Posted: 5/20/2006 12:46:19 PM EDT
|
The Wall Street Journal May 20, 2006; Page A8 Dutch Courage By DANIEL SCHWAMMENTHAL http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114808360244958541.html America welcomed a victim of political and religious persecution this week. Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been living for years with death threats for her criticisms of radical Islam. But in the end it was not her former co-religionists who have caused her to seek refuge in the U.S. It was rather the native-born citizens of her adopted country, the Netherlands, that have driven her off. If the reader will forgive a little indulgence in the soft bigotry of low expectations, it is the role of her fellow Dutchmen and women that are most worthy of contempt in this tale. Ms. Hirsi Ali first achieved international prominence when Dutch film maker Theo Van Gogh was stabbed to death on an Amsterdam street in 2004. The killer pinned a five-page manifesto to his victim's chest with the knife he'd used to kill him. The letter was titled "Open Letter to Hirsi Ali." Ms. Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch immigrant, a female member of the Dutch parliament and an outspoken critic of Islam, particularly Islamic attitudes toward women. Ms. Hirsi Ali had scripted Van Gogh's film "Submission," on the mistreatment of Muslim women. For making this film, Van Gogh was killed and, the letter from his killer explained, Ms. Hirsi Ali was condemned to "torture and agony." Holy War against the U.S. and Europe was also threatened. Already under police protection since 2002 for having renounced her faith, Ms. Hirsi Ali had to go into hiding. For the second time in her life she became a refugee, this time in her adopted homeland. Now she is being put on the run again, this time by the Dutch who have grown tired of protecting such an outspoken critic of Islamic extremism. Last month a Dutch judge ordered her out of her apartment. Her fellow tenants had argued that her presence endangered them and lowered their property values, in violation of their "human rights." The judge agreed and ordered her evicted. The final betrayal came last Monday when Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, from the supposedly liberal VVD party, told Ms. Hirsi Ali that she was no longer a Dutch citizen, or, to be more precise, never was one because she gained her citizenship with an incorrect name and date of birth. She had also already fled Somalia for Kenya when she applied for asylum in Holland. The funny thing is, Ms. Hirsi Ali admitted this years ago without prompting as much as a yawn from the authorities. But when a left-leaning state TV channel "exposed" these same facts nine days ago, in a report titled "The Holy Ayaan," Ms. Verdonk declared Ms. Hirsi Ali -- a fellow party member and lawmaker -- non-Dutch. Bibi de Vries, another VVD parliamentarian, warned that "if anything happens to Hirsi Ali, there will be people within the VVD with blood on their hands." But Ms. Hirsi Ali does not plan to stick around long enough to prove Mr. de Vries correct. Last Tuesday, she announced that she would be moving to America, where the American Enterprise Institute has offered her a position as a fellow. Many of her countrymen would like nothing more than to believe that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is leaving the Netherlands because she was caught in a lie. But this would be the biggest lie in this whole affair. The Somali-born politician is leaving, no, fleeing her adopted homeland because the Netherlands and much of Europe prefer a traditional Muslim woman who keeps her mouth shut over one who objects to Islamic intolerance. Ms. Hirsi Ali could take the threats against her own life. But she could no longer take being abandoned by the Dutch simply for fighting for the values they taught her but now lack the courage to defend. Luckily for Ms. Hirsi Ali, she has found a country that doesn't fear her willingness to criticize the religion into which she was born. While visiting the Netherlands last Thursday, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said the former Dutch legislator could come to the U.S. regardless of her status in the Netherlands. "We recognize that she is a very courageous and impressive woman and she is welcome in the U.S." How can it be that this recognition, so self-evident to an American official just passing through, has escaped most of the Dutch? Nearly half of her countrymen want her stripped of her citizenship. They have succumbed to the dangerous illusion that if only she were to go away, all the problems of radical Islam would go away with her. Ms. Hirsi Ali offered a final warning on that score this week. "I am . . . preparing to leave Holland," Ms. Hirsi Ali told reporters. "But the questions for our society remain. The future of Islam in our country, the subjugation of women in Islamic culture; the integration of the many Muslims in the West: It is self-deceit to imagine that these issues will disappear." There are striking parallels between the way many in Europe view the U.S. and the way the Dutch and many Europeans view Ms. Hirsi Ali. Outrage over September 11 soon gave way to a reversal of cause and effect. The victim, the U.S., was held responsible for the destruction it supposedly brought upon itself through its policies and provocation of Muslims. Similarly, solidarity with Ms. Hirsi Ali quickly changed to attacking Ms. Hirsi Ali for being too provocative. Government adviser Jan Schoonenboom accused Ms. Hirsi Ali of "Islam bashing," a theme often repeated in the media. Ms. Hirsi Ali might be the first, but won't be the last, post-9/11 dissident to seek refuge in the land of the brave and the free. And so, any recovery of property prices in Ms. Hirsi Ali's neighborhood will be short-lived. Where the defenders of democracy have to flee while the enemies of free society roam the streets, not only real estate is bound to become very cheap. So will be life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Write to Daniel Schwammenthal at [email protected] |
Bullshit. She is leaving because she violated the law and LIED on her asylum application. Don't kid yourself that the U.S. doesn't deport people for the exact same thing. She should NEVER had been allowed residence permit in Holland in the first place. She is an illegal immigrant. I personally admire her, and I think she has done great things to both expose Islam for what it often represents in Europe, and for helping to start an important social debate in Holland. However, the fact that she might be a great person, and that she has done good things, does not change the fact that she is an illegal immigrant in Holland. She should be kicked out, jsut like any other illegal immigrant should be kicked out, and then she can apply the LEGAL way, just like everyone else. ETA: And the Dutch did not abandon her or anything. She is a celebrity, and lives in an expensive government apartment with state-of-the-art security, and travels with armed guards everywhere she goes - courtesy of the Dutch government. She wasn't "evicted" from "her" apartment (the article itself is full of lies) - she was MOVED from one government apartment to another because the neighbors were sick of all the hassle and onconvience of armed guards, searches and security perimiters and everything that affected them. |
|
And while the Wall Street Journal is pissing on the Dutch, let us not forget that Holland was one of only FOUR countries in the entire world that were willing to stand with the U.S. and join the war on Iraq when the U.S. asked its allies to step up to the plate. And they've been staunch allies in Iraq ever since. If I didn't need the Wall Street Journal for work, I'd be tempted to write them and tell them I'm cancelling my subscription over such a biased and hateful smear against the Dutch.  |
…too bad they did not do a better job protecting Anne Frank. |
 Yeah - the Dutch record during the German occupation wasn't as good. But we can't all be Danes!  |
Maybe you need to go find a douche to help get the itch out of your vagina. |
Fixed it for ya.
|
I doubt the US would deport someone famous, influential, rich, or a politician over that sort of "paperwork snafu". In the US someone like here would have a team of lawyers muddying up the waters and preventing deportation. It would not be an issue. GunLvr |