Columnist Mehdi Ghezzar, a regular on RMC’s “Grandes Gueules”, caused controversy during an appearance on Algerian television by violently attacking Morocco. RMC announced on Wednesday that he will no longer be returning to the airwaves.
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A controversy that has been growing since the media release. On Sunday, August 25, columnist and entrepreneur Mehdi Ghezzar spoke on the set of the Algerian television channel AL24 about the Kingdom of Morocco. Franceinfo explains why his remarks have provoked a lively controversy that does not seem to be fading on social networks.
Violent words
Asked about his Moroccan neighbor on the show “Hebdo Show”, the entrepreneur described him as “Thailand of Africa” before clarifying his remarks in a frontal attack. “It’s a rogue state through its drug networks. You want to steal a child, there are some. You want to rape a child, there are some. You want to buy drugs, there are some. You want prostitution, there is some. Excuse me, it’s anything but a Muslim country, let’s face it.”
He then goes on to discuss an altercation between Moroccan and Algerian diplomats, against a backdrop of tensions over Western Sahara, during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development: “I am very proud that this diplomatic thugocracy is humiliated in front of the whole world and I am very happy with the solidarity between the Sahrawi people and Algeria.”
Mehdi Ghezzar also accused the royal advisor to the King of Morocco, André Azoulay, during the show of being behind a royal decree banning Moroccans from showing solidarity with Palestine. A statement that sparked many reactions, including that of Eric Ciotti, the group’s president Right! to the National Assembly.
A tense geopolitical context
This media release comes in a context of high tensions between the two countries. One of them concerns Western Sahara. Morocco claims this territory located in the south, of more than 250,000 square kilometers, which is not to the taste of Algeria. The latter supports the independence of Western Sahara, whose land is rich in phosphates and its coastline in fish resources. This former Spanish colony, the only territory on the African continent whose colonial status remains pending, is considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN and has strained relations between Morocco and Algeria for years.
Tensions were rekindled on July 30, 2024 when France, in a letter to King Mohammed VI, decided to assume a “significant evolution” from his position. Paris writes that “the present and future of Western Sahara are part of Moroccan sovereignty”Algiers recalling his ambassador to France “with immediate effect”.
RMC’s “Grandes Gueules” ends its participation
Another consequence of Mehdi Ghezzar’s statements: the show “Les Grandes Gueules” on RMC announced live on Wednesday that he would not be returning. “Following the unacceptable comments made by Mehdi Ghezzar on a foreign television channel, the management of RMC and Les Grandes Gueules have decided to put an end to Mehdi Ghezzar’s participation in the show,” read the presenter Alain Marschall, without making any further comments. A hashtag #BoycottRMC had been launched a few hours earlier on the social network X.
Mehdi Ghezzar has not responded yet. Access to his X account, which has just over 8,000 subscribers, is now private.