Karim Benzema posted on social networks a message about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Photo: AFP
French football star Karim Benzema has threatened to sue the French interior minister after he accused him of “notorious” links to the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood.
His lawyer also vowed to take legal action against other right-wing French politicians who have called for Benzema to be tried or even stripped of his French citizenship if ties to the Muslim Brotherhood are proven.
Accusations from Interior Minister Gérald Darmanen's comments came after the current Ballon d'Or winner and former Real Madrid striker posted on social media about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
“We all pray for the people of Gaza, who are once again victims of these unjust bombings that spare neither women nor children,” Benzema wrote on Twitter.
He did not mention the October 7 attacks in Israel, Hamas, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
Since then, Israel has launched wave after wave of retaliatory air strikes, killing more than 3,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Speaking on CNews, Mr Darmanin said Benzema “has a notorious connection with the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Muslim Islamist group with Egyptian origins that is now banned by Cairo.”
“This is a lie! Karim Benzema never had the slightest connection with this organization,” Benzema’s lawyer Hugues Vigier said in a statement.
Benzema expressed “natural compassion” for “what many today call war crimes being committed in Gaza, but this does not diminish the horror of the terrorist attacks of October 7, which is not up for debate,” he said.
The lawyer added that it plans to file a complaint against Mr. Darmanin for his comments.
He also noted that Benzema currently plays for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, which has banned the Muslim Brotherhood and classifies it as a terrorist organization.
The Interior Ministry says retaliatory strike
The Home Office has hit back while Benzema's position has not been prosecuted, “nonetheless it sends a particularly unclear message from a sporting personality with such a wide audience.”
“On Over the course of several years, we have noted a slow drift of Karim Benzema’s position towards tough, strict Islam, characteristic of the Brotherhood’s ideology, which consists in the spread of Islamic norms in various spheres of society, in particular in sports,” said those close to the minister.
They cited his refusal to sing La Marseillaise at the start of international matches, his online “proselytism” and his apparent support for posts by Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Russian MMA fighter who called on fans to “mutilate” those who supported Charlie. Hebdo's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad Although he is a key member of Emmanuel Macron's centrist government, Mr Darmanin, 41, has built a reputation as a conservative hardliner and has made no secret of his presidential ambitions.
Benzema's lawyer has also threatened to sue other right-wing politicians who have also targeted him.
One of them, Valerie Boyer of the Republican Right, said that if it is determined – connection between Benzema and the Brotherhood, he should be deprived of his Ballon d'Or and French citizenship.
“Such a measure, which is impossible for a person born in France of French parents, can only refer in Europe to Nazi Germany “, said Benzema's lawyer Hugues Vigier.
He also threatened to sue Nadine Moreno, a right-wing member of the European Parliament, who called him a “propaganda agent” of Hamas.
The investigation into 35-year-old Youssef Atala
Benzema, born in France to a family of Algerian origin, is considered one of the most talented French stars of his generation.
He joined the Saudi club this year on a lucrative three-year contract after 14 seasons at Real Madrid, where he won five Champions Leagues, four La Liga titles and three Copa del Reys .
But after a stellar performance in the 2021–22 season, in which he led Real Madrid to Champions League glory and was awarded the Ballon d'Or as the world's best player, he was plagued by injuries that kept him out of the FIFA World Cup in France in Qatar last year.
In addition, French prosecutors last week launched a preliminary investigation into another top-flight footballer on suspicion of “glorifying terrorism” after he posted allegedly anti-Semitic messages on social media message regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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Youssef Atal, an Algerian international who plays for Ligue 1 club Nice, is suspected of having posted on Instagram a video of a Palestinian preacher allegedly calling for violence against Jewish people.
Football officials, politicians, the Jewish Group and the mayor of Nice condemned the post, which Atal deleted before apologizing.
On Wednesday, Atal was suspended “until further notice.”
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