Recent years have seen a drastic increase in racial and anti-Semitic violence in Europe, with vandalism, harassment and violent demonstrations on the rise, primarily among Muslim extremists. In June 2003, a Muslim leader in Rome publicly proclaimed his support for such violence, and worse, called on Muslims to “annihilate the enemies of Islam and guarantee everywhere in the world the victory of the Nation of Islam.” Imam Abdel-Samie Mahmoud Ibrahim Moussa, the 32-year-old Egyptian imam who spoke these words at the Great Mosque of Rome, was removed from his position after an immense public outcry against his message.

Before his dismissal, Imam Moussa was the leader of a community of about 2000 Muslims in Rome, who worship at one of Western Europe's largest mosques. The mosque is affiliated with the Islamic University of Al Azhar in Cairo, Egypt. The vitriol that Imam Moussa expressed caused consternation among religious and civil authorities alike. The Italian Islamic Religious Community in Milan released a statement condemning the statements and religious violence in general. Father Justo Lacunza Balda of the Pontifical Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies called Moussa's incitements “a matter of public order which the government must face,” because such matters adversely “affect civil coexistence in this country.” Accordingly, Giuseppe Pisanu, the Interior Minister of Italy, encouraged the Roman Muslim community to take action against the imam, stating that Italian Muslims “must be totally freed from preachers of violence, of those who recruit for holy war.”

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