(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Khalid Elsawi |
The Peninsula online
Doha, Qatar: French football superstar Karim Benzema is being targeted by a French senator who seeks to revoke his French citizenship and strip him of his Balon d'Or 2021 after he shared a post on his X (previously Twitter) account offering prayers to the victims of Israel's bombing assault in Gaza.
Valerie Boyer, a French senator, released a press circular explaining that the reasoning behind her call to action against the ex-Real Madrid footballer was due to his“ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The allegation that Benzema held ties to the Muslim Brotherhood was first perpetrated by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin during a TV interview.
These accusations were levied against Benzema following his tweet of support to the Palestinian populace, where through his official social media account, the footballer asked for“prayers for the citizens of Gaza” who he described as“victims of many unjust bombings that spared no woman or child.”
Darmanin had recently appeared on French television and accused Benzema of having“notorious ties to the Muslim Brotherhood” after the footballer's message of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Going off Darmanin's comments, Valerie Boyer's circular, which was addressed to the French Ministry of Interior, described Benzema as a“dual French and Algerian national” and remarked that“We cannot accept that a French dual national, internationally known, can dishonor and even betray our country.”
Boyer described the proposed Balon d'Or revocation as a“symbolic punishment."
Speaking to C News, Nadine Morano, a member of the right-leaning Les Republicans party since 2014, also had comments to make about the 2021 best footballer, calling an“agent of Hamas propaganda.”
Morano had previously been removed from her party's list for regional elections after she said France was a“white race” country, and that she did not want it to become a Muslim country, as reported by LeMonde.
On October 17, an Israeli missile struck the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, killing at least 500 people, many of whom were women and children.
MENAFN19102023000063011010ID1107268923
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.