[lit-ideas] Re: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 12:40:48 -0700
Judy,
Apparently different passages jumped out at me than at you. Here are some
passages you didn't include below that influenced what I wrote:
Primarily, "The controversy comes at a time when Ms Hirsi Ali was already
reportedly making plans to leave the Netherlands for the US." You
emphasize that she couldn't stay in the Netherlands. Perhaps that's true
but perhaps not. Since she seems to have given up on the Netherlands we'll
never know. The fact that "She has received repeated death threats over her
challenges to Islam's treatment of women and has been living under 24-hour
police guard," probably influenced her more than the documentary.
Also, "Ms Hirsi Ali's case may not have been helped by her attempt to
intervene in another high-profile asylum case. the MP, known for promoting
the integration of immigrants into Dutch society, has certainly received
little support from other members of her party since the storm broke.
"Mr de Jong suggests that while the VVD benefited from the publicity Ms
Hirsi Ali brought them, some within the party found it difficult to accept
her outspoken views.
"You could argue that everyone liked her as a token... but maybe they
weren't willing, because she was a woman and an immigrant, to accept her as
an intellectual force - someone with her own agenda who would speak out," he
said.
"A court had also recently ruled that Ms Hirsi Ali must move from a
state-owned "safe house" in The Hague, after neighbours complained of a
security risk.
"She may expect a warmer welcome in the US, where Time magazine has named
her one of the most influential thinkers of our time."
She was treated badly by a nation that doesn't know how to integrate
immigrants. She received death threats. A good friend was assassinated and
a note affixed by a knife stabbed to his chest warning that she would be
killed as well. She was living as a prisoner in a safe house, but being
told her prison would no longer be available because her neighbors were
afraid of collateral damage when assassins came after her. Shoot, I'd fight
to stay in that kind of situation. I can't think why she didn't.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Judith Evans
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 10:58 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
>One more case of the best immigrant minds preferring the U.S.
>to continental Europe.
She probably can't stay in the Netherlands as she's an illegal
immigrant.
See paras 1-5 of the story at the link I posted.
Here are paras 3-5:
bbc>The furore follows a television documentary about
bbc>falsifications in her asylum application when she came
bbc> to the Netherlands in 1992.
bbc>Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk has said that in
bbc> her view Ms Hirsi Ali's lies about her name and age
bbc>make her Dutch citizenship - granted in 1997 - invalid.
bbc>The MP has now announced her resignation from parliament
bbc>and is to leave the country, "saddened but relieved".
and see, later in the story at the link I posted
bbc>The revelations in the TV documentary Zembla that she lied
bbc>about her name, age and how she had reached the
bbc>Netherlands when applying for asylum in 1992 were nothing
new.
bbc>Ms Hirsi Ali has admitted the falsification in several media
bbc>interviews since 2002 and also informed her party, the
bbc>liberal-conservative VVD, before standing for parliament in
2003.
bbc>But where the documentary seems to have hit her reputation
bbc>hardest is in interviewing members of her family who
undermine
bbc> her claim that she was fleeing a forced marriage when
bbc>she arrived in the Netherlands aged 22.
bbc>Relatives, including her brother, are filmed in a comfortable
bbc> home in Kenya saying there was no arranged marriage and that
bbc>she had had nothing to fear.
bbc>The MP has previously explained not giving her real name,
bbc>Ayaan Hirsi Magan, and saying she was born in 1967, not
bbc>1969, because she was afraid her family would find her.
bbc>She also told officials she had come directly from Somalia,
bbc>rather than via Kenya and Germany, thus accelerating her
bbc>claim for asylum.
I hope the story's clear now
Judy Evans, Cardiff
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