[1] Al-Husseini, who published material satirizing religion on the Internet, was arrested in October 2010 by the Palestinian Authority for allegedly blaspheming against Islam on Facebook and in blog posts.

[1] The New York Times wrote 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.

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".

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 Hasayen's release and his safety.

'"[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.

"[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?

"[6] In early December 2010, Waleed Al-Husseini 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".

[13] In December 2010, a Palestinian security source said Waleed Al-Husseini 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."

Having discovered that France had exerted some diplomatic pressure on his behalf, which he believes may have led to him being released from prison pending trial, he decided to seek asylum there.

[19] The Council presents itself as "composed of atheists, free thinkers, humanists and ex -Muslims who take a stand to promote reason, universal rights and secularism."

[21] In this regard, Waleed Al-Husseini was interviewed by journalist Caroline Fourest at France Inter on the radio programme Ils changent le monde (They change the world).

In early 2015, while preparing the release of his autobiography in the midst of a series of Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris, Al-Husseini made several appearances on French talk shows and news programs, and wrote an opinion piece on the need to reform Islam which was published on the website of daily newspaper Le Monde.

In his media appearances and book he makes calls in favor of the French principles of secularism and states his belief that there must be more debate on what he considers to be the violent content of parts of the Islamic texts, especially in the wake of the massacres at Charlie Hebdo magazine and the Jewish Hyper Casher supermarket in Paris in early 2015.

In this context, Al-Husseini stated that when he arrived in France he expected to live a normal life without problem as an atheist being in a European country, but it has not been the case since he and other ex-Muslims have been persecuted by other Muslims even in Europe.

[22] As a refugee in France, Al-Husseini spoke publicly in favor of secularism, laïcité, freedom of conscience and speech, especially the right to criticize religion.

[1] In the late 2010s, Al-Husseini was accused in the French press of spreading misinformation or fake news through social media, notably on the topic of Islam.

[23][24][25] One such instance involved a Twitter post illustrated by a picture of women wearing veils and large, loose-fit Islamic dresses (jilbāb) which Al-Husseini alleged was taken in the streets of Roubaix in northern France, while it was in fact taken in Tunisia.