The ‘Jewish Imam’ fighting for peace

He was born in Tunisia, serves in France, lives under threats, operates with close security and is mockingly called "the Jewish Imam." Hassen Chalghoumi, president of the Conference of Imams of France, is a rare figure in the global Islamic landscape who does not stop for a moment. He continues to speak out for moderation, peace and coexistence – precisely from the most surprising and dangerous place: the heart of European Islam.

"It’s a great honor for me," he says about the nickname attached to him. "Even though it started as an insult, I carry it with pride."

The opening of the interview was quite amusing, it must be said. In a French accent sprinkled with Arabic, which makes it hard even for interpreters to understand, Imam Chalghoumi fired off almost his entire Hebrew vocabulary: Boker Tov, Baruch Hashem, Erev Tov, Am Israel Chai. The man who walks around with two bodyguards and whose life is threatened daily paints a complex, painful, yet hopeful picture of possible Islam.

"Israel faced absolute evil and did not give in. That deserves appreciation," says Chalghoumi about the Iran-Israel war, which for him was not just another Middle Eastern conflict, but a moment where the world had to choose between darkness and light.

"The Iranian regime is a threat to its own people – it oppresses, tortures, imprisons and denies freedom. But it is also a threat to the entire Muslim world, especially the Sunni world. Israel had the courage and unity needed to confront this head of the octopus, which feeds global terror – behind the pogrom of October 7, Hezbollah, Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, the Muslim Brotherhood and the funding coming from Qatar and Turkey."

According to him, the war enabled several significant achievements, including exposing Iranian propaganda. "This regime is as fragile as a spider’s web, and Israel revealed its true face," reducing the nuclear threat that endangers the entire region and the world, and proving that one can resist this regime. "Israeli deterrence is real."

He calls on the Iranian people to continue the way, demand their rights and overthrow the regime from within. "The international community must also take responsibility for a regime that threatens regional peace, global security and fuels radical Islamism in Europe, Africa and the United States."

Referring to the Israeli point, he says, "I hope this will be the last war and that the remaining captives will return healthy and whole and that God will give them strength. And those who were murdered died in Kiddush Hashem and I hope their bodies will also be returned home. I also hope the people in Gaza will stop suffering – and I speak of the people as a people, not about the leadership. We must pray for all of this. We must not despair."

On the end of the war in Gaza and the solution from his perspective, he says with pain, "The situation there is tragic. The people are suffering. But the war should not be ended at any cost." The conditions are clear: the release of all hostages, disarmament and trial of Hamas criminals, and the release of the Palestinian people from oppression – not only Israeli but also by Hamas and foreign influences.

His vision is the establishment of a responsible Palestinian Authority, regional cooperation with moderate Arab states and a complete disengagement from Iranian and other influences exploiting the suffering of the Palestinian people. "I deeply believe in coexistence. It is possible. Provided there are strong guarantees, serious players and leadership that seeks to build and not destroy."

On the end of the war with Iran, which opened new opportunities for peace with Arab countries like Syria and Lebanon, he says: "The war against Iran opened a new era. Evil has weakened, and this creates real opportunities. In Syria, the end of Iranian and Hezbollah influence opens an opportunity for the Syrian people to be free and build a future without foreign dependency – neither on Turkey nor on Iran. In Lebanon, the people, who long for peace and stability, suffer from Hezbollah’s domination, smuggling and chaos.

"I see sincere initiatives to bring Israel closer to its Arab neighbors, in the spirit of the Abraham Accords. These initiatives must be supported by the U.S., but especially by responsible Arab powers – the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and others who think long term about stability and development.

"This is a formative moment. Despite the suffering and the price paid, I fully believe that the region can finally progress toward true and lasting peace. We are at a historical crossroads, and here we need all the imams, rabbis and priests to lead a new discourse of transparency and courage."

Chalghoumi shares an anecdote from 2009 when he arrived with Rabbi Michel Serfaty (founder of the association for friendship between Jews and Muslims) at a Catholic school in Gaza, where they taught 300 elementary students to sing in Hebrew and Arabic the song Hevenu Shalom Aleichem. "Singing Allah ya’tina salam – may God give us peace – in the heart of Gaza with Hamas armed militias around us was a marvelous but also sad moment. There I realized, unfortunately, that there can be no sustainable or true peace as long as Hamas rules."

Chalghoumi is not only talking politics. For him, education is the key. He returns to his childhood in Tunisia, to the good neighborliness with Jews, to a mother who sent food during holidays to Jewish neighbors and to the neighbors who reciprocated.

He, who would later serve as imam of the Al-Nour mosque in Drancy, a suburb of Paris, says that his Jewish-Israeli connection began from the moment he was born, September 5, 1972, the day the Israeli athletes were murdered in the Munich Olympics. "To me, that date holds great meaning. That’s why it saddens me to hear the word ‘Yahudon.’ You can feel the hatred in it. That’s why I always say: it all starts at home. If we teach children to love, to respect, to really know their neighbor, we can build a different future."

He arrived in Paris following his older brother. It was at the end of 1996 when he was 24. A year later, he reached Drancy ("here I bought a house, built a family and within less than a year was appointed imam of one of the mosques") – a place known for the concentration camp established there by the Nazis. From there, French Jews were sent to labor and extermination camps. That’s where he first learned of the horrors of the Holocaust.

"I remember the first time my daughter Mimi, who was three at the time, asked me about a part of a train car that was on the tracks. I went to research and that’s how I discovered the history of the Jewish people and the inhumanity and atrocities that occurred in the Holocaust. I was shocked to learn what one ‘brother’ can do to another. I think that was the point I developed sensitivity toward the Jewish people.

"Shortly after, in 2004, I started working with Jewish communities in France. As a first mission, I organized a bus of Muslims for a tour of the Holocaust Museum. Later that day, I invited a rabbi to Mohammed’s birthday, we sang together – imam and rabbi – and the North African grandmothers who were there got excited and happy to hear us. They cried with excitement and shared that it reminded them of life in the ‘blad,’ the Arab village in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco – how Jews used to celebrate together with their Muslim neighbors."

Chalghoumi’s latest book, Free Islam from Islamism, shows how for him, this is a global journey. A life mission. He works with youth, organizes conferences in Europe, travels with imams around the world, lectures, visits Israel, meets presidents and doesn’t stop talking about coexistence and peace – emphasizing repeatedly that Hamas and its likes are “sons of the devil” and “extremists” who do not represent Islam.

What led you to publish what you called “testimony” at the start of the war with Iran – in which you supported Israel and the Jewish people, saying they are a “divine miracle, a surviving nation”?
"Precisely at such times, I find it difficult to stand by and remain silent. Evil will eventually disappear from history, as in other dark chapters. In Prague, at a ceremony for musicians who perished in the Holocaust, a Holocaust survivor came to me and said that in all of Europe and parts of Germany not everyone was a Nazi. Most stayed silent and didn’t take a stand. I told him: that’s exactly the problem. Not taking part means supporting evil until you become complicit in the coming murder. On October 7, when Israel was attacked, Muslims called and warned me not to get involved – ‘or you’ll risk your life.’ But I could not be part of that silence. Since the Iranian regime attacked the people, it was my duty to deliver a personal message to my brothers and friends – to say: ‘Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up. Even if you are in the shelters, know that God protects you.’"

How did your community – Muslim and French – respond to your support for the Jewish people?
"For over 20 years, I’ve been with the Jewish people, whom I love. Of course, there are those who disagree. Those people destroyed my house in 2005, burned my car in 2009. The threats never stop. Since then, I’ve been under police protection. Friends began to abandon me. Some in my community asked me to stop working for reconciliation. At some point, I sent my wife and our three children out of France. That was in 2012. They changed their surname and live in complete anonymity. As a father, I have no other way to protect them. In the meantime, I work hard so they won’t live in the same fear I do. I hope they’ll one day say: ‘Dad, you were brave. You fought for peace, for brotherhood, for love.’"

And in the meantime, you keep working on all fronts. Visiting Judea and Samaria, making pro-Israel statements, attacking radical Islam. Are you not afraid?
"I’m not afraid of people. Only of Allah. Look, I’m not fighting for me – I’m fighting for our children so they will inherit a different world than ours. Better. You know I’m the only imam in the world who gives interviews with the media while wearing a bulletproof vest? That’s not normal. Even in Tunisia, my country of origin, they want to revoke my citizenship because I don’t follow their line. But hey, nothing happened to me. Thank God."

What is the place of the Jewish people in your religious perception as an imam, especially given the complex history between the religions?
"My dream is to see the children of Ishmael and Isaac together. I worked hard on the Abraham Accords and was active in it. I was the first to get on a plane to Dubai. But the world turned upside down on October 7, and evil overturned the agreement, and countries changed their message 180 degrees. But we must never despair and ask, ‘Where was God on October 7?’ That was not God. Those were people who lost their way. People who lost their faith in humanity. Monsters did this. And it’s not God’s fault – it’s the majority’s fault for doing nothing. That’s why faith matters.

"I always dreamed of a road from Jerusalem to Damascus, and from Damascus to Beirut. When agreements were signed with Arab states – Morocco, Bahrain, Chad, Sudan – I was the happiest man alive. In the end, you’ll see – there will be peace with Syria and Lebanon too."

When I ask whether he has received inquiries from Jewish entities following his statements, he says joyfully, "Oh, how I love this people," and shares: "I met with some families of the hostages. One of them, whose son was abducted, hugged me. We cried together. He said he already knew his son was murdered. In moments of such deep pain, a Jew could not touch a Muslim. He said a few words in Arabic. I said to him: what strength you have. Forgiveness. My brother. That is not Islam. There are not enough words to describe the powerful moment. Since October 7, I’ve been praying for the return of the hostages and for those murdered to be brought home, and that God will give strength. I also pray for the people of Gaza – as a people, not their leadership. And for all that, we must pray. We must not despair."

He names Israeli leaders he met, including Presidents Peres, Rivlin and Herzog. With Herzog, he had breakfast on Monday when he was invited to the President’s Residence along with a delegation of imams from across Europe. In one delegation, he brought radical youth from the Molenbeek neighborhood – known as “Europe’s terror neighborhood,” from which ISIS terrorists carried out attacks in Paris and the Brussels airport.

"It was certainly an experience that opened a window to many thoughts and questions and leads to breaking down barriers. And this is just the beginning."

How do you interpret the responsibility of religious leaders in times of war?
"At a meeting in Cyprus with rabbis and imams after October 7, we said in a clear voice: Hamas is not Islam. Hezbollah is not Islam. They are monsters, murderers, Islamists who tarnish Islam."

For Chalghoumi, this is a new era. "Peace will not come from Europe or the U.S. It will begin here – in the Middle East. In Israel. With its neighbors. This is also a new birth for Arab countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia."

Do you believe it’s possible to separate the attitude toward Jews in the world from the politics of the State of Israel?
"During my last visit to Israel, I was surprised to see so many people protesting against the prime minister. There were Jews, Arabs, religious and secular – and to me, that was remarkable. Look, you can agree or disagree with Israeli politics – but it’s clear that this is a full democracy where everyone can speak their mind without fear. Before October 7, I saw the protests against Netanyahu, I met Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, people of all faiths – and to me, that was a miracle. That doesn’t exist among Muslims. And if you ask my message to people of all religions, it’s simple: we are all brothers. We are all children of the same God. Believing in one God is the same faith, no matter the differences. Religion should be a bridge, not a wall."

He turns to readers in Israel and says: "Your strength is in your quality – in your love and mutual responsibility against the hatred around you. Don’t despair. Keep fighting. Keep believing in humanity. Believe in love. Because love always wins. I pray for you that Allah strengthens you and brings you complete victory over your enemies, peace, security and stability in the region. Allah wants your victory and peace and brotherhood among all religions. Shalom Aleichem."