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The Infuriating Tale Of A Young Palestinian Punished For Exercising His Freedom Of Speech. Like many of his generation, Waleed Al-Husseini began a blog in his twenties. However, unlike many, Waleed also had the misfortune of having been a blogger in Palestine; worse yet, he often criticized Islam and its adherents—and declared himself an apostate—in his writings. The Palestinian Authority did not take well to this and eventually put Waleed in jail without a trial or even a wisp of legal justification. As if this was not bad enough, they placed Waleed in solitary confinement. This state of affairs continued for 11 months. Over the course of this time, Waleed was tortured and suffered innumerable indignities and deprivations simply for having the audacity to speak his mind. Eventually his unjust imprisonment began to draw international attention from foreign governments and human rights organizations, which pressured the Palestinian Authority and finally forced it to provide him a trial and parole. After being paroled, Waleed fled Palestine, first to Jordan and then to France, where he has become an outspoken advocate for freedom of speech and a critic of the state of contemporary Islam. The Blasphemer is a sobering, impassioned recounting of this Kafkaesque experience as well as a searing polemic against the corruption and hypocrisy that define contemporary Palestine.

The Infuriating Tale Of A Young Palestinian Punished For Exercising His Freedom Of Speech. Like many of his generation, Waleed Al-Husseini began a blog in his twenties. However, unlike many, Waleed also had the misfortune of having been a blogger in Palestine; worse yet, he often criticized Islam and its adherents—and declared himself an apostate—in his writings. The Palestinian Authority did not take well to this and eventually put Waleed in jail without a trial or even a wisp of legal justification. As if this was not bad enough, they placed Waleed in solitary confinement. This state of affairs continued for 11 months. Over the course of this time, Waleed was tortured and suffered innumerable indignities and deprivations simply for having the audacity to speak his mind. Eventually his unjust imprisonment began to draw international attention from foreign governments and human rights organizations, which pressured the Palestinian Authority and finally forced it to provide him a trial and parole. After being paroled, Waleed fled Palestine, first to Jordan and then to France, where he has become an outspoken advocate for freedom of speech and a critic of the state of contemporary Islam. The Blasphemer is a sobering, impassioned recounting of this Kafkaesque experience as well as a searing polemic against the corruption and hypocrisy that define contemporary Palestine.

A 25 ans, Waleed Al-Husseini est un homme libre, et cette liberté, il en a payé le prix. En 2010, il est le premier Palestinien d’origine musulmane incarcéré en Cisjordanie pour avoir rejeté l’Islam. Sur internet, seul espace de liberté, l’adolescent dénonçait les ressorts rétrogrades, violents et misogynes des textes coraniques et la pratique des religieux. Mais on ne quitte pas l’Islam. L’Autorité palestinienne, qui se déclare pourtant laïque, en fait son ennemi public numéro un et l’arrête pour outrage à la religion. Commence alors un long et douloureux séjour dans les prisons palestiniennes, où il subit des tortures psychologiques et physiques. Il parviendra finalement à en sortir grâce à des soutiens internationaux, et trouvera asile en France. Témoignage poignant, Blasphémateur ! offre le regard inédit d’un citoyen palestinien sur son propre Etat, paralysé selon lui par les conflits internes, la collusion des pouvoirs, la prégnance du religieux. C’est aussi le plaidoyer enflammé d’un homme déterminé à se battre pour la liberté de penser. Un homme des Lumières.

A 25 ans, Waleed Al-Husseini est un homme libre, et cette liberte, il en a paye le prix. En 2010, il est le premier Palestinien d'origine musulmane incarcere en Cisjordanie pour avoir rejete l'Islam. Sur internet, seul espace de liberte, l'adolescent denoncait les ressorts retrogrades, violents et misogynes des textes coraniques et la pratique des religieux. Mais on ne quitte pas l'Islam. L'Autorite palestinienne, qui se declare pourtant laique, en fait son ennemi public numero un et l'arrete pour outrage a la religion. Commence alors un long et douloureux sejour dans les prisons palestiniennes, ou il subit des tortures psychologiques et physiques. Il parviendra finalement a en sortir grace a des soutiens internationaux, et trouvera asile en France. Temoignage poignant, Blasphemateur ! offre le regard inedit d'un citoyen palestinien sur son propre Etat, paralyse selon lui par les conflits internes, la collusion des pouvoirs, la pregnance du religieux. C'est aussi le plaidoyer enflamme d'un homme determine a se battre pour la liberte de penser. Un homme des Lumieres.