Lebanese cleric requests asylum after receiving death threats for Auschwitz visit

A Lebanese Shi’ite cleric who participated in a delegation of Muslim leaders to Auschwitz ahead of the 75th anniversary of its liberation last month is seeking asylum in France due to deaths threats against him.

Sheikh Mohamad Ali El Husseini was one of about two dozen Muslim clerics who participated in the visit to Auschwitz, together with representatives from the Muslim World League, organized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

During the visit, El Husseini was the subject of death threats on social media, and criminal complaints were filed against him for “meeting with Israeli agents.” He said this was done with the backing of Hezbollah for having violated Lebanese laws banning contact with Israeli officials.

No Israeli officials were on the AJC delegation.

El Husseini is an outspoken critic of Hezbollah and accuses it of advancing Iranian interests at the expense of the Lebanese state and people.

He has called for Muslim-Jewish reconciliation and posted messages in Hebrew on his Facebook page for the marginalization of religious texts endorsing violence.

After the three-day visit to Poland, El Husseini decided not to return to Lebanon, fearing for his life.

The AJC and Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich helped put El Husseini in contact with the French ambassador to Poland. Following the end of the trip, El Husseini flew to France, where he is currently residing.

El Husseini is in the process of requesting asylum in France on the basis of the threats to his life.

The AJC’s Rabbi David Rosen said the organization would do everything it can to help him, including submitting a recommendation to the French authorities on his behalf.

“Mohamad Husseini is an example of courageous integrity, which is actually slowly but surely increasing in the Arab world despite the dangers, as witnessed by the Auschwitz visit,” he said.

“This story also highlights the fact that elements in the Muslim world continue to score their own goals by presenting Islam as hostile to respecting others and to acknowledging abhorrent tragedies, and they do not do the image of Islam or Arab communities any good,” Rosen said.