Paris: Jewish-Muslim dialogue activist imam threatened

Paris: Jewish-Muslim dialogue activist imam threatened

The car of the imam of Drancy (Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris), Hassen Chalghoumi, activist for Jewish-Muslim friendship, was vandalized on Tuesday night.  the imam filed a complaint by the local police.

Cans of oil were spilled on the vehicle, whose body was removed, the imam confirmed to AFP.  He also reported having received threats on his cellphone and warnings in the street.  "People of North African origin insulted me and said to me 'how far will you go?' [Figaro ed: in agreement with the Jewish community] and 'watch out for yourself!'" adds the imam.

Active in dialogue between the two communities, Chalghoumi distinguished himself in September by inviting the President of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, Richard Prasquier, in the mosque of Drancy on the occasion of Ramadan, a first, according to Bernard Koch, the Jewish adviser recruited by the imam in February.

In May 2006, imam Chalghoumi called on Muslims worldwide to repct the Jewish memory at the Drancy memorial, the city where Jews were gathered before being deported to the Nazi camps.  Two days later, his home was ransacked and his wife and children were threatened.

since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, the imam asked the Israelis several times to stop the war, and the Muslims "not to transpose the conflict in France".  He also "condemned all antisemitic acts which are contrary to the spirit of Islam."

Source: Figaro (French), h/t K.

See also: Paris: Jew appointed mosque foreign relations officer

No comments: