Moroccan Journalists Condemn beIN Sports Commentator’s Anti-Morocco Campaign

On the web, Hafid Derradji is leading a campaign of denigration against Morocco. He described Moroccan officials as Zionists after the normalization of diplomatic relations between the kingdom and Israel. He also asked Algeria to keep the borders between Rabat and Algiers closed. He also claimed that Morocco did not send aid to his country. An untruth. King Mohammed VI mobilized two water bombers to help Algeria, which is fighting fires, but the Algerian authorities did not give their approval.

These remarks have provoked a reaction from Moroccan journalists from beIN Sports. They reminded the Algerian sports commentator that Morocco is a "red line". "Who told you in the first place that we wanted to open the borders with people like you?" Mohammed Ammor addressed Derradji, stressing that King Mohammed VI had called for the reopening of the borders for reasons that the Algerian sports commentator cannot understand.

In a Facebook post, Amine Sebti, another Moroccan journalist from beIN Sports, said he had already written on the subject and responded to those who attack his country and try to spread their poison for known objectives, and that he was ready to do so again, he said. Youssef Ait Elhaj, another Moroccan journalist from the Qatari network, agrees. All three intend to put an end to the campaign of denigration against the kingdom.

Foreign policy expert Samir Bennis called on all Moroccans to use the hashtag "Derradjicrossedlines" to denounce the hostility of the Algerian journalist against Morocco. The hashtag has emerged. Thousands of Moroccans and non-Moroccans are now using it. Some call on beIN Sports to sanction Hafid Derradji for his hostile remarks, while others demand that a lawsuit be filed against him.