Retired France international, Karim Benzema, has threatened to sue France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin for linking him with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Karim Benzema, who is currently playing for the Saudi Pro League club, Al-Ittihad, found himself at the centre of criticism for his post on X in which he sympathized with the people of Gaza over an attack from the Israeli military.
Recall that after the militant group, Hamas, which is based in Gaza, Palestine, killed over 1400 people and kidnapped scores of others in Israel, the Israeli government revenged by reportedly bombarding Gaza, killing over 3,000 people.
In reaction to the attack, Karim Benzema wrote on X that the people of Gaza are “victims again of unjust bombardments which spare neither women nor children”.
In reaction to Benzema’s post, the minister frowned at the French striker’s failure to acknowledge the innocent people Hamas killed in Israel. He added that Benzema is “well-known for his links with the Muslim Brotherhood”.
“We are fighting the hydra that is the Muslim Brotherhood because it creates an atmosphere of jihadism,” Mr. Darmanin told CNews.
Hence, Benzema has authorized his lawyers in Paris, France to clear his name off the group and also sue the minister for slander.
Benzema’s lead lawyer, Hugues Vigier said: “Karim Benzema has never had the least relationship with this organization.
“Praying for a civilian population living under bombs… is neither propaganda for Hamas, nor complicity in terrorism, nor an act of collaboration.
“It is natural compassion in the face of what many people qualify as war crimes… but which in no way detracts from the horror of the [Hamas] terrorist actions carried out on October 7”.
The lawyer added that right-wing deputy Nadine Morano, who called him a “part of propaganda for Hamas,” was another person Karim Benzema could sue.
Subsequently, the interior minister spoke on BFMTV and refused to back down on his attack on Benzema, stating that he would only take back his remarks if the football player shared another post on social media regretting the Islamist killing of an Arras schoolteacher in Israel last Friday.
What is the Muslim Brotherhood movement?
The Muslim Brotherhood movement, which was founded in Egypt eighty years ago, reportedly catalyzed the development of various contemporary Islamist groups, including Hamas, the biggest terrorist group in Palestine.
Although the group has been banned in many Middle Eastern nations (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others), the majority of the EU permits it because it is not regarded as a terrorist group there.
Its impact in Europe is primarily felt through front organizations that support Islamic causes such as women’s rights to wear headscarves.
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