Convert to Christianity, and Friend of Israel, Starts New Political Party in Italy
The party is called Protagonists for Christian Europe. "For me 'Viva Israele' is a song of praise to Israel 's life and to everyone's life."
(Rome , Italy)—Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Allam, a convert to Catholicism and a "staunch supporter" of Israel , has announced Monday the formation of a new party called Protagonists for Christian Europe that will run in European Parliament elections next summer.
According to a report in the Jewish publication JTA, Allam—also the assistant-editor of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera—received the $1 million Dan David Award in Israel in 2006 and was honored last year by the American Jewish Committee. (Photo: Catholic Online)
A February 7, 2007 Haaretz report notes that Allam—author of the Italian best-seller, Long Live Israel-From the Ideology of Death to the Civilization of Life: My Story—defends Israel even though Hamas condemned him to death in 2003. For years, he reportedly considered Israel to be an aggressive, racist, colonialist, immoral entity, and accepted the methods of the Palestinian struggle. But no longer. He believes that the hatred demonstrated by some Arabs to the West comes directly from fundamentalist Islamic groups and cautions that a "culture of hatred and death...is not embedded in Islam's DNA."
"For me," says Allam, in the Haaretz article, "Viva Israele is a song of praise to Israel 's life and to everyone's life. My book opens with the words: 'What you are about to read is a declaration of faith in the sanctity of life, the sanctity of life of every human being.'"
