The footballer, who supported the Palestinians, was accused of links with the Islamist organization by Gérald Darmanin. He announced Thursday, via his lawyer, that he was filing a complaint against the Minister of the Interior.
This is support that has not gone unnoticed. Karim Benzema, engaged since June with the Al-Ittihad club in Saudi Arabia, took a position in favor of the Palestinian cause on social networks. A little over a week after the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the player was one of the only French athletes to react with a publication on X (formerly Twitter), “liked” by 600,000 people. “All our prayers for the inhabitants of Gaza, victims once again of these unjust bombings which spare neither women nor children”wrote Karim Benzema, Sunday October 15.
1 Accusations signed Gérald Darmanin
24 hours after the publication of Karim Benzema, the Minister of the Interior accused the footballer of being “in links, as we all know, with the Muslim Brotherhood.”, Monday on CNews. This Islamist organization Sunni, born in Egypt, is extremely controversial and considered terrorist by seven countries, but not by France or the European Union. The 2022 Ballon d’Or vigorously denied this accusation on Wednesday through his lawyer. “Praying on October 15 for civilian populations under bombs which spare neither women nor children obviously does not constitute ‘propaganda for Hamas’, nor ‘complicity in terrorism or acts of collaboration'”argued Maître Hugues Vigier.
Questioned by franceinfo, the Ministry of the Interior then detailed the reasons for these accusations. “For several years, we have noticed a slow drift in Karim Benzema’s positions towards a hard, rigorous Islam, characteristic of the Brotherhood ideology consisting of disseminating Islamic norms in different spaces of society, particularly in sport”affirms Gérald Darmanin’s office, which accuses the player of “proselytism on social networks around Muslim worship, such as fasting, prayer, pilgrimage to Mecca“.
Finally, the Ministry of the Interior mentions Karim Benzema’s “like” on an Instagram publication by Russian MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov: “A real call to hatred following the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in the French press”.
2 Cascading political reactions
“No word for the Jewish victims, the hostages, particularly French, or on the Islamist attack in Arras. Karim Benzema has very selective prayer”, wrote on X Valérie Boyer, just a few hours after the publication of Karim Benzema. Then, after Gérald Darmanin’s statement, senator Les Républicains des Bouches-du-Rhône asked Wednesday on “at a minimum” the Golden Ball of Karim Benzema, for a “symbolic sanction”, but also his French nationality. “Compacting with those who declare war on us would amount to betraying one’s country.”, concludes Valérie Boyer. This proposal for forfeiture of nationality was then supported by Marion Maréchal, figure of the Reconquest party, on the same social network.
Earlier in the week, MEP Nadine Morano called Monday on Europe 1 Karim Benzema of “Hamas propaganda element. Looking back on her years with the Blues jersey, the former minister affirmed that it was “the only football player to turn around to spit on the Marseillaise. There he spits on us a second time. He lives in Saudi Arabia, he is happy there, he has chosen his side, we choose the side of democracy, that’s the difference.”
Publicist Frank Tapiro also criticized the publication of Karim Benzema on Monday on the Israeli channel i24NEWS, denouncing a “tribute to variable geometry”. “They Where are the French hostages, where are the victims of last Saturday’s heinous attack? said Frank Tapiro. He is complicit in terrorism, and he is a collaborator.”
At the same time, elected officials from La France insoumise expressed their support for Karim Benzema, starting with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who addressed the player in a publication on X. “I don’t know you and I don’t know anything about football. But the government and its friends have chosen to demonize you.”wrote the rebellious leader on Thursday.
Thomas Portes, LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, also reacted on the social network. “From Darmanin to Zemmour via Morano and Boyer, racist hatred pours limitless on Karim Benzema.” The rebellious MEP Manon Aubry, for her part, commented on Valérie Boyer’s proposal on the forfeiture of nationality, emphasizing that there was no “no legal basis”. Before adding: “Racism, on the other hand, is a crime.”
3 The player will file a complaint against the minister
Faced with the controversy, Karim Benzema decided to file a complaint against Gérald Darmanin “for false information and public insults”announced Thursday on RMC his lawyer Hugues Vigier. “It’s windy what the minister says”insisted the lawyer, denouncing a “purely opportunistic approach”. Karim Benzema “has no connection, neither near nor far”, with the Islamist organization born in Egypt.
The player’s lawyer also returned to Valérie Boyer’s proposal for forfeiture of nationality. “Karim Benzema is French, he does not have dual nationality, he never asked for nor wanted to have Algerian nationality, recalled Me Hugues Vigier. Considering the loss of nationality for native nationals, if we go back in history, it’s Nazi Germany!” The lawyer of the former Blues striker also accuses Nadine Morano and Frank Tapiro “for having caused a profound and unbearable attack on his honor”, with our colleagues at Parisian