Courts in France have begun to crack down on antisemitism after making a series of tough rulings on inciters of Jew-hatred.

In three separate rulings, judges rejected the appeal against a prison sentence made by Holocaust denier Alain Soral; affirmed the eviction from a Paris theatre of Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, who is known for creating the ‘quenelle’ gesture; and fined a teacher for antisemitic Facebook posts.

The judicial system had been under sustained criticism from CRIF, an umbrella group representing French Jewish communities, for being too lenient on antisemites.

The National Bureau for Vigilance Against Antisemitism back the verdict against Soral, who in 2012 established the Anti-Zionist Party with comedian Dieudonné.

Soral was sentenced to three months in prison and handed a £12,000 fine for hate speech, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Dieudonné also has a number of convictions for inciting racial hatred.

In a separate case, the Correctional Tribunal of Paris fined a former high school English teacher because she posted on Facebook last year that “the American Jewish lobby” supports Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

She also said then-French President Francois Hollande “is a Jew who benefited from his belonging to that community to ascend in politics and who now denies this”.