http://www.samharris.org/site/security_trust/Urgent Appeal: Please Help Protect Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the most prominent advocate of free speech and women’s rights in the Muslim world, and for this she must live under perpetual armed guard, even in the West. Unfortunately, on October 1st of this year, the Dutch government officially rescinded its promise to protect her. Now, Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s friends, colleagues and admirers must come to her aid. I have created a page on my website that links directly to the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Security Trust. The money raised by this trust will pay Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s security expenses. In the event that money remains after these costs have been met, it will be used to encourage and protect other dissidents in the Muslim world. The ongoing protection of Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a moral obligation. It is also a strategic one: for here is a woman doing work that most of us cannot do–indeed, would be terrified to do if given the chance–and yet this work is essential for preserving the freedoms we take for granted in the West. If every reader of this email simply pledged ten dollars a month to protect Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the costs of her security would be covered for as long as the threat to her life remains. Thanks in advance for your support. Sincerely, Sam Harris Ayaan Hirsi Ali In 2005, TIME included Ayaan Hirsi Ali in its list of the World’s 100 Most Influential People. If you would like to know more about her, please read Christopher Caldwell’s fine profile in the New York Times Magazine. You can also read the essay that Salman Rushdie and I recently published in the Los Angeles Times, or the one that Christopher Hitchens wrote for Slate.
ali should be deported back to somalia.she spoke out to get votes and make money.she is an illegal alien.she has switched from one party to the next.the dutch should feed this fraud to the wolves.
Fuck you reason, she obtained political asylum in the Netherlands, and who gives a flying shit if someone does something to make money or changes their mind.
“reason” my ass, more like blind misogynist right wing regurgitation.
Why should the US pay for her security here in the United States? She has it covered in the Netherlands already.
Not to mention, she LIED her ass off to get into the Neatherlands.
The only good thing she has done, that I can see is that she has spoken out against islam. Big deal, so do I and a lot of my friends.
I just read the article in the NY Times magazine and I can’t see why anyone would be against supporting Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She was the victim of genital mutilation which is just sickening. She blames Islam for this practice. You can argue that Islam is not to blame, but you can’t argue that speaking out against what you think is wrong should be stifled by a bunch of thugs. If she’s allowed to be murdered by Islamic terrorists then free speech suffers everywhere. We would be letting petty gangs control what we are allowed to say and that is simply unacceptable.
I don’t blame her. She was hiding her identity to escape an arranged Islamic marriage. Considering what had already been done to her in the name of Allah, and what would be done if she’d been found after running from the marriage,
she’d have been crazy not to have reinventd herself.
Karen, in Kenya? Where did you find this information?
But, besides the point. She is safe in the Netherlands, why come here when she is safe there? Do we have to take every refugee that wants to come to America? We live in a section of the country where we are overrun with immigrants, MOST illegal. Most do not want to assimulate into our culture. I see almost on a weekly event, Somali’s protesting the American government, telling us to get the hell out of Somalia.
Yes it is sad what happened to her. Her leaving Kenya instead of standing up for what is right does nothing to solve the problem. If that is where the arrainged marriage was suppose to happen. If enough people got the backbone and stood up to this ignorance of female castration and arraigned marriages, this problem would be short lived.
DeepDiver
I read the NYTimes article about her. Her father arranged her marriage to a distant cousin, a Canadian Somali, if I recall correctly. Hirsi Ali and her new husband were travelling through Europe to where they were going to live (I suppose) and they had a layover in Germany to finalize some emigration papers for her. That’s when she got the idea to flee.
She’s not safe in the Netherlands, but there’s no indication she’s coming here. She was on a hit list with Theo van Gogh, who was shot and stabbed to death a few years ago. The two of them had collaborated on a controversial film about the mistreatment of women under Islam.
Her standing up for women is what got her the notoriety that earned her a price on her head, figuratively speaking. I don’t think anyone has issued a fatwah as was done with Salman Rushdie.
Why don’t you fucking idiots read her book before spouting your xenophobic crap.
Karen, this is barbaric, but why is she not safe in the Netherlands? They are willing to pay for her security. I personally thought it was for her speaking out against Islam.
I have to admit I don’t know I thing about Ayaan Hirsi Ali. What is it about her that she stirs such polarized emotions on a blog like this?
I sympathize with this women…I would imagine allot of arabic women have many questions but remain silent in their world that is completely controlled by a dumb idea…
Hopefully these dumb ideas will overtime become less influential in our daily lives….
Obeah, I am the first to admit I don’t know much about her. Do you really think we would learn an unbiased truth from her book? People write what they want to write in a book, truth or not. She has already lied to jump in line in front of others waiting to honestly immigrate to another country. I have better things to do to read her book.
I know the attrocities that are carried out over there and that everything we can do should be done to stop them. The problem is not restricted there either. I see it here by Muslims that refuse to blend in with our culture. Including arrainged marriages.
Obeah
As the post says, the Dutch have rescinded their promise to protect her. No reason is given, but the Times article said she revealed her secret location at a naval base-she wanted to be able to live in a house like a normal person. That was expecting a bit much, IMO.
She is very high profile in the Netherlands, as she is a member of Parliament. And she DOES speak out against Islam in her campaign for women’s rights. An ex-Muslim herself, she is now an atheist. With the large population of Muslims in the Netherlands comes the risk of assassination attempts.
Karen,
I’m confused. I am on her side and respect her very much.
DD,
Of course there is bias in her book. I share your bias with regard to Muslim assimilation etc. I hate religion and Islam is particularly icky.
There is a difference between immigrants and refugees. Since her story is corroborated by other, accounts I tend toward belief. Even if it were partly fiction or hyperbole I would give the benefit of the doubt.
I would lie too to get out of a country where I was afraid of being killed for my opinion.
Obeah
What are you confused about?
I respect and admire her too. I was aware of her story before this post came up, and have seen her speak on news interviews and such.
I’m not sure that she really needs the little bit of money I could spare to help defend her, and I’m not sure how I feel about how she blew her cover when she was being well-protected. I can understand how being kept under wraps on a military base might come to feel like imprisonment, but if that was what was necessary to have Dutch protection, I think she should have tried to live with it till the dust settled more.
As for the hostility shown by some here toward her, I don’t really understand.
Karen:
Perhaps I came across as appearing hostile, which is not what I intended, towards her. I am pretty much fed up with the whole immigration policy of the western world right now.
And to set the record straight, I too respect her stance against Islam and the culture of most of the religious muslim and xtian world.
DD
Thanks for clearing that up. You did seem a bit hostile at first, though not so much as reason.
But with reason, I can never be certain if he really means what he says, or if he’s just stirring the pot. I tend to ignore his really bigoted and/or misogynistic remarks.
Karen, yep, I could see with both entries why it would seem hostile. I am going to the other thread and get hostile their. Sort of.
Call me amazed by the hostility expressed here. I’ve known of her for some time, saw her on 60 Minutes once, have read about her (not her book) and certainly respect her courage. Without a doubt she is far braver than I, and I will be adding to the pot for her protection.
The immigration mess in this country really ticks me off, too, but I put her case in a different category.
yeah i’m a real woman hater and muslim lover.female castration and honor killing are horrible they also predate islam.she had no right to sit in the dutch gov’t because she was an illegal.you want to believe everthing she says and writes go ahead but i don’t trust her or her neo con pals.