslim, called Borat from Kazakhstan, who also comes across as a sleazy and ignorant individual.

Personally, I was quite amused by his comedy banter, but I am neither black nor Islamic, otherwise, I may have found it more demeaning than funny. Still, Cohen received accolades and awards and starred in his own movie; ‘Ali G - In Da House’ which flopped, since you can only say, “is it because I is black?”(when you are not) so many times, before you are flogging a dead horse.

“He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot.” (Groucho Marx)

Meanwhile, Dieudonne, who was branded a racist, endured an organised campaign, including threatening telephone calls and faxes, opposing his performance. The irony being that in his country of origin, Cameroon in West Africa, racism as a concept does not exist, whereas in Cohen’s ‘motherland’ Israel, prejudice against non-Jews is government policy and they built an apartheid wall to prove it.

“A child of five could understand this; fetch me a child of five.”(Grouch Marx)

Africans are the most victimised racial group in human history, while ‘persecuted’ Jews experience positive discrimination in many fields, especially the entertainment industry. Jews can mimic, ridicule and exploit every idiosyncrasy of any nationality, yet... when they find themselves the brunt of the joke, suddenly; they lose their famous sense of humour.

"If they can't take a joke f**k them." (Bette Midler.)