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| By Israel Insider staff March 23, 2008 |
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Italy's most prominent Muslim, a controversial writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, converted to Catholicism Saturday in a baptism ceremony performed by the pope himself in the Vatican.
Born in Egypt and married to a Catholic, the non-practicing Muslim Magdi Allam infuriated coreligionists with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book "Long Live Israel."
Allam, 55, told the newspaper Il Giornale in December interview that his criticism of Palestinian suicide bombing provoked death threats in 2003. He since has had a police detail to protect him.
The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy -- which Allam has frequently criticized as having links to Hamas -- said the baptism was his own decision. "He is an adult, free to make his personal choice," the Apcom news agency quoted the group's spokesman, Issedin El Zir, as saying.
Allam explained his decision to title a recent book "Viva Israele" by saying he wrote it after he received death threats from Hamas. "Having been condemned to death, I have reflected a long time on the value of life. And I discovered that behind the origin of the ideology of hatred, violence and death is the discrimination against Israel. Everyone has the right to exist except for the Jewish state and its inhabitants," he said. "Today, Israel is the paradigm of the right to life."
In 2006, Allam was a co-winner, with three other journalists, of the $1 million Dan David prize, named for an Israeli entrepreneur. Allam was cited for "his ceaseless work in fostering understanding and tolerance between cultures." |
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