An invitation that did not go unnoticed. Emmanuel Macron is accompanied to Morocco by a delegation as plethoric as it is eclectic of over 130 people from the political, economic or cultural world, some of whom have created controversies such as the controversial comedian Yassine Belattar.
He was present at the president’s welcome ceremony in Rabat on Monday evening, attended by King Mohammed VI, at the start of a three-day state visit. His name was added last Monday to the updated list of the delegation distributed by the Elysée. This forty-year-old French-Moroccan, comedian and former radio host, has long been targeted by the right and far right, who accuse him of being close to Islamism.
“Disrespectful”
These circles reacted promptly to the announcement of his presence within the delegation. “How can this so-called comedian, convicted of death threats, close to the anti-Semites of the CCIF (Collective against Islamophobia in France), will he be able to be present on a trip of this importance in the company of the President of the Republic? It is a lack of respect for France as it is for Morocco”, accused the president of the Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella, on the social network. His ally Marion Maréchal also stated that his presence, “moreover in a tracksuit gymnastics”, brought “shame to the French delegation visiting Morocco’s friendly country”.
The president’s entourage claimed that he was a “French-Moroccan personality” and assured that his presence in the delegation “did not in any way represent support for his ideas”.
A controversy had already arisen in November 2023 when Yassine Belattar was received by Emmanuel Macron’s advisors, after the unprecedented attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel and shortly before the great march against anti-Semitism in France in which the Head of State he had decided not to participate. Two months earlier, the comedian had been sentenced to four months in prison for death threats and crimes aimed at various personalities from the entertainment world.
Yassine Belattar’s speeches on the suburbs earned him the attention of Emmanuel Macron, who appointed him to the Presidential Council of Cities in 2018, with the aim of fueling the executive’s reflection on priority neighbourhoods.
Bernard-Henri Lévy was also present
In addition to ten ministers, including Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, classified as far-right, the delegation accompanying the president includes numerous entrepreneurs, who signed several contracts on Monday evening.
The cultural aspect is also very broad. Alongside Yassine Belattar there is the intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, very committed to supporting Israel, in particular from 7 October 2023. But also the photographer François-Marie Banier, sentenced on appeal in 2016 to four years in prison, suspended for abuse of weakness against billionaire Liliane Bettencourt.
The delegation also includes former Macronist MP M’jid El Guerrab, sentenced on appeal in 2023 to one year in prison and two years of ineligibility for attacking the former socialist leader Boris Faure in 2017.
There are also historic traveling companions of the Head of State on the trip, such as Jean-Marc Borello, founder of the SOS associative group, or the former banker Christian Dargnat, responsible for raising funds for the 2017 and 2022 presidential campaigns.
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