Ali Salem

Ali Salem, also transliterated Ali Salim (, ; 24 February 1936 – 22 September 2015), was an Egyptian playwright known for controversially endorsing cooperation with Israel.

Career From the premiere of his first play in 1965, he wrote 25 plays and fifteen books. One of the best known, The School of Troublemakers, debuted in 1971 and featured a rowdy class of children transformed by a kind teacher.

In 2008, he won the Train Foundation's $50,000 Civil Courage Prize in recognition of his opposition to Islamic extremism and his support of cooperation with Israel. He also received an honorary doctorate from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2005.