The Politcs of Muhammad Ali

Daniel Pipes has a very interesting column about Muhammad Ali. I was rather disturbed by what Pipes wrote about Ali. In part I was disturbed because I have considered myself to be a fan of his and some of the things in the essay made me shake my head.

Some of what I read was new to me and while I think that Pipes is well educated and informed I wonder about the veracity of these claims. They may be accurate or maybe they are not. If anyone can provide confirmation I would be interested.

Here is an excerpt:

"As he aged, Ali did become more devout, but in unfortunate directions. He declared himself against "the entire power structure" in America, which he declared was run by Zionists who "are really against the Islam religion."

I surfed around and found some other comments that were attributed to him that were far more disturbing and aggressive in their tone.

Anyway, if anyone knows anything more I am interested.

P.S. I am well aware of the circumstances surrounding his refusal to serve in Vietnam, it is the statements about Jews and Zionism that I wonder about.