Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Podcast Info
    • Hanania Podcast intro
    • Live Arab Radio
  • Your Views
  • Submit Press Release
  • Toggle search form
  • The American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (American FRRME) helping Christians in Iraq
    New report on Christians in Iraq shows desperate situation and needs Arab World
  • Winter in Bekaa Lebanon January 2015 Photo courtesy of NRC Lebanon. January 7, 2015 in Bekaa valley Lebanon. Heavy snowfall in Lebanon January 7, 2015. Yesterday staff from NRC Lebanon’s Bekaa office were working with refugees to put in place flood mitigation measures in advance of the forecast harsh storm which hit overnight. Field teams distributed 1,205 plywood sheets and 885 bricks as floor-raising kits for tents in two settlements in the town of Sarain, and 250 wooden pallets to ensure a clear pathway in five settlements in the town at risk of flooding. Niamh Murnaghan, NRC’s Country Director in Lebanon said, “This morning residents of these informal settlements awoke to a knee-deep blanket of snow. With roads impassable in Bekaa, our staff have not been able to reach refugee settlements, but refugees have sent photos of themselves clearing the snow from their tents.” Photo credit: NRC Lebanon/Syrian refugees in Lebanon. January 7, 2015 in Bekaa valley Lebanon. Heavy snowfall in Lebanon January 7, 2015. Yesterday staff from NRC Lebanon’s Bekaa office were working with refugees to put in place flood mitigation measures in advance of the forecast harsh storm which hit overnight. Field teams distributed 1,205 plywood sheets and 885 bricks as floor-raising kits for tents in two settlements in the town of Sarain, and 250 wooden pallets to ensure a clear pathway in five settlements in the town at risk of flooding. Niamh Murnaghan, NRC’s Country Director in Lebanon said, “This morning residents of these informal settlements awoke to a knee-deep blanket of snow. With roads impassable in Bekaa, our staff have not been able to reach refugee settlements, but refugees have sent photos of themselves clearing the snow from their tents.” Photo credit: NRC Lebanon/Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
    AHRC Observes World Refugee Day American Arabs
  • Endorsements: Democrats in the Illinois June 28, 2022 Primary election Activism
  • The Arab Daily News candidate endorsements: Cook County, Illinois American Arabs
  • Endorsements: Republicans in the Illinois Republican Primary Election June 28, 2022 Election
  • Joseph Gutman was appointed by Gov. Pritzker to serve as a Member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Gutman was a Partner at BDT & Company from 2017 until retiring in January 2020 where he remains a consultant today.
    Gov Pritzker makes more appointments to state commissions, boards but no Arabs American Arabs
  • World Jewish Congress Chairman Ronald S. Lauder
    WJC President Ronald S. Lauder Receives France’s Top Distinction  Activism
  • Project DYNAMO rescues more than 600 people from Mariupol, Ukraine over the last week Major Mariupol rescue operation conducted by Project DYNAMO, more than 480 people from Mariupol as city under violent siege falling to Russian forces. 
    Project DYNAMO rescues more than 600 people from Mariupol, Ukraine over the last week Human Rights
  • US Congressman Sean Casten, 6th District, Illinois
    Congressman Sean Casten joins Ray Hanania Radio Show American Arabs
  • The U.S.S. Liberty photo courtesy of the USS Liberty Veterans.
    Survivors of Israel’s strike on USS Liberty commemorate 55th year June 6 – 8 American Arabs
  • Imad Hamad Director American Human Rights Council
    AHRC Calls for Moral Consistency on Human Rights, Urges President Biden to Pause His Trip to Israel: American Arabs
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC hosts an open meeting with TSA & community Activism
  • Former City Hall reporter Ray Hanania, ShawnTe Raines-Welch and Nick Kantas, candidates for Judge in the 4th SubCircuit, and Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar.
    Nearly 100 candidates, officials address Arab Democratic Club forum Sunday American Arabs
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    Arabs and Muslim blast Mayor lightfoot for racist store closings American Arabs
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Chicago aldermen to host “forum” to explore Mayor Lightfoot’s racist crackdown on Arab stores Activism
head shot

Affaire d’État or Scandal, the Palace Is Boiling

Posted on July 25, 2018August 20, 2019 By Abdennour Toumi No Comments on Affaire d’État or Scandal, the Palace Is Boiling
SHARE ...
2         
 
  
2
Shares

  • Tweet

Affaire d’État or Scandal, the Palace Is Boiling

President Macron’s supporters prefer to compare him to President Obama rather than President Nixon, and believe he will survive the storm.

By Abdennour Toumi

First heat waves of the summer season in Paris have produced an unusual sweat and wet in the town; everybody is trying to keep his house cool, including President Macron, whose office was struck by a political summer thunderstorm on the Élysée’s Palace roofs, causing severe collateral damage in high positions among the State’s public servants, homeland security officers and his high cabinet members, i.e., the Interior Minister, the nation’s First-Cop, Mr. Gérard Collomb.

A political storm that has already got the flavor of an Affair of State or a scandal, involving French President Emmanuel Macron’s personal security advisor and bodyguard. Mr. Alexandre Benalla, caught in a video leaked to le Monde newspaper, beating up May Day demonstrators while presenting himself as a civil police officer.

Since the story broke, the French media and the buried opposition, the Far-right (RN), the right (LR), the Center (UDI), the far-left (la France insoumise), left (NG ex-PS) and the Communists PC) alike, have all resurrected. It is making noises on the Parliament’s  (Nationale Assemblée) floor to some extent, the mosaic French political opposition has demonstrated its concern for the homeland security and the institution’s functionality in a classy political adversity.

This storm is roasting the President’s Staff in the Palace, avoiding the story to lead to a scandal. It is not Jean Paul Gaultier’s perfume fragrance for women featured in a commercial spot, a glamorous young woman exiting a classy French black Citroën in the Élysée Palace forecourt, skipping the journalists’ questions, “calling her, Madame la Ministre !” The “Benalla affair” has become anything but fiction. It is the “Benalla-Macron scandal,” as Mr. Edwy Plenel, the Mediapart Director put it, and France’s “Watergate” as Ms. Le Pen told the press at the Parliament.

Meanwhile, the President and his PR team are fighting the fire to avoid it reaching his office; nonetheless, he appeared as Fire Chief on Tuesday evening with his cabinet members and his majority MPs, breaking his silence over the Benalla “affair”, saying “I am to blame,” as he denounced Mr. Benalla’s comportment as a disappointment and a treason.

Yet the story keeps unfolding and every hour a new revelation is coming out about Mr. Benalla’s job description outlining his position and professional advantages.

Why all these privileges and favoritism for a simple bodyguard who became the nation’s super-cop and the President’s right hand and arm, when did this start and how will it end? The opposition keeps asking and the media keep commenting.

President Macron’s Deputy Chief of Staff in the Élysée, Mr. Patrick Strzoda, took full responsibility for his decision regarding the action of Mr. Benalla on May Day at la place de la Contrescarpe (Ve arrondissement). Gérard Collomb and Paris Police chief Michel Delpuech also took part in the Law Committee hearings in the Parliament, they gave their versions of the facts under oath, and the Paris Police chief openly denounced “unacceptable individual drift on the background of unhealthy cronyism.”

Whereas the Interior Minister left the opposition frustrated and more suspicious, comparing the Élysée security services to a parallel police. MP. Obono of LFI (la France insoumise) said: “It evokes dark hours when there would be a political police.” Referring to General De Gaulle’s  presidency that had the Civic Action Service, (le SAC), a parallel police that did not hesitate to “break back the bone of the opponent.” The LR Group President in the Parliament, MP. Christian Jacob, compared Mr. Benalla’s actions to the Barbouzes days, a parallel police force to fight the OAS, a far-Right politico-military clandestine organization created in February, 1961 for the defense of the French full presence in Algeria (l’Algérie-française) by all means, including large-scale of terrorism.

As a result, the opposition has called for a vote of no-confidence motion next week, applying the article 50-1 of the Constitution.

President Macron who was called France’s Obama, loves imitating President Obama’s communication and rhetorical speech style, wants to destroy France’s “old world” politics, and establish an exemplarity Republic. Thus the forgotten opposition that he might have thought was dead, has found itself very much alive in an asymmetric was over the Benalla “affair,” which neither the majority nor the opposition want, but which has become the turning point of his presidency — a serious imbroglio for President Macron’s political strategy, his vision for the next electoral deadlines and how he will reform the country and bring “France back” on the regional and the international stage.

Two weeks ago, the French were ecstatic with joy after the national team won the FIFA World Cup and French morale was never higher; the President capitalized a great deal on this popular euphoria only to have it end by abuse of power paranoia. According to a new poll on Tuesday led by Opinion Direct and BFMTV in the wake of this crisis, 80% of the French said: “They were shocked by the Benalla affair.”

Oddly, in the light of this political scandal, up to this point, there are analogical elements between President Macron and President Nixon. By now, the parallels between the two Presidents are neither logical nor ethical.

An analogy might shed light on President Macron’s approach to politics in the country, although painting him as President Nixon is not intellectually fair. The vast majority of Americans protested and vehemently contested the Vietnam War; and President Nixon’s partisan strategy toward the Democratic Party opposition which resulted from

President Nixon’s political suspicions led his administration into the “Water Gate” scandal.

Unlike President Nixon, President Macron — the candidate — ran his Presidential campaign based on a consensual platform to resolve France’s political diseases and restore the Republic authority and the country’s prestige. The promise he made in the Louvre’s forecourt landed in a toxic quagmire; his socioeconomic reforms and actions were extended to chase the struggling middle class groups in the deep country and by extension to the large cities’ beltway. 

For instance, consider during “Water Gate” the ramifications of the direct and indirect actors; nevertheless, U.S. politics does not involve a multi-party ideology of the main powers. As France’s politics sought to contain bi-polarity so President Macron’s political culture, his paradigm, seeks to eradicate an ideology of radical political parties in the country and their threat to the Palace.

President Macron’s plan is focusing on its political opponents, like President Nixon’s in Washington, D.C. — action has already reached a sterile result, if not empowering the far-Right leader Ms. Marine Le Pen and eventually the Right’s come-back kid, former-President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Meanwhile, it is weakening the Center, creating new casualties inside the center-Right and Left potential voters alike circle, like President Nixon on the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Republican base and voters. Even though President Macron’s supporters prefer to compare him to President Obama rather than President Nixon, and believe he will survive the storm; unlike President Nixon, it is unlikely he would be impeached because of the complex constitutional technicality of the French Constitution.

Politics is not always a pretty Madone painting in which only talented artists can explain the enigma and make it prettier. Above all, President Macron’s scandal strategy could be subjectively playing out a tragedy in the State hegemony, believing to clean up “old world politics” megalomania, but like President Nixon’s narcissism, the on-going Benalla story elements are synthesizing an ugly political scandal.

Politics is like life; one cannot choose his family nor fate, President Macron wants a Republic to go forward, but his special bodyguard’s caprices brought it downward.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Abdennour Toumi
Follow me:
Abdennour Toumi
Abdennour Toumi:
- France correspondent for The Arab Daily News.
- www.bareed-areej.com Editor-in-Chief
رئيس تحرير مجلة بريد الأريج
- Political consultant at IMPR a Think-Tank based in Ankara, Turkey.
- Member at the European Observatory for Arabic Language Teaching based in Paris, France.
- Affiliated with Sociology of Islam Journal and contributor at Middle East Studies / International Studies, Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies Center, Portland State University in Portland, OR.

EDUCATION: Diplôme des Études Approfondies (DEA) in Political Science from Toulouse University I, France. Master’s degree in Law from Algiers University, Algeria.

Email im at: nourhty@gmail.com
Abdennour Toumi
Follow me:
Latest posts by Abdennour Toumi (see all)
  • The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Is the Neither-Peace-nor-Security As-sumption Dominating Again? - June 7, 2021
  • Algeria: “I Can See Clearly Now” - August 5, 2019
  • Majesty Mohammed VI and General Gaïd Salah Tear Down This Wall! - July 29, 2019

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
2         
 
  
2
Shares
 
2
Shares
2         
 
 Tweet 
Abdennour Toumi, Bloggers, Commentary, Europe, immigrants, Opinion Tags:Abdennour Toumi, Elysee Palace, France, immigrants, immigration, Macron, politics, refugees

Post navigation

Previous Post: Congresswoman McCollum stands out as principled voice on human rights
Next Post: United by strategy Palestinians could assume leadership of peace making

Related Posts

  • Palestinians continue protests against Israeli violence Arab World
  • 68 Years of the Palestinian Ongoing Nakba ! Arab World
  • Peoples march in Algiers Streets to protest Pdt Bouteflika fifth-term. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi
    A Cri-de-coeur for Dignity and Stability  Abdennour Toumi
  • Verona offers a wide collection of Modern Islamic Clothing for women. https://www.verona-collection.com/
    ” الحشمة ” هو منتج Macy الجديد لملابس المحجبات American Arabs
  • Israel Must Free Mordechai Vanunu in 90 Days Arab World
  • Israel’s government will do and say anything to cover its atrocities Arab News

More Related Articles

Mordechai Vanunu’s July 4 Indictment Arab World
Racism plays hard in Israeli elections Arab World
The European Dream: Being Muslim, prominent politician & European Abdennour Toumi
“Blood in the Water” by Joan Mellen Ends the USS LIBERTY Cover-Up Arab World
Joseph R. Haiek displays the award he received from the Association of Egyptian American Scholars (AEAS) on Dec. 27 during their 44th Annual Conference. Obit: American Arab journalism, history titan Joseph Haiek dies American Arabs
HCEF program reconnects diaspora youth with Palestine American Arabs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Nearly four years in office, Pritzker fails to deliver on promises to Arab Americans
    June 12, 2022
  • Palestinian refugees forced to flee their homes at gunpoint by Jewish terrorist groups operating in Palestine in the 1930s, 1940s and after Israel was created on May 14, 1948. Photo courtesy of the United Nations
    Unresolved status of Palestinian rights makes UNRWA essential
    May 7, 2022
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • Hollywood Sign
    Will Smith violence takes Oscar protests to dangerous level
    March 31, 2022
  • NEWS
  • The American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (American FRRME) helping Christians in Iraq
    New report on Christians in Iraq shows desperate situation and needs
    June 20, 2022
  • Winter in Bekaa Lebanon January 2015 Photo courtesy of NRC Lebanon. January 7, 2015 in Bekaa valley Lebanon. Heavy snowfall in Lebanon January 7, 2015. Yesterday staff from NRC Lebanon’s Bekaa office were working with refugees to put in place flood mitigation measures in advance of the forecast harsh storm which hit overnight. Field teams distributed 1,205 plywood sheets and 885 bricks as floor-raising kits for tents in two settlements in the town of Sarain, and 250 wooden pallets to ensure a clear pathway in five settlements in the town at risk of flooding. Niamh Murnaghan, NRC’s Country Director in Lebanon said, “This morning residents of these informal settlements awoke to a knee-deep blanket of snow. With roads impassable in Bekaa, our staff have not been able to reach refugee settlements, but refugees have sent photos of themselves clearing the snow from their tents.” Photo credit: NRC Lebanon/Syrian refugees in Lebanon. January 7, 2015 in Bekaa valley Lebanon. Heavy snowfall in Lebanon January 7, 2015. Yesterday staff from NRC Lebanon’s Bekaa office were working with refugees to put in place flood mitigation measures in advance of the forecast harsh storm which hit overnight. Field teams distributed 1,205 plywood sheets and 885 bricks as floor-raising kits for tents in two settlements in the town of Sarain, and 250 wooden pallets to ensure a clear pathway in five settlements in the town at risk of flooding. Niamh Murnaghan, NRC’s Country Director in Lebanon said, “This morning residents of these informal settlements awoke to a knee-deep blanket of snow. With roads impassable in Bekaa, our staff have not been able to reach refugee settlements, but refugees have sent photos of themselves clearing the snow from their tents.” Photo credit: NRC Lebanon/Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
    AHRC Observes World Refugee Day
    June 20, 2022
  • Joseph Gutman was appointed by Gov. Pritzker to serve as a Member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Gutman was a Partner at BDT & Company from 2017 until retiring in January 2020 where he remains a consultant today.
    Gov Pritzker makes more appointments to state commissions, boards but no Arabs
    June 17, 2022
  • Endorsements: Republicans in the Illinois Republican Primary Election June 28, 2022
    June 16, 2022
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Imad Hamad Director American Human Rights Council
    AHRC Calls for Moral Consistency on Human Rights, Urges President Biden to Pause His Trip to Israel:
    May 24, 2022
  • The U.S.S. Liberty photo courtesy of the USS Liberty Veterans.
    Survivors of Israel’s strike on USS Liberty commemorate 55th year June 6 – 8
    May 23, 2022
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC hosts an open meeting with TSA & community
    May 19, 2022
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Chicago aldermen to host forum on Arab businesses closed by Mayor Lightfoot
    April 15, 2022

The Tabboun Column

The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
  • Tabboun
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    The Political Grapevine/The Tabboun, Friday Dec. 16, 2021
    December 16, 2021
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    Tabboun: Chicago remains strongest Palestine voice
    September 7, 2016
  • The Tabboun: Israeli human rights violations hit
    June 30, 2016
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    Tabboun: Himes questions troop deployment to Syria
    November 3, 2015
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    The Tabboun: Dearborn removes statue of racist former mayor
    September 29, 2015

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Ad-Pantry-essentials.jpg
  • ZiyadBrandLogo-2016BlackRedBackgrnd.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Sices-Ad.jpg
  • HANANIA Arab News Op-Eds
  • Ukraine conflict gives Palestinians chance to redefine their conflict
    March 9, 2022
  • Mishmeshan PHC medical center destroyed in Syrian Government assaults. Photo courtesy of UOSSM Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations
    President Biden’s dyslexic policy in Syria is a mess
    October 20, 2021
  • Annissa Essaibi George and family
    Annissa Essaibi George faces “race hypocrisy” in campaign to be Boston Mayor
    October 20, 2021
  • Jerusalem image of Jews and Arabs walking together. Shutterstock. Courtesy of Arab News Newspaper
    Jewish Michigan lawmaker leads push for Two State Solution
    October 7, 2021
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • Girl Fighters, new book on Yemen Book Cune Press
    New Book: Girl Fighters: Break Tradition in Yemen 
    October 25, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022
    Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month
    March 31, 2022
  • Hollywood Sign
    Will Smith violence takes Oscar protests to dangerous level
    March 31, 2022
  • 03-30-22 Arab Chamber Heritage Month Flyer
    Arab Chamber to host Arab Heritage Month dinner March 30
    March 14, 2022
  • “Rupture”, the psychological thriller produced by MBC STUDIOS, has won Best Saudi Film at the 2021 Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF).
    MBC GROUP’s Rupture wins Best Saudi Film at the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival
    December 15, 2021
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2022 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme