News from the New Party

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Douglas Murray of the Centre for Social Cohesion reports that the Dutch-Somali writer and former Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been forced to return to the Netherlands from Washington D.C., where she has been working for the American Enterprise Institute.

Hirsi Ali, an advocate of Muslim women's rights, has been the subject of death threats for some time, after making the film Submission, on the subject of the position of women in Islam. Her colleague, Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, was murdered by the Muslim fanatic Mohammad Bouyeri in November 2004. She left Holland last year at the centre of an immigration scandal which saw her Dutch citizenship withdrawn, then reinstated, and finally brought down the government.

Since moving to America, her security has been paid for by the Dutch government, which has however since made clear that protection for her would cease on 1st October 2007 unless she returns to the Netherlands. As the American government is apparently legally unable to pay for her security, Ayaan Hirsi Ali relocated to a secret address in Holland last week, from which location she continues to work for the AEI.

Murray comments:

Considering that Hirsi Ali was effectively forced to leave Holland after disgracefully having her citizenship withdrawn (and then reinstated), and that her neighbours sued to have her forced out of her house, the Dutch government's ignominious decision heaps insult onto injury.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali's new home, her work and her living are in America. Her life was made un-liveable in the Netherlands, but that country is now forcing her to stay there. The American government meanwhile seems to have decided that it is not its business that one of the most endangered and heroic people in its land is being grotesquely forced into a situation of such danger.

Hirsi Ali is being forced to choose between living unguarded where she wants to be or being guarded where she does not want to be: between being allowed her 'right to life' and her 'right to a life.' It is an intolerable situation, and shameful that both the Dutch and American governments have allowed this to happen.

When the British writer Salman Rushdie was similarly threatened, the British government provided (and, presumably, continues to provide) protection at public expense and without complaint for a considerable number of years. With regard to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch government in particular has failed to live up to its longstanding reputation as a haven of free expression in the world. As such, its failure to act honourably in this case is a setback for the west as a whole, and not just for the Netherlands.

We hope and expect that the Dutch and American governments will be able to arrange a suitable compromise which will enable this brave woman to continue her work unmolested and in safety.

[Thanks to Melanie Phillips, Dutch News.]

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