ROME, March 28 (UPI) -- A former Muslim journalist in Italy tells an Israeli newspaper that the attacks after he published a book on Israel helped convert him to Christianity.
Magdi Allam was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at the Easter Vigil. The Egyptian-born Allam has lived in Italy since 1972 and works for Corriere della Sera.
Allam told Haaretz in a telephone interview that the day of his baptism was "the most beautiful day of my life."
"I was reborn," he said. "This was a radical choice, which has changed my entire past and has begun a new life. On that day, the Magdi Allam inside me, who believes unambiguously and unquestionably in the principles of liberty and choice, was reborn in the framework of religion. For me it was both Easter and the Feast of the Nativity."
Allam said that he gradually became convinced the Arab states' refusal to recognize Israel was hurting the Palestinians. In 2007, he published "Long Live Israel: From the Ideology of Death to the Civilization of Life, My Story."
He was denounced as a Mossad agent and Zionist and his life was threatened.
"This fact made me wonder why many Muslims lose the ability to conduct a conversation when Israel's right to exist is brought up for discussion," he said.
