A French imam says that all the atrocities, all the unemployment, all the despair in Gaza are the direct responsibility of Hamas.
Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam of Drancy, has led a delegation of European imams to Israel to denounce radical Islamism. He has received serious threats from the Muslim community.
Delegation of European imams to Israel
Times of Israel
[social-share align=»right» style=»button» mobile_app=»desktop»]
[social-share align=»center» style=»icon» mobile_app=»mobile»]
Between 6 and 8 July 2025, A delegation of around 15 European Muslim leaders travelled to Israel to convey a message of peace and condemn radical Islamism.. Hassen Chalghoumi was its visible leader. The group He was officially received by the Israeli President Isaac Herzog on 7 July.. According to the report, Times of Israel, Herzog highlighted the gesture as an act of courage in a tense global context and stated that “we are all children of Abraham”, emphasising that this visit represents “the silent majority that aspires to live together in peace”.
“Hamas has destroyed Gaza and perverted the name of Islam.”
In an interview broadcast on the Al-Arabiya television channel on 19 July 2025, Hassen Chalghoumi launched a scathing attack on Hamas, holding it directly responsible for the suffering experienced by the Palestinian population. In his words, “All the atrocities and crimes, as well as the mass unemployment and the despair of the people of Gaza, are the direct responsibility of Hamas..”
The interview has focused on the assessment of the trip to Israel and on the role played by Muslim leaders in the face of the spread of radical Islamism. Chalghoumi has stated that Hamas has destroyed Gaza not only physically but morally, turning the Palestinian people into hostages of a violent ideological project that “has perverted the name of Islam before the world."”.
80,000 workers out of work because of Hamas
In his most forceful statement, Hassen Chalghoumi has blamed Hamas for the economic collapse affecting tens of thousands of families in Gaza.. He explained that before the 7 October attacks, Around 80,000 Gazans crossed into Israel each day to work legally., with wages that allowed them to support their families and bring stability to their communities. According to the imam, Hamas has destroyed this balance with a suicidal war that has closed the border and condemned the entire population to unemployment and misery.
Chalghoumi contrasts two very clear visions: While Israel offered jobs, stability and hope to the people of Gaza, Hamas invested its resources in military tunnels, weapons and martyrdom propaganda.i. He has denounced that these tunnels are not an infrastructure of resistance, but an instrument of destruction that has only brought more bombing, more victims and more despair.“Hamas has sacrificed 80,000 families to fuel a war that will bring no freedom.”He has stated. With these words, the imam not only points a finger at a culprit, but also proposes a radical break with the dominant narrative among many Muslim leaders:“It is not Israel that closes the doors on the Palestinians, it is Hamas that burns them.”.
«L’European Islam has a duty to break the silence.«
Chalghoumi has argued that, in the current context, It is essential that Muslim leaders in Europe stop speaking only in abstract terms and adopt a clear stance against terrorism and radical Islamism.. He has stated that remaining silent in the face of extremism is tantamount to tolerating it, and that European Islam must reclaim a moral voice that demands accountability and promotes coexistence.
For Chalghoumi, the European Muslim community cannot simply reject fanaticism in private. He has maintained that Imams must speak out publicly against violent groups like Hamas and Hezbollah., showing that Islam does not legitimise hatred or destruction. According to him, submitting to institutional silence only perpetuates a narrative that benefits extremists and distorts the religion as a message of peace.
“Every imam who has travelled with us has received threats.”
Chalghoumi's clear stance has not been without consequences. After the trip to Israel, He and the other European imams in the delegation have suffered a wave of threats, insults, boycotts and personal reprisals.. As he himself has explained in a public appearance, “Every imam who has travelled with us has received threats. One of them has been expelled from his mosque; another has been socially ostracised by his own community; and a third has reported that his son was physically assaulted in France as reprisal for his father's stance.
These reactions have taken place both in Europe and in the Arab worldb. In Tunisia, a high treason complaint has been filed against Chalghoumi, and there have been public calls to strip him of his nationality. In Egypt, the Al-Azhar institution has branded him a ’hypocrite“ and a ”collaborator.“ Several Islamist groups have denounced that his visit to Israel amounts to recognising ”an oppressive Zionist state“, and have accused the imams of betraying the ummah, the global Islamic community.
Living under protection is the price of speaking out against Islamism.
These reprisals are not new to Hassen Chalghoumi. As imam of the Drancy mosque, He has been living under permanent police protection for more than a decade because of threats he receives from Islamist groups.. He has been the target of multiple assault attempts, defamation campaigns and attempts at family harassment. With this trip, however, the level of pressure has increased: The aim of radical Islamism is not only to silence him, but to turn him into a deterrent example. for any other Muslim leader who dares to speak out.
Despite this, Chalghoumi has reiterated that he does not intend to back down.“If we want a future for our children, we must choose between the Islam of peace and the Islam of destruction.” With this message, it has consolidated as one of the few Muslim figures in Europe who combines public courage, religious discourse and a commitment to living together. An uncomfortable but necessary discourse that exposes the moral vacuum in which many Muslim communities find themselves in the face of contemporary Islamism.
Similar
A Muslim youth leader from New York calls for martyrdom against the US government
Imam of the Catalan Islamic Congress believes that “Albiol is from the ummah of Muhammad”
The imam who promotes hatred of Jews, Christians and Muslims from Germany
They publish a book to explain that control over mosques in Catalonia is «institutional racism.»
Imam warns that in 40 or 50 years we will be given two options
ERC, PSC and Comuns oppose combating political Islam in the European Parliament.
Azerbaijan expels students who wear Islamic headscarves from school
Sharia law in the US is supported by 75% of Muslims, 41% of atheists and up to 20% of Christians.
France now has a halal meat supply without the need to sacrifice animals facing Mecca.
The United Kingdom gives away a thousand hijabs in six months to immigrants arriving via the Channel
US Muslim politicians train Canadian Muslims under the slogan "From the mosque to the city hall"«
Teacher fired in Austria for denying a Muslim woman a prayer room
Canadian government normalizes Islamic prayer during workday
Lleida bans the burqa except if worn for religious reasons
Italy bans burqa and niqab but only in schools
The Generalitat pays tribute to the racist Abu Bakr al-Turtuxí as an anti-racist icon
A student residence in Scotland imposes Islamic law in common areas
Kazakhstan threatens to close private schools that allow hijab
A Catholic university in Belgium incorporates Islamic chants into the opening mass of the course
A Muslim family in Granada chooses a Catholic school and demands that the courts teach Islam there
Phrase of the Week
Image of the Week
-Don't you have cousins?