French Interior Minister makes baseless claim about soccer star Karim Benzema

(CNN) — He’s one of French soccer’s most famous stars, but 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema finds himself mired in political controversy amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking to French outlet CNews on Monday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused Benzema of having connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political group which France considers a terrorist organization.

In the televised interview, Darmanin said: “We have closed 1,100 Islamist establishments. And in recent weeks, I’ve been particularly interested, Mr. Benzema is linked, we all know it, notoriously with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“We are attacking a hydra that is the Muslim Brotherhood because they create an ‘atmospheric jihadism,’ like Gilles Kepel would say,” added Darmanin, referring to the political scientist.

Darmanin did not provide any evidence to support his claims. CNN has reached out to the French Interior Ministry for clarification on Darmanin’s comments.

In an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV-RMC Sport on Thursday, Benzema’s lawyer, Hugues Vigier, denied that the striker had any links with the Muslim Brotherhood and said they were considering taking legal action against the minister.

“[Darmanin’s] giving out false information, and that’s not something you do lightly,” Vigier said. “When you’re Minister of the Interior, you don’t have the right, your word is binding.”

Vigier added: “And so, supposing it’s true, what’s the link with the Muslim Brotherhood? So he doesn’t back them up. And what’s absolutely incredible is that France’s chief policeman is capable of making such obvious statements, without any verification, otherwise he wouldn’t have made them.

“And then you saw the timing of what he said in this regard. It seems to come out of the blue. We don’t understand why these words come up in this sentence at this time, as if, well, there’s something that needs to be marked in a corner. You have to say it, it’s going to make some noise. Well, that’s inadmissible.”

When approached by CNN, Benzema’s lawyers said they had no statement to share and could neither confirm nor deny whether a lawsuit will be filed against Darmanin.

Benzema won the UEFA Champions League five times and scored 354 goals for Real Madrid, before making a move this past summer to Saudi Pro League team Al-Ittihad.

The striker has 97 appearances for France’s men’s national team, scoring 37 goals, and is widely recognized as one of the greatest French players of all time. He retired from international duty last year after making his senior debut in 2007.

Darmanin’s allegations come after Benzema posted his support for Palestinians on Sunday in Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed at least 3,500 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israel’s strikes in Gaza followed a large-scale terror attack in Israel carried out by its Hamas rulers on October 7 that killed 1,400 people in the country, according to Israeli officials.

“All our prayers go out to the people of Gaza, victims once again of unjust bombings that spare neither women nor children,” Benzema wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a religious and political group founded on the belief that Islam is not simply a religion, but a way of life. It advocates a move away from secularism, and a return to the rules of the Quran as a basis for healthy families, communities and states.

The Muslim Brotherhood officially rejects the use of violent means to secure its goals. However, offshoots of the group have been linked to attacks in the past, and critics blame the Brotherhood for sparking troubles elsewhere in the Middle East. Many consider it the forerunner of modern militant Islamism. There is no evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood has any connection to Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Last week, large groups of demonstrators took to the streets in Paris in defiance of a controversial new ban on pro-Palestinian rallies in the country implemented by the government.

The ban was announced by Darmanin, citing concerns about public order. “Pro-Palestinian demonstrations must be prohibited because they are likely to generate disturbances to the public order,” said the minister. He added that any organization of such protests will lead to arrests.

Darmanin also called on the police to protect all locations visited by French Jews such as synagogues and schools, and said any foreigner committing acts of anti-Semitism on French soil will be “immediately expelled.”

In his appearance on French TV on Monday, Darmanin was pressed on whether Benzema encapsulates the “feeling of embracing the Palestinian cause, almost in opposition to what may be happening.”

In reply, Darmanin said: “You can embrace the Palestinian cause, you can want a Palestinian state, without wanting to behead Jewish children in the kibbutz. … When you have a voice like Mr. Benzema’s, you have a responsibility when you tweet, to at least condemn the Hamas terrorist attacks.”

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