Mayors of several French cities have lined up to ban the shows of a comedian the government accuses of insulting the memory of Holocaust victims and threatening public order with anti-Semitic remarks.

Manuel Valls, France's interior minister, pushed for bans on Dieudonne after Jewish groups complained about his trademark straight-arm gesture, which they call a "Nazi salute in reverse".

But Dieudonne says his gesture is a statement of his anti-Zionist and anti-establishment views, not anti-Semitism. Dieudonne's lawyers said they will challenge in court any attempt to silence the comedian.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from Paris.