Actor Richard Belzer. Photo: wiki commons.

Richard Belzer, who has been a part of NBC’s Law and Order program for 19 years now, flashed a Nazi salute during a photo shoot to promote the television show recently.  However, Belzer says there’s nothing wrong with his gesture, which was an ode to Charlie Chaplin’s portrayal of Adolph Hitler in the “The Great Dictator”, because he himself is Jewish.

“I’m a Jewish comedian, and there’s this new thing out, it’s called satire, irony and historical reference,” he said.  “To say that a Jew can’t do that gesture as homage to Chaplin’s masterpiece The Great Dictator is like Muslim extremists killing a cartoonist for disparaging Mohammed in his art.”

Belzer, who jokingly pulled a similar stunt on Sean Hannity’s FOX News program in 2009, used his family’s bloodline as defense for his actions.

“My grandfather represented Israel in the UN before it was made a nation,” he said.