| Walid Husayin | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Palestinian |
| Known for | His controversial arrest by the Palestinian Authority for allegedly blaspheming against Islam |
Walid Husayin (alternatively spelled Waleed Hasayin) is a Palestinian blogger. In October 2010, the Palestinian Authority arrested him for allegedly blaspheming against Islam on Facebook and in blog posts. His arrest has garnered international attention.
The New York Times writes that "The case has drawn attention to thorny issues like freedom of expression in the Palestinian Authority, for which insulting religion is considered illegal, and the cultural collision between a conservative society and the Internet."[1]
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Husayin, reportedly in his mid-20s, is from the West Bank city of Qalqilyah. As a university student, he studied computer science but remained unemployed and instead helped out a few hours a day at his father's one-chair barber shop. Acquaintances described him as an "ordinary guy" who regularly prayed at the mosque on Fridays.[1]
The Qalqilyah resident also spent much of his time on the Internet. After his mother discovered articles on atheism on his computer, she canceled his Internet connection, hoping he would reject such views. Instead, Husayin began frequenting a local Internet cafe where he spent up to seven hours a day in a corner booth.[2]
Allegedly writing under the pseudonym Waleed al-Husseini in Facebook and on his personal blog, Husayin, according to The New York Times, "angered the Muslim cyberworld by promoting atheism, composing spoofs of Koranic verses, skewering the lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad and chatting online using the sarcastic Web name God Almighty." He described the God of Islam as "a primitive, Bedouin and anthropomorphic God" and the prophet Muhammad as "a sex maniac" who went around all the laws he had enacted to "appease his voracious desire", claiming that Muhammad was no different from "barbaric thugs who slaughtered, robbed, and raped women". In an essay entitled "Why I Left Islam" on his blog Noor al-Aqel (Enlightenment of Reason), Husayin wrote that Muslims "believe anyone who leaves Islam is an agent or a spy for a Western State, namely the Jewish State... They actually don’t get that people are free to think and believe in whatever suits them." Husayin emphasized that he was not implying that Christianity or Judaism were better than Islam, and that in his opinion, all religions were "a bunch of mind-blowing legends and a pile of nonsense that compete with each other in terms of stupidity". Husayin rejected claims that Islam was a religion of tolerance, equality, and social justicice. He also criticized Islam's treatment of women, its suppression of human creativity, and the allegations that the Koran contained scientific miracles.[3][1] The Facebook groups he allegedly created elicited hundreds of angry comments, death threats and the formation of more than a dozen Facebook groups against him. At its peak, Husayin's Arabic-language blog had more than 70,000 visitors.[2] He also posted English language translations of his essays in the blog "Proud Atheist"[1].[1]
Husayin spent several months at the Qalqilyah Internet cafe.[2] The cafe's owner, Ahmed Abu Asab, found his activities suspicious: "Sometimes he was in here until after midnight for over eight hours a day, always sitting in the corner. He was very secretive. He never wanted you to see his screen."[4] Using software to check on what his client was doing, Abu Asab discovered Husayin's sacrilegious Facebook writings. Abu Asab said he and three friends knew of Husayin's actions and that "maybe somebody" informed the authorities.[1]
After Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence was tipped off, intelligence officials monitored him for several weeks and arrested him on October 31, 2010 as he sat in the cafe.[2] In November 2010, the Ma'an News Agency filed the first report on the arrest of the "controversial blogger whose postings on Facebook had infuriated Muslims."[1][5]
The PA did not give any explanation as to why Husayin has been arrested.[2] According to a Palestinian human rights expert, if Husayin would be tried, it would be according to a 1960 Jordanian law against defaming religion which is still in force in the West Bank.[1] Tayseer Tamimi, the former chief Islamic judge in the area, said that Husayin is the first person to be arrested in the West Bank for their religious views.[2]
In December 2010, a Palestinian security source said Husayin would continue to be kept in jail for his own protection: "It is impossible to release him because we are afraid he will be killed by his family." Human Rights Watch has urged the PA to release or charge him, citing that holding him without charge for more than 72 hours violates Palestinian law.[6]
Husayin's family is ashamed of his actions. His father, Khaled, said this his son was in treatment and had been "bewitched" by a Tunisian woman he had met via Facebook.[1] According to Husayin's cousins, his mother wants him imprisoned for life, both to restore the family's honor and to protect her son from vigilantes.[2]
In conservative Qalqilyah, there appears to be universal criticism of his actions as well as calls for his death.[4] One 35-year-old resident said "he should be burned to death" in public "to be an example to others."[2]
Palestinian human rights groups have remained largely silent on his arrest. A lawyer with Al Haq, a Ramallah-based human rights organization said, " I respect Mr Husayin's right to have these beliefs but he also has to respect the law, there are limits to freedom of speech."[1] He said that Husayin probably faces a sentence of between three months and three years for the offence.[4]
Husayin's cause has won support abroad with a Facebook group and several online petitions forming in solidarity.[1] The Jordan-based Arabic-speaking Irreligious Coalition was one organization to circulate a petition calling for his release.[7] Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for Husayin's release. Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at HRW, stated, "The Palestinian judiciary should demonstrate its integrity by protecting the right to free expression and ordering Hasayin's release and his safety."[8] The French foreign ministry has expressed concern over his arrest, stating, "France is concerned by the risks of damage to fundamental freedoms and in particular the freedom of expression, contained in the 'crime of blasphemy.'"[9]
In the Wall Street Journal, columnist Bret Stephens wrote that "if Palestinians cannot abide a single free-thinker in their midst, they cannot be free in any meaningful sense of the word. And if the U.S. can't speak up on his behalf, then neither, in the long run, can we."[10] In regards to the case, a Los Angeles Times editorial questioned, "Will the new [Palestinian] country move toward fundamentalist values and Islamic law, as many followers of Hamas would like, or will it opt to be a more open, democratic society?"[11]
Diaa Hadid of the Associated Press notes that the "Western-backed Palestinian Authority is among the more religiously liberal Arab governments in the region. It is dominated by secular elites and has frequently cracked down on hardline Muslims and activists connected to its conservative Islamic rival, Hamas." Hadid suggests that the anger toward Walid "reflects the feeling in the Muslim world that their faith is under mounting attack in the West".[2] According to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency, while secular political beliefs are "not uncommon" in Palestinian society, "the expression of views seen as hostile to the dominant religions is viewed by many as incitement rather than free speech."[5]
In early December 2010, Husayin posted a letter to his family on his blog in which he apologized for offending Muslims and sought forgiveness for what he called his "stupidity". A friend, who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Husayin posted the letter in hopes of winning release from prison.[12]