A conversation overheard on Italy's 'Meridian Question' sparks a deeper internal debate on identity and what it means to be Italian

In a nocturnal city like Palermo, early morning starts are unusual.

I was heading to the airport after two weeks in western Sicily reporting for a travel magazine on the remnants of Italy’s oft-overlooked Islamic and Arab history. As an Italian Muslim from Milan, but now based abroad, my trip back to the region felt like a blessed journey – also one filled with responsibility – as I explored Italy’s foundational ties to the Arab world.

I wasn’t leaving all that behind just yet. Rather, I was on my way to Pantelleria, a nearby island that sits at the very edge of those stratified histories. Soon, I would be beside the crashing Mediterranean waves, surrounded by the island’s coarse volcanic rock.