This week, Moriah Films is honoring Imam Hassen Chalghoumi, leading Muslim cleric and founder of the Conference of Imams of France, in the latest short film from Courage+Valor: Stories that Inspire.
Chalghoumi, who came to France from his native Tunisia in 1996, is the founder of the Conference of Imams of France and the Imam of the Drancy Mosque.
Drancy is notorious for being the railway point where thousands of French Jews were deported to Nazi death camps during the Holocaust and Chalghoumi believes that it is not a coincidence that he got there.
He teaches that the Holocaust was a tragedy to the Jewish people but also a tragedy for all humanity.
Chalghoumi, who has been called a “Puppet of the Jewish community,” the “Imam of the Jews,” is well-known for his involvement in interfaith forums and initiatives and has received many death threats for his friendly ties with CRIF, the umbrella group representing French Jewish communities, and for visiting Israel several times. ISIS has put a fatwa on Chalghoumi’s life.
Despite this, he perseveres. “We cannot raise our hands in surrender. We have to continue with our work. In the end, this violent minority will not have the final word; I will continue to struggle actively against racism and extremism,” he said.
In 2016, Chalghoumi accepted the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Medal of Valor.
The imam of Drancy is regularly praised for his “promotion of inter-religious dialogue”.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s annual national dinner, described by the local newspaper The Hollywood Reporter as “the premier gathering of the Jewish community in Los Angeles,” was the occasion for the ceremony.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which fights against racism and perpetuates the memory of the Holocaust, had decided, among various American personalities, to salute the work of the French imam Hassen Chalghoumi for his fight against anti-Semitism.
Hassen Chalghoumi said:
“My fight is that of a lifetime, of every moment. It is first and foremost that of a man who believes in humanity. It is also that of an Imam, driven by devotion to Islam, convinced that anti-Semitism, racism and extremism have no place in the world. »
