Nicolas Anelka has insisted that he is not anti-Semitic and the furore over his quenelle goal celebration has been exaggerated.

The former West Bromwich Albion striker left the Hawthorns last month after being handed a five-match ban by the FA for making the gesture during the 3-3 draw with West Ham United on 28 December. In an interview with the French newspaper Metro News on Friday, the Frenchman defended himself against accusations that the quenelle – invented by French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala – was an expression of hatred towards Jews.

"Because some people have performed [the quenelle] in front of a synagogue, then the gesture is suddenly meant to be racist and antisemitic in any place and in any situation? Sorry, I'm not swallowing that. I've tried to swallow it but it won't go down," he said.

"So if I understand correctly, all priests are paedophiles and all Muslims are terrorists? For me, it's the same principle. If this continues, the people who decide that the quenelle is racist will soon ban us from eating pineapples! It is a vulgar gesture, I grant you. There was never any religious intent on my part. I am neither racist nor antisemitic and this quenelle was a simple dedication."

Anelka added: "My quenelle was very misunderstood. I have no record of racism or antisemitism, there is no evidence to support it, not even a shred of evidence. I have never had a problem with the Jewish community, and besides why would I have? There are so many questions and no answers.

"At some point we must stop being paranoid and believing that we are all at war. The people who wrote the headlines do not know my life."

M'bala M'bala has been banned from entering Britain after several of his shows were cancelled in France. But Anelka, who is hoping to resume his career next season and has been training on his own since leaving West Brom, has admitted they have become even closer since the incident.

He said: "Dieudonné was a friend, now he has become a brother! The court [FA disciplinary hearing] asked if he was my friend, I said: 'Yes, of course.' He is a comedian, not a politician. He remains for me the best in France. It was not easy to support someone who was public enemy No 1."