Sam Touzani (born 1968) is a Belgian actor, television presenter, choreographer and stand-up comedian with

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

-Moroccan roots. Touzani is known as a critic of

Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

, of the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

, and of what he perceives as

political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

from the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

. He is an

ex-Muslim Ex-Muslims are people who were raised as Muslims or converted to Islam and later renounced the Islamic religion. Leaving Islam is a uniquely individual experience and a growing social phenomenon facing its challenges due to the conditions and ...

and has received

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

s and hundreds of death threats because of his public

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...

, especially from Muslims.

Biography

Touzani's parents came from the

Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

in Morocco. They came to Belgium in 1964 during a migration wave. When Touzani was 8 years old, he and his parents took part in a demonstration against racism, which had a deep and lasting impact on him. He began to develop a strong interest in protest, political ideologies, forms of government and human rights. In this formative period, the Belgian-Moroccan dissident Mohammed el Baroudi had an important influence on the evolution of his ideas. He chose democracy and dialogue over violent resistance and authoritarianism. He discovered theatre, comedy and humour as a means to make people think, question their views and start necessary discussions about societal issues. He read up on philosophy and

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

, two ways of thinking which made him very critical of religion, and publicly renounce his Islamic faith at the age of 19. After the

November 2015 Paris attacks The November 2015 Paris attacks () were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 9:15p.m., three suicide bombers ...

, which were prepared in the Brussels municipality of

Molenbeek ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, from which it is separated ...

, Touzani kept performing in Brussels, despite the heightened fears of new terrorist attacks and amid militarised security forces on the streets. He stated it was important not to give in to fear, and that he would maintain his 'sharp critique of Islamists, nationalists and extremists.' His new show ''Les enfants de Dom Juan'', co-written by Ben Hamidou, was his response to the attacks, in which he demands the Muslim community to critically reflect on their beliefs and behaviour, that motivated some of its members towards radicalisation and terrorism. It also sought to break the taboo on homosexuality and apostasy within the Muslim community. Parti Socialiste politician

Philippe Moureaux Philippe Moureaux (12 April 1939 – 15 December 2018) was a Belgian politician, senator, mayor of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and professor of economic history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He held the honorary title of Minister of State an ...

(former

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

of Molenbeek 1993–2012) banned Touzani from performing in the municipality for 10 years, and the show was boycotted by the inhabitants and associations of Molenbeek.

Views

Touzani is an 'atheist', an 'ex-Muslim' and 'irreligious', but he doesn't like those terms because they indicate what he is not, while there are many things he does believe in, namely 'humanity, nature and humane laws.' He is a great admirer of

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...

, the editors of ''

Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; meaning ''Charlie Weekly'') is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. Stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication has been described as Anti-racism, anti-racist, sceptica ...

'' (many of whom he knows/knew personally), sympathises with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster ( pastafarianism), and in one of his shows he announced his own parody religion of Touzanism. Touzani often takes part in the public debate, and rebukes both far-right extremists (amongst which he includes

Vlaams Belang , ideology = , predecessor = Vlaams Blok , position = , europarl = Identity and Democracy , european = Identity and Democracy Party , youth_wing = Vlaams Belang Jongeren , colours = , ...

) and Islamists who regularly send him death threats and have even attacked him physically for being an ex-Muslim and openly criticising Islam. Neither does he want 'the

politically correct ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

left' to tell him how to behave, and he refuses to use the term '

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

', "not even a second; that concept is being used to make any criticism

f Islam F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

impossible, and silence the real debate." Furthermore, he criticises

cultural relativism Cultural relativism is the idea that a person's beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture. Proponents of cultural relativism also tend to argue that the norms and values of one culture should not be evaluated ...

: "Our country emphasies ethnic-religious diversity and rights, while equality, citizenship and transparency come in second place. It should be the other way around." According to Touzani, Islam is in desperate need of reform, similar to how the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

has implemented an '' aggiornamento'' at the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

; otherwise it will disappear due to its 'rigidity'.

Theatrical shows

* 2002: ''One Human Show'', one man show, Théâtre de Poche (Brussels) * 2003: ''Gembloux ! À la recherche de l'armée oubliée'', with Ben Hamidou and Sam Touzani, KVS and Avignon (about Moroccan soldiers during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

) * 2004: ''Les Discours du XXième siècle'', Théâtre de Poche (Brussels) * 2005: ''Contes érotico-urbains'', by Thomas Gunzig, with Riton Liebman, Théâtre de Poche (Brussels) * 2005: ''Ruben déballe tout !'', one man show * 2005: ''Allah Super Star'', by Yassir Ben Miloud, Théâtre de Poche (Brussels) * 2006: ''Le Rapport des enfants sur l’état du Monde'', by Stanislas Cotton, Théâtre de la Balsamine * 2006: ''Liberté égalité sexualité'', one man show by Bernard Breuse and Sam Touzani, KVS * 2010: ''Mozaik'', one man show, with Dhalia Pessemiers, Zuideperhuis, Antwerpen * 2010: ''Ruben refait le monde'', one man show, Festival of Spa * 2011: ''À portée de crachat'', by Taher Najib, with Sam Touzani, Espace Senghor * 2011: ''For the Beauty of Confusion'', musical spectacle, with Geike Arnaert, Le Botanique * 2012: ''Peur de rien'', one man show, with Richard Ruben, Centre culturel de Woluwé * 2014: ''Papier d’Arménie – Sans retour possible'', by Caroline Safarian, with Sam Touzani, Espace Magh * 2014: ''Rwanda mais avant et puis après'', by Souâd Belhaddad, with Sam Touzani, Centre culturel de Schaerbeek * 2014: ''Je suis Belge... mais ça ne se voit pas'', with Richard Ruben, Théâtre du Forum, Festival of Avignon * 2014: ''Les chaussures de Fadi'' or ''Les Souliers de Fadi'', by Caroline Safarian, with Ben Hamidou, Espace Magh * 2015: ''C’est ici que le jour se lève'', by Sam Touzani and Rolland Westreich, Théâtre Le Public * 2016: ''Les enfants de Dom Juan'' * 2017: ''Liberté-Egalité-Identité'', Théâtre Le Public

Filmography

Films

;Feature films * 1997: ''Le Bal masqué'' by

Julien Vrebos Julien Vrebos (31 May 1947 – 14 October 2022) was a Belgian television and film director from Brussels. At the Joseph Plateau Awards 1998 he won the award for best film director. Life and career Vrebos was born in Elsene on 31 May 1947. In 1 ...

: Nico * 1999: ''Deuxième quinzaine de juillet'' by Christophe Reichert: M. Dehaan * 2003: ''Et si... (vertige de la page blanche)'' by

Raoul Ruiz __NOTOC__ Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph or Rudolph, and a cognate of Raul. Raoul may also refer to: Given name * Raoul Berger, American legal scholar * Raoul Bova, Italian actor * Radulphus Brito (Raoul le Breton, died ...

: Pierre Marchand ;Short films and intermediate films * 1995: ''La Visite'', short film by Lilian Cornelis and Jean Baptiste Van Zeebroeck: Maxime * 1996: ''Testament d'un macaque'', intermediate film by Jamel Mokni: Lakhdar * 2004: ''Beaucoup de bruit'' by Ismaël Saidi: Sami * 2005: ''Le Train'' by Luc Descamps: the passenger

Television

* 1993: ''École d'enfer'' by Jacques Bourton: Mehdi * 1994: ''La Veuve de l'architecte'' by Philippe Monnier: Pépo * 1995: ''Tip Tap Show'', television musical by Pierre Baré,

RTBF The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...

- Télé 2- TV5: the professor / Charlot * 2001: ''Le Piège d'Oléa'' by Alain Robak: the brancardier * 2001: ''La Torpille'' by Luc Boland: Gus, the rapper * 2009: ''Chante !'': Karim Brahi ;As presenter * 1993: presentation of the theme night ''Étranges étrangers'' ( Arte) * 1993–1996: ''Luna Park'' (

, TV5) * 1994: live presentation of the

Fête de la musique The Fête de la Musique, also known in English as Music Day, Make Music Day or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration that takes place on 21 June. On Music Day, citizens and residents are urged to play music outside in their neighborho ...

Dinant Dinant () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On the shores of river Meuse, in the Ardennes, it lies south-east of Brussels, south ...

(

) * 1995: co-presentation of ''L'Énigme de Cristal'' (

, TV5) * 1995: ''Basketmania'' (

La Deux Tipik is a Belgian national television channel, owned and operated by the French-language public-service broadcasting organization RTBF. History From RTbis to Télé 2 On March 26, 1977, RTB launched a second television channel called RTBis, whi ...

) * 1997: co-presentation of ''Complètement Télé'' (

) * 2003: ''Mille et une culture'', portrait of Sam Touzani (

- TV5) * 2004: ''La Bataille de Gembloux, de la réalité à la fiction'' (

) * 2006: ''La Malédiction de l’Anneau'', series on

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''Tetralogy'' (

)

Recognition

* Sabam award for ''Liberté-Egalité-Identité''

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Touzani, S Living people 1968 births Belgian male actors Belgian atheists Belgian former Muslims Belgian male comedians Belgian people of Riffian descent Former Muslim critics of Islam Belgian critics of Islam