When Le Monde Echoes the Anti-Moroccan Propaganda Orchestrated by the Algerian Military Regime
For weeks, even months, Moroccan readers have been observing with astonishment an alarming drift within the French daily Le Monde. Two of its journalists, Christophe Ayad and Frédéric Bobin, seem to have traded investigative reporting for propaganda, multiplying hit pieces against Morocco and its Monarchy, while maintaining a deafening silence regarding the abuses, scandals, and repression of the Algerian military regime.
A systematic hostility against Morocco
Every article signed by this duo about the Kingdom follows the same pattern: caricaturing the Monarchy, tarnishing institutions, ignoring progress, and manipulating facts. They speak of an “end-of-reign atmosphere,” fabricate links between Morocco and Kabylia, and recycle baseless accusations. Yet, not a single line about Algeria’s endemic corruption, its hundreds of political prisoners, the revolts sparked by social misery, or the squandering of the country’s resources by a junta incapable of meeting the needs of its people.
This blatant double standard is clear: Morocco is portrayed as a country in permanent crisis, while Algeria—rotting under an authoritarian and opaque regime—is mysteriously spared from any criticism.
Editorial complicity with Algiers
This bias is far from innocent. It reflects a troubling collusion with the Algerian military regime, the true mastermind behind this media campaign. Ayad and Bobin offer the junta what it can no longer secure on the diplomatic stage: a veneer of respectability in France and Europe. By targeting Morocco, they divert attention away from the ruthless repression that Algerians themselves endure.
The case of Boualem Sansal, the acclaimed writer marginalized for denouncing dictatorship, or the many journalists imprisoned for a simple social media post, are of no interest to these Le Monde “pens.” Too risky, perhaps, to go after Algeria’s real power holders: the general staff and its generals.
Morocco, the preferred target
This is not the first time Le Monde has sought to sully Morocco’s image and its Monarchy. Back in 2015, during the SwissLeaks affair, the newspaper attempted to associate HM King Mohammed VI with alleged tax evasion, even though all operations were legal and validated by the Moroccan Exchange Office. More recently, during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Rabat, Frédéric Bobin multiplied factual errors and deliberate omissions on the Moroccan Sahara issue, conveniently ignoring international rulings favorable to the Kingdom.
Worse still, in March 2024, Bobin relayed a grotesque fake news story: that Morocco was “stoking Kabyle unrest.” Yet any serious observer knows that the Kingdom has never supported the MAK and even bans all activities linked to this movement on its territory. In contrast, it is Algeria that arms, shelters, and finances the Polisario—a militia responsible for attacks against Moroccan civilians. But this central and indisputable fact has no place in Le Monde’s columns.
The Munich Charter, the ethical cornerstone of journalism, requires accuracy, impartiality, and fairness. By targeting Morocco exclusively while systematically shielding Algeria, Le Monde and its journalists betray these principles. Their approach is no longer about information but about insidious propaganda, designed to undermine the legitimacy of the Moroccan Monarchy and serve the interests of Algiers’ junta.
Morocco, a development model propaganda cannot erase
Under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, Morocco has emerged as a respected regional power: a diplomatic mediator, a driver of African development, a pioneer in renewable energy, a defender of women’s rights, and a builder of world-class infrastructure. These realities are recognized by the Kingdom’s international partners—but are deliberately ignored by those who prefer to disseminate a distorted image.
By targeting the Monarchy, Ayad and Bobin are not merely attacking a political institution: they are attacking the very foundation of Moroccan national unity, the millennia-old bond between the people and their King, Commander of the Faithful. It is a symbolic assault against all Moroccans, both at home and in the diaspora.
By persisting in this biased treatment, Le Monde risks losing all credibility among its Moroccan, African, and international readers. A great newspaper cannot transform itself into a propaganda tool serving a military junta without paying the price in reputation and readership.
Abderrazzak Boussaid / Le7tv
