The imam of Milan's Al-Wahid mosque is just one of the political, cultural and religious leaders set to take part in a global forum on anti-Semitism at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem this week.
Known as a moderate Muslim, Imam Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini condemns violence in the name of Allah outright and advocates for inter-religious dialogue.
His father, Sheikh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini, was imprisoned for fighting with the partisans against the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini during World War II.
"He was imprisoned," Pallavicini said of his father. "Many of his colleagues were executed, but he survived the war and afterward decided to study religion, to find an explanation for human existence. During his studies, he met a number of Muslim religious figures in Switzerland who brought him into the Sufi movements and in 1951, he converted to Islam."
Pallavicini followed in his father's footsteps and in addition to serving as an imam is also the vice president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community, which works to provide information about Islamic civilization in Italy and throughout the West.
This year's conference on anti-Semitism is being held against the backdrop of a sharp increase in anti-Semitism across Europe, the result of the strengthening of the political fringes there on both the Right and the Left, a growing identity crisis and ongoing mass immigration, mainly from Islamic countries in the Middle East and Africa.
In a special interview with Israel Hayom, Pallavicini described being Muslim in Europe as "very challenging."
"We are facing a few problems. First, ignorance of religions in general. It seems Europeans have forgotten the values of religion and spirituality and their significance in our lives. Second, there is ignorance of any religion that is not Christianity – Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism. Third, there are a large number of Muslims now living in Europe, but they are too connected to the tragedies of immigration, the low levels of professional skills, the low cultural level, the difficulties in language and in communication."
According to Pallavicini, "For a Muslim, being anti-Semitic means being against one's self. It is a complete mistake to think you are a good, strong Muslim if you are a good, strong anti-Semite. There is no theological, spiritual, cultural or national justification for this.
"In Europe, we have worked against this phenomenon for years. We established a committee of Jewish and Muslim leaders with rabbis, imams, members of the academia from various countries, and we try to create joint action that will show that Jews and Muslims are brothers, European citizens who stand together against any form of discrimination and misleading theological interpretation that seeks to create conflict between us.
"This activity can serve as inspiration for other places in the world, since we create a connection between theology and our civic responsibility, between modernism and our traditional roots, and we reject anti-Semitic agendas that are opposed to our identity," he said.
