Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Dutch ambassador in the US statement shows that Hirsi Ali's claims of persecution are unfounded and exaggerated Dutch ambassador in the US statement shows that Hirsi Ali's claims of persecution are unfounded and exaggeratedHirsi Magen alias Ali: How a cleaning lady became the Somalian Joan of Arc MIM: People are beginning to see that the Muslim godess has feet of clay.Ali herself has said that she is a 'consummate liar' so exaggeration and plays for sympathy by dramatising her situation should come as no surprise. She has been practicing since 2002, when death threats she received after deriding Islam on television, resulted in her fleeing the country to America,since she didnt feel like going into hiding in the Dutch countryside. She was labelled the Dutch Rushdie, regarded as a national hero, and returned to get a seat in parliament and a phalanx of bodyguards, who apparently did their job because four years have passed and Ali's actions and statements seem eerily familiar. Provocation of Muslims, death threats, fleeing the country for America and then coming back to a hero's welcome. Just like in 2002. (See last article "Behind the Veil".) The only difference this time around is that her relentless drive for self aggrandisement resulted in The van Gogh's death. Dutch commentator r J Cobbs points out in his article that Ali has played on people's gullibility, and taken them for fools..Another article, "How a cleaning lady became the Somalian Joan of Arc."describes Ali's return to Holland after fleeing the country in the wake of the van Gogh murder: "In the meantime she had made her entrance into the House to heartfelt applause as if it was the return of the queen after five years of war. And in the presence of the incubator of the representatives of the press. Because Ayaan is always the center of attention. Whether it's doubling policemen's salaries, or demonstrating pepperspray in a restaurant in The Hague, or wanting to launch an parliamentary inquiry into the death of Theo van Gogh, sucess is guaranteed. If the inquiry at some moment does materialise , then it is also possible that the valid question will be asked as to why Ayaan never paid back the 18,000 euros which Theo van Gogh paid her out of his own pocket to produce "Submission" (article below) MIM: The Dutch ambassador stops short of calling Ali ungrateful -but sets the record straight saying she is not being persecuted, nor driven out of her home or Holland. What a difference four years makes !
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=66143 To: National and International desks Contact: Carla Bundy of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, 202-274-2632, [email protected] WASHINGTON, May 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by Boudewijn J. van Eenennaam, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States: "Recent reports in various U.S. media concerning Ayaan Hirsi Ali require clarification. "I would like to state the following: "Ms. Hirsi Ali is not being extradited from the Netherlands, nor is she being asked to leave. Ms. Hirsi Ali's citizenship was recently called into question. During a debate on May 16th, the Dutch parliament asked the Minister for Immigration and Integration, Rita Verdonk, to investigate and, if necessary, expedite the procedures to grant Ms. Hirsi Ali citizenship. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende, has stated that this parliamentary request will prevail. "After today's Cabinet meeting, Minister Verdonk asserted that she will promptly carry out the parliament's request. "As far back as 2005, Ms. Hirsi Ali told the leaders of her political party (the center-right VVD), that she would not seek re-election to parliament in 2007, stating instead that she would 'opt for a more international platform to debate the emancipation of Muslim women and the complex relationship between Islam and the West.' Ms. Hirsi Ali repeated this in a press statement this past week. "Ms. Hirsi Ali sought refuge in the Netherlands because it is a country that embraces freedom of speech and is founded on freedom of expression. "Everyone has the fundamental right to voice their opinion. We discuss fundamental issues in transparent, public debates involving all points of view. Differences are openly resolved, for everyone to follow. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Ms. Hirsi Ali, she has the fundamental right to pursue her causes in the Netherlands. "She has sparked debates on immigration, women's rights and Islam, for which she has been both applauded and criticized -- even to the point of her life being threatened. The government provided Ms. Hirsi Ali with 24-hour protection to enable her to continue to do her work and voice her opinions and the government will continue to do so. "It is correct that a Dutch court ruled that Ms. Hirsi Ali must vacate her residence because of a civil suit filed by her neighbors. I would like to emphasize, however, that the Dutch government has intervened on behalf of Ms. Hirsi Ali and is appealing this case to ensure that she may remain in her residence, if she wishes to. Of course, like many countries, the Netherlands is wrestling with issues like border security, citizen status and undocumented guest workers. "Still, the Netherlands, has been and remains a safe haven for dissidents and refugees. We are committed to implementing a policy that is humane, but one that also follows the rule of law. Where else could a young female refugee rise to become a prominent parliamentarian in only 10 years? "Our transparency in policy debates may make us vulnerable to criticism as we work to find solutions -- there is no universal answer. Specific circumstances must be taken into account and it is left to each society to resolve these sensitive issues. Some deem this process a liability -- we deem it a strength. "One thing is for sure: intolerance will not be tolerated." -- Boudewijn J. van Eenennaam, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States ------------------------------------------------------------ Hirsi Ali is Your Problem Now, America http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5508 Hirsi Ali has become a cause celebre among American conservatives as a refugee from Islamic oppression. Sympathy has led to an uncritical assignment to her of virtue. Please consider the facts. Yes, the Dutch politician Hirsi Ali is a charming personality who excels in candid outspokenness, especially on the subject of Islamic fundamentalism. Yes, the Dutch government is currently considering stripping her of her nationality. Wouldn't the US government do the same when someone admits to being a fraud? Fact: she lied to obtain Dutch citizenship, and not just about her name and a few other basic facts. She deliberately made a mockery of the law on international refugees, admitting that she just wanted to get into the country to better herself. Today, it is not the sudden public interest in her background that causes her to migrate to the US. This she decided a considerable time ago, admitting herself that her contribution to the public debate in Holland on the subject of Islamic fundamentalism was no longer constructive but had turned into the opposite. Also, her political rise had come to a halt. In any case, her travel plans are by no means inspired by any kind of oppression. She was and remains always perfectly free to speak her mind. You don't have to be Muslim to disagree with her constant "Muslim bashing" (and no, I am not Muslim). By the way, "Muslim bashing" is not my choice of words, but they did appear in connection with her in a report of a national board of advisors to the government. Her prompt reaction was a proposition to abolish the board all together. Well, that's one way of dealing with an institution that doesn't agree with you. Looking on as you are doing from the USA, it may seem that the Dutch are well and truly divided on this issue. However, bear in mind that the Dutch political arena has recently become a complete battleground and the main issue is "immigration." Most of what is being said and done over this incident is politically motivated and/or serves to cover up some kind of involvement in her deceit to obtain citizenship. A lot of people hoped that that her charming appearance would make everything go away. For a long time, it did. Anyway, she is leaving us now, and she is your problem. Let's see how she will fare in the USA. In her battle against Islam, she actually proposed to change our constitution (see page six) and abolish the fundamental freedom of education we enjoy. I wonder how that will go down in the US. And I am interested to see how the American public reacts to some of her impromptu actions, like questioning a small child on TV on the subject of belief in God. Whatever the outcome, you can forget about sending her back here! The question on my mind right now is: how did she obtain her US green card? How did she manage to put her moving date forward on such short notice? Did she have to go through the usual channels and procedures, like everyone else? Maybe you should ask yourselves that before you question why the Dutch refuse to accept legal fraud by anyone, let alone a legislator. ----------------- Absent parliament member Hirsi Magen Friday May 2006 A row has broken out after the broadcast of a Zembla program yesterday evening around the honorable House member Hirsi Ali or is she suddenly called Hirsi Magen? The world reknowned friend of Neelie Kroes appears to have lied to enter Holland. By the way: Eurocommissaris Neel has a rare circle of friends. Someone called Pearlberg is a member of her entourage. And the other is her dearly beloved Jan Langenberg who had to appear before a judge because of smuggling 1780 kilos of coke.(See Cocaine Tanker Rotterdam Tuesday April 18 2006). Luckily she has other acqaintances,such as Prince Jaime,the twin brother of Princes Margarita. He is occupied with taking care of the Brussels European fixing up services for Neel. But we digress... Things aren't going Ayaan's way. She has to leave her protected appartment after the judge had ruled in favor of the owners association,saying that The Hague bigwigs were endangered by the presence of her and her bodyguards. The owners association hired security expert Cees Sietsema ( whose claim to fame was the case of the Heineken kidnapping),who came with a devasting report about her not so safe -'safe house'. Especially on the parking garage which was built by the state spies lacked one thing and another. The door could be opened by remote control. At the sitting - and we repeat- a public sitting! it was fatally told that any two bit terrorist could break in using the frequency of the remote control. With a little fantasy one can imagine that the elite in The Hague bigwigs are not sleeping so soundly anymore. After such an announcement you scratch behind your ear and wonder how professional is the homeland security? We are publishing it because that small glitch was probably rectified by now. What we are not hearing in the ongoing Ayaan controversy is how the film Submission,which cost Theo van Gogh his life, came about. We have reported about that in among others the Morningstar. The film Submission appears to have been more of a neo con brainwave from Cliteur and the circles around the V.V.D. then an intellectual hand stand from Ms.Hirsi Magen alias Hirsi Ali. At his home in Leiden he lured Theo van Gogh and his webmaster Karel Gabler into the project.In a reaction to our publications over Submission Gabler backpedalled . (See Submission Revisited Wednesday August 24 2005). Besides Nova and Kleintje, the honorable member of the INS ex director Hildebrand Nawijn has also added his voice to the controversy around Ms.Hirsi Ali. "Hilbrand Nawijn finds that Ali must be deported if it turns out that she lied in order to be admitted to Holland." "On Thursday evening he asked his party colleague Verdonk (Immigration and Naturalisation) if she would in that case take away her Dutch citizenship." (source nu.nl.).Luckily Ms.Magen kan now count on the support of Leon de Winter, you can read more in the aforementioned article about his unwavering support for Holland's most internationally famous woman. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In response to an article "How a cleaning lady became the Somalian Joan of Arc, in the September edition of Must magazine a mild disease has broken out in the church of Theo... http://www.stelling.nl/kleintje/actueel/UBOM1124888112.html woensdag 24 augustus 2005
1. Het artikel staat eveneens in volle glorie op de site van de Morgenster ----------------------------------------- Een van de voorgangers in de strijd tegen het internationaal muslim-fundamentalisme is de ex-Somalische Ayaan Hirsi Ali, die ondermeer verantwoordelijk wordt gehouden voor het script van Theo van Gogh's film "Submission I". Op de vraag of ze bij die strijd wordt geregisseerd door dezelfde of hetzelfde soort duistere krachten die wij zo goed hebben leren kennen in de tweede helft van de vorige eeuw wordt in het artikel "Hoe een schoonmaakster de Somalische Jeanne d'Arc werd… ingegaan. geschreven in augustus 2005, met interessante rollen voor onderanderen Paul Cliteur, Leon de Winter, Ashin Ellian en S.W. Couwenberg. ----------------------------------------------- How a cleaning lady became the Somalian Joan of Arc http://www.stelling.nl/morgenster/must.htm Hoe een schoonmaakster de Somalische Jeanne d'Arc werd… Een jaar geleden tijdens een aflevering van het VPRO-programma ‘Zomergasten' presenteerde Ayaan Hirsi Ali, de Somalische Jeanne d'Arc in de strijd rond de liberalisering van de Islamitische vrouwen, de korte film ‘Submission I' aan het Nederlandse volk. In de voorafgaande periode had zij die rolprent in samenwerking met de flamboyante regisseur Theo van Gogh geproduceerd, waarbij zij volgens de aftiteling verantwoordelijk was geweest voor het scenario. Zelfs het oorspronkelijke idee zou uit haar brein ontsproten zijn. Maar is dat allemaal wel zo? Zeker is in elk geval wel dat door Van Gogh cs. nog flink aan het scenario gesleuteld moest worden voordat er sprake was van een werkbaar geheel. Daarnaast blijken echter ook andere creatieve geesten uit de omgeving van Ayaan zich vooraf met de film te hebben beziggehouden. Geesten met interessante contacten Op een dag ergens in 2004 kregen Theo van Gogh en Karel Gabler, de jarenlange boezemvriend van Theo en de webmaster van diens website ‘De Gezonde Roker', een uitnodiging van Paul Cliteur om eens bij hem langs te komen voor een babbel. Dat zagen zij wel zitten, want de hoogleraar Encyclopedie der Rechtswetenschappen was een bekende columnist die af en toe stevig kebab maakte van de ongerechtigheden binnen de Islam en de tolerantie op dat terrein van links Nederland.
Rechtse rakkers Paul Cliteur is naast een door velen bewierookte columnist, VVD-coryfee, filosoof, hoogleraar en fanatiek dierenrechtenactivist ook nog een pijler onder ‘Civis Mundi'. Een al 44 jaar bestaand politiek-cultureel tijdschrift waarover een vriend van Cliteur al sinds mensenheugenis de scepter zwaait: S. W. Couwenberg. Voormalig hoogleraar publiekrecht aan de Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam en tegenwoordig aanhanger van een 'nieuwe politiek'. Wat dat ook mag zijn.
Wapenleveranties Als intermediair werd bij tijd en wijle de ‘rogue agent' van de CIA Carl Armfelt ingezet. Een vriend van Van den Heuvel uit het Zeeuwse Eede, die naast het uitvoeren van het nodige snuffelwerk en het ontwikkelen van activiteiten voor de beruchte World Anti-Communist League (WACL) ook nog wapens leverde aan allerlei revolutionaire splinterbewegingen in Europa en het Midden-Oosten en er verder geen been in zag om valse dollars in omloop te brengen. Een vriend om van te houden (1).
Bomaanslagen Een van de klantjes van Interdoc was het Portugese Aginter Press dat onder leiding stond van frisse heren als Yves Guillou en Stefano della Chiaie. De eerste was voor hij uit Algerije uitweek naar Portugal actief geweest binnen de dood en verderf zaaiende OAS (Organisation de l'Armée Secrète) die zich verzette tegen De Gaulle's besluit om Algerije te schrappen als Franse kolonie en op die gronden zelfs pogingen ondernam om het toenmalige Franse staatshoofd eerder dan de bedoeling was het hoekje om te helpen.
Listig manipuleren Hoe dit ook verder moge zijn, we kunnen met een gerust hart concluderen dat Van den Heuvel en Couwenberg zich heel wat jaartjes bezighielden met het listig manipuleren van de pers. In samenwerking met de CIA en andere jolige clubs van dit genre. Na de ineenstorting van het Oostblok is de noodzaak om politiek links van alles in de schoenen te schuiven sterk afgenomen. Maar sinds het door Washington minimaal gedoogde optreden van Osama's Flying Circus op 11 september 2001 is er een nieuwe gezamenlijke vijand voor het vrije westen opgedoken cq. gecreeërd: het islamitisch fundamentalisme.
De zwarte madonna De van goede Somalische huize komende Ayaan arriveerde in 1992 in Nederland. Ze had de benen genomen nadat haar vader haar had uitgehuwelijkt aan een neef in Canada. Via baantjes als schoonmaakster, postsorteerder en vrijwilliger in het Asielzoekers Centrum in Lunteren werd zij tolk bij de Immigratie en Naturalisatiedienst (IND) en Justitie. Zij studeerde af in de politicologie aan de universiteit van Leiden en werd uiteindelijk in september 2001 medewerkster van de Wiardi Beckmanstichting, het wetenschappelijk bureau van de Partij van de Arbeid. Daar participeerde zij in een onderzoek naar de emancipatie en integratie van Islamitische vrouwen in Nederland. Gefundenes Fressen dus voor Ayaan.
In de armen van Zalm Ayaan zou volgens verschillende bronnen in de Verenigde Staten zijn ondergebracht bij kennissen van Leon de Winter, de bekende schrijver, Elseviercolumnist en adjunct fellow van het sinds jaar en dag met de CIA en het Pentagon verbonden Amerikaanse Hudson Institute in Santa Barbara. Wie die kennissen van De Winter waren en waar ze woonden werd niet naar buiten gebracht, want voor je het weet heb je een vliegende sidekick van Osama voor je deur. Ondanks aanbiedingen van helaas onbekende zijde om aan de overkant van de plas opinieleider (!) te worden en/of te promoveren aan een universiteit naar keuze, keerde ze terug naar Nederland toen de kust weer een beetje veilig was bij Scheveningen en omstreken. Om elke eventualiteit te vermijden werd ze wel dagelijks omringd door veiligheidsmensen. Na die terugkeer liet Hirsi Ali direct de slappe hap van de Wiardi Beckmanstichting barsten en stortte zich in de armen van Gerrit Zalm en Jozias van Aartsen, de partijbonzen van de VVD. Niet helemaal verwonderlijk, want al geruime tijd voor haar trip naar de VS was zij in diepe gesprekken verzeild geraakt met Neelie Kroes, de koningin van de commissariaten en gewaardeerd medewerker aan de Erasmus Universiteit. En die zal haar zeker hebben aangeraden over te stappen naar de liberale regeringspartij. Vanwege de grotere mogelijkheden om op de trom te slaan. Hirsi Ali maakte midden november 2002 haar entree op het Binnenhof als fractiesecretaresse bij de VVD, maar na de verkiezingen van januari 2003 belandde zij in het pluche dankzij 30.000 voorkeurstemmen. En toen was de one-issue berin los. Het leek of Nederland maar één probleem kende: het Islamitische gevaar. Er was geen imam of er was een vlekje aan. Jongeren werden massaal geronseld voor de jihad. Alle Islamitische vrouwen dreigden hun clitoris te verliezen. Er werd een verdedigingslinie opgetrokken rond de verkeerstunnel bij Schiphol. Alle torens boven de 100 meter kregen afweergeschut. Leiden was in last. De Hofstadgroep We hadden alleen nog geen fatsoenlijk georganiseerde terreurgroep, maar daar werd aan gewerkt door de AIVD. Die had namelijk een paar opgewonden moslimmetjes een woning bezorgd in Den Haag en dat zag er goed uit. Naar eigen waarnemingen radicaliseerden ze prima en breidden ze zo kwiek hun kennissenkring uit dat ze een eigen naam verdienden: de Hofstadgroep.
Succes verzekerd Ondertussen had zij onder gevoelig applaus haar rentree in de Kamer gevierd alsof het de terugkeer van koningin Wilhelmina na vijf jaar oorlog betrof. En in aanwezigheid van een legbatterij aan persvertegenwoordigers. Want Ayaan is nu eenmaal altijd prijs. Of ze nou het salaris van politieagenten wil verdubbelen, in een Haags restaurant een busje pepperspray demonstreert of een parlementaire enquête wil instellen naar de dood van Theo van Gogh, succes verzekerd. Mocht die enquête overigens op enig moment toch zijn beslag krijgen, dan is mogelijk daarbij ook de vraag valide waarom Ayaan de 18.000 euro die Theo van Gogh uit eigen zak heeft betaald om ‘Submission' te produceren, nooit heeft terugbetaald.
(1) Zie voor meer over Armfelt en Van den Heuvel bijvoorbeeld de artikelenserie "Het schaduwcommando van de prins" op deze site. (Dit artikel is eerder verschenen in Must Magazine nr. 4 van september 2005) Morgenster, augustus 2005 Mocht u de beschikking hebben over nog wat oude of nieuwe spullen die misschien nuttig kunnen zijn voor dit artikel, aarzel niet en zoek contact met de morgenster. ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.stelling.nl/morgenster/
vrijdag 12 mei 2006
Waar we in de huidige Ayaan-rel ook niets over horen is hoe de film Submission die Theo van Gogh het leven kostte tot stand kwam. Daarover hebben we al eerder bericht in onderandere de Morgenster. De film Submission bleek veel meer de neocon-brainwave van VVD-kringen rondom Cliteur te zijn dan een onafhankelijk intellectueel hoogstandje van mw. Hirsi Magan alias Hirsi Ali. Te Leiden in de woning van Cliteur werden destijds Theo van Gogh en zijn webmaster Karel Gabler er ingeluisd. In een reactie op onze publicaties over Submission keerde Gabler op zijn schreden terug (zie Submission Revisited van woensdag 24 augustus 2005). Naast Kleintje en Nova heeft zich nu ook in de strijd rondom mw. Hirsi Magan gemeld het geachtte lid en ex-directeur van de IND: Hilbrand Nawijn. "Tweede Kamerlid Hilbrand Nawijn vindt dat Hirsi Ali het land uit moet als blijkt dat zij heeft gelogen bij haar toelating tot Nederland. Hij heeft donderdagavond aan minister Verdonk (Vreemdelingenzaken) gevraagd of zij in dat geval haar partijgenote het Nederlanderschap wil ontnemen." (bron: nu.nl) Gelukkig kan mw. Magan nog terugvallen op de steun van Leon de Winter, in het eerder genoemde Morgenster-artikel leest u meer over Leons onvoorwaardelijke steun voor internationaal gezien Nederlands beroemdste vrouw. Zin Zoek mij er niet op 2 november, daar op de Linneausstraat. Ik zal er niet zijn. Net zoals degenen met wie ik mij het meest verbonden voel, die zullen er dan ook niet zijn. Alleen al de gedachte daar te staan met Cohen, Balkenende en één of andere verdwaalde stadsdeelvoorzitter doet mij huiveren. Ik heb er geen zin in. Geen zin in al die welgemeende toespraken van marskramers die hun beduimelde waar weer eens zullen uitstallen. Het minderhedendebat, de moslimproblematiek of hoe het allemaal heten moge, het zal mij gestolen zijn. Ik zie de discussie slechts gedomineerd en bevolkt door lijkenpikkers, dwaallichten en handelaren in multicul parafernalia gedreven door het oogmerk van carrière en eigengewin. Het interesseert me niet meer. Inderdaad de democratie is een mooi stelsel, maar de wijze zoals zij heden ten dage reilt en zeilt, brengt bij mij niet meer zo veel bewondering teweeg. Ik heb trouwens ook geen zin meer in dit weblog. Ik stop ermee. Dit is de laatste update. Niet getreurd. Immers reeds vanaf de eerste dag heb ik gemeld dat het slechts een tijdelijke affaire zou zijn. 2 November lijkt mij een uitermate geschikte dag helemaal op zwart te gaan en andere horizonten te gaan verkennen. De voorgaande 365 ochtenden, middagen, avonden en nachten duurden lang. Erg lang. Ik zal proberen me weer te laten verwonderen. Karel Gabler -------------------------------------- http://www.racematters.org/ayaanhirsiali.htm MIM: Deja Vu all over again: Then (in 2002) Ms. Hirsi Ali, 32, began receiving hate mail, anonymous messages calling her a traitor to Islam and a slut. On several Web sites, other Muslims said she deserved to be knifed and shot. Explicit death threats by telephone soon followed. The police told her to change homes and the mayor of Amsterdam sent bodyguards. She tried living in hiding. Finally, last month, she became a refugee again, fleeing the Netherlands. "I had to speak up," she said, in a telephone interview from her hiding place, "because most spokesmen for Muslims are men and they deny or belittle the enormous problems of Muslim women locked up in their Dutch homes." Her ordeal has caused an outcry in the Netherlands, a country already uneasy with its recent waves of immigrants and asylum seekers, now representing almost 10 percent of the population. Many Dutch see the threats as an intolerable assault on the country's democratic principles. The threats have also intensified a fierce debate — one that can be heard these days across Europe — about what moral values and rules of behavior immigrants should be expected to share. Though absent, Ms. Hirsi Ali seems very present here. Her portrait has appeared on magazine covers and television and there have been indignant newspaper editorials and questions in Parliament. Some have called her the Dutch Salman Rushdie. In paid advertisements, more than 100 Dutch writers have offered her support. http://www.racematters.org/ayaanhirsiali.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
November 9, 2002 Behind the Veil: A Muslim Woman Speaks Out MSTERDAM — Ayaan Hirsi Ali had done well in the 10 years since she arrived in the Netherlands as a young refugee from Somalia and, until a few months ago, she lived a quiet life in her adopted land. Never did she intend to create a national commotion. She studied Dutch, took on cleaning jobs, went to university and worked as a political scientist. She made a name for herself pressing for the emancipation of Muslim women and documenting how thousands, living even here, were subjected to beatings, incest and emotional and sexual abuse. To the surprise of many, she became a leading voice condemning the government's support for multiculturalism, programs costing millions of dollars a year that she considers misplaced because they help keep Muslim women isolated from Dutch society. Then Ms. Hirsi Ali, 32, began receiving hate mail, anonymous messages calling her a traitor to Islam and a slut. On several Web sites, other Muslims said she deserved to be knifed and shot. Explicit death threats by telephone soon followed. The police told her to change homes and the mayor of Amsterdam sent bodyguards. She tried living in hiding. Finally, last month, she became a refugee again, fleeing the Netherlands. "I had to speak up," she said, in a telephone interview from her hiding place, "because most spokesmen for Muslims are men and they deny or belittle the enormous problems of Muslim women locked up in their Dutch homes." Her ordeal has caused an outcry in the Netherlands, a country already uneasy with its recent waves of immigrants and asylum seekers, now representing almost 10 percent of the population. Many Dutch see the threats as an intolerable assault on the country's democratic principles. The threats have also intensified a fierce debate — one that can be heard these days across Europe — about what moral values and rules of behavior immigrants should be expected to share. Though absent, Ms. Hirsi Ali seems very present here. Her portrait has appeared on magazine covers and television and there have been indignant newspaper editorials and questions in Parliament. Some have called her the Dutch Salman Rushdie. In paid advertisements, more than 100 Dutch writers have offered her support. "I've made people so angry because I'm talking from the inside, from direct knowledge," she said. "It's seen as treason. I'm considered an apostate and that's worse than an atheist." The theme of injustice toward women in Islamic countries has become common in the West, but it has gained fresh currency through Ms. Hirsi Ali's European perspective, her study of Dutch immigrants and her own life. Born in Mogadishu, she grew up a typical Muslim girl in Somalia. When she was 5, she underwent the "cruel ritual," as she called it, of genital cutting. When her father, a Somali opposition politician, had to flee the country's political troubles, the family went to Saudi Arabia, where, she said, she was kept veiled and, much of the time, indoors. At 22, her father forced her to marry a distant cousin, a man she had never seen. But a friend helped her to escape and she finally obtained political asylum in the Netherlands. She was shocked when, as a university student, she held a job as an interpreter for Dutch immigration and social workers and discovered hidden "suffering on a terrible scale" among Muslim women even in the Netherlands. She entered safe houses for women and girls, most of them Turkish and Moroccan immigrants, who had run away from domestic violence or forced marriages. Many had secret abortions. "Sexual abuse in the family causes the most pain because the trust is violated on all levels," she said. "The father or the uncle say nothing, nor do the mother and the sisters. It happens regularly — the incest, the beatings, the abortions. Girls commit suicide. But no one says anything. And social workers are sworn to professional secrecy." More than 100 women a year have surgery to "restore" their virginity, she estimates in her published work. While only 10 percent of the population is non-Dutch, this group accounts for more than 60 percent of abortions, "because the Muslim girls are kept ignorant," she said. Three out of five Moroccan-Dutch girls — Moroccans are among the largest immigrant groups — are forced to marry young men from villages back home, to keep them under control, she said. A year or so ago, Ms. Hirsi Ali's case might not have attracted so much attention. But the mood in the Netherlands, as in much of Europe, changed after Sept. 11, 2001. In the month that followed, there was an unheard of backlash against the nearly one million Muslims living in the Netherlands, with more than 70 attacks against mosques. Sept. 11 also gave politicians licence to vent brewing animosities. Among them was Pim Fortuyn, a maverick gay politician who was killed in May, apparently by an animal rights activist. He said out loud what had long been considered racist and politically incorrect — for example, that conservative Muslim clerics were undermining certain Dutch values like acceptance of homosexuality and the equality of men and women. What Mr. Fortuyn did on the right, Ms. Hirsi Ali has done on the left. Many in the Labor Party, where she worked on immigration issues, were shocked when she told reporters that Mr. Fortuyn was right in calling Islam "backward." "At the very least Islam is facing backward and it has failed to provide a moral framework for our time," she said in one conversation. "If the West wants to help modernize Islam, it should invest in women because they educate the children." To do this, she argues for drastic changes in Dutch immigration policy. The government, she says, should impose Dutch law on men who beat their wives and daughters, even if the Muslim clergy say it is permissible. It should also end teaching the immigrants in their own language and stop paying for the more than 700 Islamic clubs, most of which, she said, "are run by deeply conservative men and they perpetuate the segregation of women." Her views, and the death threats, have divided Muslims, who account for most immigrants here. Almost 20 Muslim associations have condemned the threats, but at the same time faulted her for criticizing Islam. Hafid Bouazza, a Dutch-Moroccan author who in the past has received letters saying he will burn in hell for his writing, said the threats were shocking. "No criticism of Islam is accepted from women," he said. "Muslim women are particularly vulnerable." Others were bitter. Ali Eddaudi, a Moroccan writer and cleric living here, dismissed "all the fuss" over a Muslim woman who "panders to the Dutch." Ms. Hirsi Ali agrees that the criticism is so intense in part because she is a woman. "I am a Muslim woman saying these things, and it has provoked a lot of hatred," she said. One thing is certain: the death threats against Ms. Hirsi Ali have given more prominence to her ideas, which have now become the subject of intense debate among Dutch policy makers. The Dutch Liberal Party has invited her to become a candidate in the parliamentary elections next January. She says she has accepted and hopes to return to the Netherlands, though she fears for her safety. "Either I stop my work, or I learn to live with the feeling that I'm not safe," she said. "I'm not stopping." |