An Italian activist and member of the Global Sumud Flotilla has converted to Islam while imprisoned by the Israeli regime. According to the Iranian Quran News Agency (IQNA), Tommaso Bortolazzi, the Italian activist and captain of the Maria Cristina ship in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was attempting to break the blockade to the Gaza Strip, reverted to Islam after being captured by Israeli occupying forces.
After his release and arrival in Türkiye, Bortolazzi appeared in a widely circulated social media video alongside a Turkish activist who was with him in the flotilla. In the video, he stated, “I converted to the religion of Islam inside one of the Israeli prisons.”
In this video, a Turkish activist said: “During the morning prayers, the occupying forces raided the cells, but Tommy confronted them and prevented them from attacking us. He sat with us during the prayers. We prayed out loud so that everyone in the prison could hear us.”
He added: “We were sitting next to each other in the prison vehicle. I asked Tommy if he had ever studied Islam. He replied that he had, stating that he was a Catholic from a religious family.” The Turkish activist, with deep emotion, recounted those moments, saying: “Tommy recited the Shahada (the declaration of faith) inside the prison vehicle, and amidst the tears and joy of all the prisoners, he announced his conversion to Islam.”
He continued, “At that moment, everyone embraced him, but this scene enraged the occupying forces. They immediately took him out and transferred him to a solitary confinement cell. At that moment, I said, ‘Tommy has paid the price for his conversion to Islam.’”
