Moroccans and Algerians clash over the Imane Khelif affair

Moroccan and Algerian Internet users are getting involved in the Imane Khelif affair, named after the Algerian boxer who participated in the Paris Olympic Games and found herself at the heart of a controversy surrounding her gender identity, for which Moroccan boxer Oumayma Belahbib, a member of the International Boxing Federation (IBA), is accused on social networks of being partly responsible.

Imane Khelif is a “woman beater,” reads a post on the Moroccan page “Atlas Patriote” on X. Moroccan online media are also getting involved. “Imane Khelif, gold medalist and already at the center of debates for questions of gender identity, is now at the heart of another scandal,” writes the Hespress website. “Oumayma Belahbib victim of a Franco-Algerian controversy,” headlines another Moroccan website. This affair has been “exacerbated by the already high tensions between Morocco and Algeria,” comments the online newspaper.