Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accuses Karim Benzema of being in contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, Eric Zemmour accuses him of being directly linked to a terrorist attack. Senator Valérie Boyer (Les Républicains, right) calls for the footballer’s French nationality to be revoked. Why does part of the French class resent Karim Benzema?
It becomes almost cyclical. Karim Benzema, although he no longer lives or operates in France, is regularly at the heart of heated political controversies in this country.
The footballer has almost become a symbol of the relentlessness of part of the French political class. His recent positioning in favor of Palestine, which is suffering a fierce attack from Israel, has revived controversies against him in France. But this time, a new dangerous step has been taken.
“ We cannot accept that a French dual national, internationally recognized, could dishonor and even betray our country in this way,” wrote Valérie Boyer, senator in a press release published on X (formerly Twitter). She also calls for his Ballon d’Or which Karim Benzema won in 2022 to be withdrawn.
This radical position is a response to a publication by Karim Benzema on the same social network. The footballer simply sent a message to the victims of the bombings in Gaza.
However, this simple post has earned him violent attacks for several days from a minister, a senator from the Les Républicains party (right) and a political leader of the far-right.
Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, accuses him of being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. “ Not seeing this is showing the French that you are naive. Let’s stop being naive! », Launched the minister at the microphone of BFM TV.
Gérald Darmanin then announced that he would withdraw his accusations against the footballer, only if the latter agreed to post a message in memory of Dominique Bernard, the professor who was recently assassinated during an attack in Arras. To prove his good faith, or perhaps proof that he is a good Frenchman.
“ If Mr. Benzema wants to show his good faith, which he is capable of showing in a few minutes in front of 20 million people who follow him (on X, formerly Twitter), that he also mourns the death of this professor, I will withdraw my words,” assures the minister.
Same story with far-right political leader Eric Zemmour. The politician goes even further by accusing Karim Benzema of being an Islamist wishing to apply Sharia and therefore being “ directly linked” to the murder of the Arras professor. In summary, he accuses the footballer in a more or less indirect way of being a terrorist. In the process, Eric Zemmour accuses all Muslims in France and elsewhere of being terrorists who only seek to kill Christians and Jews while the latter have lived in peace for centuries in Muslim countries.
Faced with the harshness of these accusations, Karim Benzema’s lawyer plans to file a complaint against the political figures who condemned the footballer. If justice can be taken, the campaign of hatred of Karim Benzema remains.
What is so disturbing about Karim Benzema?
Several political and sports figures have expressed their sorrow for the victims of the bombings in Gaza. Yet they did not receive as many vindictive messages. Karim Benzema seems to be a special case. Especially since this is not his first hate campaign.
Karim Benzema is above all an internationally recognized footballer, adored and respected in several countries. Its audience is large. The footballer whose parents are from Algeria is notably followed by 20.8 million people on X and 75.8 million subscribers on Instagram. Moreover, Gérald Darmanin clearly explained that this large audience available to Karim Benzema is a problem.
The fear that its public will adhere to its values and positions triggers constant crises within part of the political class in France. By trying to discredit it, each political figure wants to score a major blow in the media. Particularly at a time when France is becoming far-right. Karim Benzema is the ideal target since he represents everything that the far right forcefully rejects.
Symbolically Karim Benzema brings together two affiliations that are at the heart of French political strategies. He is Muslim and does not hesitate to display his religious beliefs. We saw the footballer during a pilgrimage to Mecca, he does not hesitate to wish the Muslim holidays to his subscribers and evoke his faith with his audience. He is now based in Saudi Arabia where he plays in Al-Ittihad and shouts to anyone who will listen that it is one of the choices he is most proud of in his life.
At a time when France is obsessed with its sacrosanct secularism, Karim Benzema is making people cringe. The former French international (he was selected 97 times for the French team) has enough notoriety and security to make this kind of claim.
The second affiliation is his Algerian origin. Senator Valérie Boyer assumes this in her statements. She did not hesitate to present Karim Benzema as a “ binational ”, even though this information has nothing to do with his personal support for Gaza, and according to his lawyer, the former Real Madrid star does not have Algerian nationality.
For historical reasons, Algeria remains the eternal problem of part of the political class in France, notably the far right. Because of lukewarm and complicated relations with its former colony, France is unable to have either a clear diplomacy or a stable policy for welcoming Algerians.
Algeria, which represents one of the three largest immigrant-providing destinations in France, remains in the crosshairs of both the right and the far right. A few years before the 2027 presidential election, the Algeria issue is coming to the surface, since the management of relations with this country is a key argument to seduce as well as to alienate an electorate.
With each event, tweet, post, or statement, the far-right and the right rise to the occasion to accuse him of betraying his country, namely France. A criticism was already expressed in 2021, when Karim Benzema made his comeback to the French team after having been excluded for several years.
French Internet users desperate for this anti-Benzema campaign
These perpetual attacks against Karim Benzema are so systematic that they are starting to be derided in France.
Many Internet users emphasize the discriminatory nature of these constant attacks. On social networks, Karim Benzema obtains as much support as criticism.
The footballer despite himself crystallizes subjects that divide the French and which have become the issues of several elections.
It even seems that there are two clear camps: with or against Karim Benzema. As on the other subjects that he embodies: Islam in France, immigration, double culture…
Publicly, Karim Benzema does not shy away, he continues to uphold his convictions and does not apologize. The footballer seems to ignore this role of scapegoat that the French political class absolutely wants to impose on him. Even if these virulent attacks are only political-media blows, they encourage a rise of hatred within the French population, which through the actions of a simple footballer shapes its political opinions, even the most irrational.
