Magdi Allam

Magdi Cristiano Allam (born Magdi Muhammad Allam [ ], 22 April 1952) is an Egyptian-Italian journalist and politician, noted for his criticism of Islam and his articles on the relations between Western culture and the Islamic world.

Allam converted from Islam to Catholicism during the Vatican's 2008 Easter Vigil service presided over by Pope Benedict XVI. He served as a regional councillor in the Italian region of Basilicata after being elected in 2010, and was a Member of the European Parliament for Italy from 2009 to 2014.

He has lived under police protection for many years due to death threats from Muslims.

Biography Allam was born in Egypt and raised by Muslim parents. His mother Safeya Allam was a believing and practicing Muslim, whereas his father Muhammad Allam was "completely secular and agreed with the [until the early seventies widely held] opinion of the majority of Egyptians who took the West as a model in regard to individual freedom, social customs and cultural and artistic fashions." At age four, his mother entrusted him to the care of Sister Lavinia of the Comboni Missionary Sisters, and later he was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Egypt, the Institute of Don Bosco, for junior high and high school.

Allam describes growing up in a vibrant and multicultural Cairo. He recounts vividly the "fragrances, sounds, colors and flavors of his beloved Aunt Adreya's home" and remembers Cairo as a "colorful, pluralistic and tolerant city where girls wore miniskirts and boys sported Beatles haircuts." He has positive memories of Egyptian society during his childhood years, characterizing it as having a "social fabric that embodied a genuine love of others and a simple life where emotion was more important than money."

Magdi Cristiano Allam's conversion was criticized both by Muslim associations and by progressive Catholics.

The Holy See, despite the baptism of Allam, persisted in Christian-Muslim dialogue and distanced itself from several of Allam's political views: "On Thursday the Vatican tried to distance Pope Benedict from the baptized journalist's political views who was known for his sallies against Islam in Italy.

The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy — which Allam has frequently criticized as an organization that incites violence — slighted his baptism as "his own decision".

Some criticized the publicity given to the conversion, thus questioning his sincerity and even suggesting a politically motivated apostasy.

On 25 March 2013, he publicly announced his abandonment of the Catholic Church to protest its "soft stance against Islam". Allam said he would remain a Christian but that he didn't "believe in the church anymore."

Political career

In June 2009, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament with the center-right Christian-democrat Italian party UDC. He also founded a personal movement called Io amo l'Italia (I Love Italy). However, while a Member of the European Parliament (between 2009 and 2014) he remained a member of the UDC delegation in the EPP party group.

Views and opinions

During most of his journalistic career (roughly from 1978 to 2003), Allam worked at the center-left leaning and moderate La Repubblica. As he was often employed as a Middle East envoy, most of his articles were reportage more than commentaries, characterized by a neutral tone and argumentative style, and his personal views were rarely reported. His own stances were nevertheless made public via a forum on La Repubblica and in numerous interviews and appearances on talk shows.

For a long time, he maintained the position that Islam was compatible with Western civilization and values and he tried to build and believe in a progressive, moderate and liberal Islam. In a meeting with high school students broadcast on Italian public television RAI, he declared: Islam itself is not a menace, it does not coincide with conservatism, as a religion is not incompatible with progress and freedom; absolutely not! Islam is a faith which, in a moderate interpretation, is absolutely compatible with the values shared by the Italian civil society and the Italian Constitution.

Furthermore, he scorned the idea that Muslims were somehow "invading" Italy:There are many Islam ... . The largest majority of Muslims are moderate, many Muslims are secular ... according to the numbers provided by the Muslim organizations in Italy, no more than 3 to 5% of Muslims in Italy even go to the mosque ... and then there is a fundamentalist Islam that believes in an Islamization of the society that would conjugate religion to politics, and then also a radical Islam, which believes that Islam should be imposed via violent means. But this is an absolutely irrelevant fringe, quantified in Italy around circa 3 to 4% of the Muslims, and – let's remember it – there are overall only 600,000 Muslims in Italy. 600,000 in a country of 57 millions. Clearly to talk of a risk of Muslim invasion or of a Muslim menace does not make any sense.

Before converting to Christianity, Magdi Cristiano Allam was raised as a Muslim. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca, with his deeply religious mother in 1991.

In his writings since 2003, Allam has stated his denunciations of multiculturalism, lashing out at what he calls "the Islamization of society." For example, reacting to a speech by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams which raised the suggestion that Muslims in Britain should be allowed to have their own courts in matters of family law, Allam wrote that

By leaning on the 'politically correct' and by allowing Muslims to have their own courts, a mixture is installed that can unbalance the country and overthrow constitutional order. He was also announced as a speaker at a conference of Stop Islamization of Nations (SION) in New York City the same year.

In 2005, Allam published an article calling for a ban on building mosques in Italy. In a piece accusing mosques of fostering hate, he claimed Italy is suffering from "mosque-mania" and justified the extreme measure of a government ban on building mosques.

Support of Israel The change allowed him to become a staunch supporter of Israel, argue against the formula "territories for peace" which he had championed for more than 25 years.

For most of his life he had been a strong albeit argumentative supporter of the Palestinian cause, going to rallies and writing favorably of the Palestinian rights to statehood. RCS Quotidiani S.p. A, the publisher of Corriere della Sera, chose to keep the article online until the "Garante per la protezione dei dati personali" (Guarantor for the protection of personal data) ordered RCS to take it down on 24 May 2007.

Italian writer Valerio Evangelisti has nicknamed him "Pinocchio d'Egitto" (Egyptian Pinocchio). In a review of Allam's 2002 book on Saddam Hussein ("Saddam: Secret History of a Dictator"), he points to the absence of a real bibliography, and to the ridiculously poor quality of the sources. He pokes fun at the fact that the only cited reference for the entire second chapter is an article from popular Italian tabloid Gente, titled "I slept with Saddam for thirty years": Allam is the author of essays of relevant scientific value, no doubt. The last one is titled "Saddam, a dictator's secret history" ... . The book reads with ever increasing bewilderment ... . Three chapters out of seven are based on a single tabloid article ... . Never had I seen the tabloid Gente been used as a source for a historical/sociological analysis. I guess we are witnessing a revolution in the methodology of social sciences.

Allam has supporters among his newer readership, as well as within the anti-immigration party the Lega Nord, and among Catholic members of Forza Italia and its electorate. His Godfather was Maurizio Lupi, an elected representative of Forza Italia with connections to the Vatican establishment.

Vittorio Zucconi, deputy director of La Repubblica, the newspaper for which Allam had worked for more than 20 years, humorously compared his new pose of "defender of the West" to American actress Doris Day. Asked by a reader to comment on Allam's quite sudden change of opinions and recent controversial role, Zucconi answered: I know Magdi all too well, and I love him too much (I swear) to break with him my resolution of never criticizing a fellow journalist. But your question Sir reminds me of a famous joke about Doris Day, the blond, chaste, dolled-up actress of the 60's: "I knew Doris before she became a virgin."

Personal life Allam is married to scholar Valentina Colombo, and they have a son together.

He also has two children from a previous marriage.

Published works Viva Israele (Long Live Israel), Mondadori, 2007, Io amo l'Italia. Ma gli italiani la amano? (I love Italy. But do the Italians love her?), Mondadori, 2006, Vincere la paura: La mia vita contro il terrorismo islamico e l'incoscienza dell'Occidente (Conquering Fear: My life against Muslim terrorism and Western unconsciousness), Mondandori, 2005, Kamikaze made in Europe. Riuscirà l'Occidente a sconfiggere i terroristi islamici? (Kamikaze made in Europe. Will the West defeat Islamic terrorists?), Mondadori, 2004, ISBN Diario dall'Islam (A diary from Islam), Mondadori, 2002, Bin Laden in Italia. Viaggio nell'Islam Radicale (Bin Laden in Italy. A journey through radical Islam), Mondadori, 2002, Jihad in Italia. Viaggio nell'Islam Radicale (Jihad in Italy. A journey through radical Islam), Mondadori, 2002, Saddam. Storia Segreta di un Dittatore (Saddam. A dictator's secret history), Mondadori, 2002,

Awards and recognition In 2006, Allam was awarded the $1 million Dan David Prize along with three other journalists. Allam was cited for "his ceaseless work in fostering understanding and tolerance between cultures." During his speech, he received a standing ovation from the audience when he proclaimed, "Am Yisrael Chai."

On 4 May 2007 Allam was presented with the American Jewish Committee's Mass Media Award at its 101st Annual Meeting.