Black conservative in Netherlands Parliament challenges Islam head on

Ramblings' Journal ^ | 6.7.04 | Michael King

[mhking]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Nigerian-born member of Parliament in the Netherlands, has strong views on Islam, much as many do in this country.

She was raised as a Muslim but has recently become agnostic. She has an incredible command of the Dutch langue and is a sharp debater. She abhors woolly, placating rhetoric, which is so typical of Dutch politics. According to a recent poll she ranks second among the most popular politicians in Holland. And her political star is still rising. Yet her political message stirs a lot of controversy, especially among Muslim radicals.

It was the criticism by the late Pim Fortuyn (the Dutch politician who was killed by an animal rights activists) of the impact of Islam on Dutch society which sharpened her awareness of the threat of Muslim radicalism. Fortuyn openly qualified the Islam as a backward religion and Ayaan Hirsi Ali shares this view. When she was still in the socialist party she wanted to put the issue high on the political agenda. But the party did not support her view, because it was afraid that it would play into Fortuyn's hands. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is especially critical of the lack of tolerance for dissenting opinions among Muslims, as well as their oppression of women.

According to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the emotions incited by her statements, especially among radical Muslims, underscores the state of the Islam. (Radical) Muslims are incapable of self-reflection. Consequently, any critical remark is perceived as an offense.

Ali, who would most certainly be considered conservative in this country, has her share of enemies, thanks to her views.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of Parliament, recently offered a guy a knife and invited him to stab her when he told her he hoped the "Mojahedin" would kill her due to her sharp and very public criticisms of Islam (he backed down).

She continues to receive death threats from those who oppose her views. More recently, she's had to resort to bodyguards and other protective measures, especially in light of the assassination of Fortuyn, along with continued overt and subtle threats to her life.

Hirsi Ali — who once wrote Islamic prophet Mohammed was a pervert for taking a 12-year-old girl as one of his wives — has frequently been the target of death threats.

The politician wrote in her latest column that she often received death threats by phone and in the mail, but this incident made the biggest impression on her.

Two years ago, she had to hide out in the US for months and these days she is accompanied by bodyguards when in public.

I sometimes wonder about the moonbats here and whether they'd resort to violence to maintain their stranglehold on the minds of black America, if they were ever faced with a substantial challenge to their mentality of collective victimhood.

[rarebird]

Hirsi Ali sounds moderate, probably libertarian. She is a FORMER socialist, but grew quite disenchanted when the Dutch Socialist Party absolutely refused to take Islamism's threat seriously. It sounds like she's been a member of one of the Dutch conservative parties for a couple years.

Hirsi Ali is no Alan Keyes but she's no Jesse Jackson either. She opposes multicultural and bilingual programs, is perhaps Europe's harshest mainstream critic of Islam after Italy's Orianna Fallaci, she opposes foreign aid, and she regularly talks about the cost of Dutch social programs. Certainly an ally in our battle against jihadists. Condoleezza Rice would have her over for dinner.

[rarebird]

More research on her, from the web.

-- "Mohammed is, judged by Western standards, a perverse man. A tyrant. If you don't do what he says, things won't go well for you. That makes me think of megalomaniac dictators in the Middle East, Osama Bin Laden, Ayatollah Khomeini and Saddam Hussein."

-- since last year, she's been waging a virtually solo campaign against Islamic schools in the Netherlands. Her center-right party leader got annoyed at her "solo runs" by discussing the issue publicly without clearance from the party (even though they support her view). They accused her of deliberately seeking confrontation by making very controversial remarks and by not sticking to the party line. However, her fellow party Parliamentarians stuck by her.

-- in 2002, 21 Islamic countries (Organisation of the Islamic Conference) complained about her comments to the Dutch parliament in a letter, demanding an apology

-- it was while she was in hiding (in USA, for a few months in 2002) that she switched political parties. I guess we can claim that our more conservative environment played a role

-- "Millions of Muslim women all around the world are oppressed in the name [of] Islam. As a woman who was brought up with the tradition of Islam, I think it's not just my right but also my obligation to call these things by the name."

-- Last year she apologized for referring to Islam as a backward religion in previous years (probably to help save her life). However, she remains one of Islam's sharpest critics in Europe.

-- "And I think that is also another horrible side of Islam - the fact that there is absolutely no toleration."

I'm surprised that European and American feminists haven't taken up her charge. Then again, she's too conservative for their taste (and she's a centrist). U.S. conservative media must support her, so she has some backup when even her own Dutch conservative party wants to rein her in.

[happygrl]

Gutsy lady.

How wonderful that the truth is coming out in Holland.

[AndrewC]

She opposes multicultural and bilingual programs, is perhaps Europe's harshest mainstream critic of Islam after Italy's Orianna Fallaci, she opposes foreign aid, and she regularly talks about the cost of Dutch social programs.

Well, okay, she quacks like a duck.

[VOA]

Hey, Ayaan Hirsi Ali - you go girl!

I guess a white guy can actually say that...

[Faraday]

Seems like we have another "Ann Coulter" on our hands. Lucky us.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[cyborg]

bttt

[Southack]

"If memory serves, the late Fortuyn would have been more of a libertarian in this country if anything."

Hard to say. Fortyun certainly didn't advocate the open border immigration of our current libertarian party.

Perhaps "nationalist" would fit his views??

[cyborg]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1971462.stm

more on Pim Fortuyn

[xrp]

Hard to say. Fortyun certainly didn't advocate the open border immigration of our current libertarian party.

No kidding, he didn't advocate the open border immigration of the current Republican executive and legislative branches either, which has them wide open.

[Southack]

"he didn't advocate the open border immigration of the current Republican executive and legislative branches either, which has them wide open."

Oh good grief. Open your eyes. After 9/11/2001, it was the Republican executive branch, house, and divided Senate that funded and built the 15 foot high steel fence along our Southern border from the Pacific into Arizona, added border patrol agents and increased the frequency of patrols, as well as passed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal Aliens
S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003, was signed by President Bush on December 3, 2003.
It extends for five years the workplace employment eligibility authorization pilot programs created in 1996. It expands the pilot programs from the original five states to all 50 states.

[xrp]

It doesn't seem to be too effective...

After 9/11 Immigrants Continued to Flood into U.S.

[BenLurkin]

Fascinating. Maybe God has not forsaken Europe after all.

[Southack]

Being "effective" or not is one thing, but that's far removed from your wild-eyed claim of advocating wide open borders.

Nice job of hi-jacking one thread to take it onto yet a different topic that you know nothing about, though.

If you try really hard, you could probably even slide that sort of know-nothing attack onto just about every thread on FR, hi-jacking all of them for your pet cause (even though you don't even know the first thing about the issue).

[FITZ]

I taught three female Nigerian immigrants recently and was astounded at their militantly angry verbal assaults on Islam and muslims in the Nigerian North.

When I was in college, I met some Nigerian students who were vehemently against Muslims coming to the USA --- they told me what Muslims were doing to their country and that it was insane to allow them into this country because they would soon be turning on Americans. They said we should never allow them to come here and they are extremely backward and resentful --- in the north part of Nigeria, they were causing poverty with polygamy and their abuse of the women who will often escape for the better life in the south --- putting more pressure on the backward north because polygamists need a high ratio of women to men and that was reversed --- more men than women.

[eleni121]

I appreciate this information. They are right of course. America must resist the influx of Muslims from anywhere, not only for the sake of security but for the sake of preserving our freedoms as well. Hopefully the conversion of these souls to Christianity will flourish nad that was the message of the ladies in my class.

[FITZ]

The Nigerians who told me what they were facing with the muslims were men --- it was interesting though because they said a lot of women were escaping the north where they were forced to live in dire poverty and often beaten by their harem masters who believe their prestige is enhanced by buying up as many wives and concubines as they could afford. By escaping to the south and becoming Christian, they could get jobs and support themselves and live a free and more prosperous life. But of course certain ratios were being disrupted --- the irony is that many more women live in the south as Christians and the muslim males outnumber the women in the north and of course that has them riled.

[combat_boots]

Everyone should read "Rage and Pride." Rabia e Orgullo. You have to love her. My Sicilian friends have nothing but good words for her.....and the US.

I understand even Brigitte Bardot of all people is an activist these days in France, and has been sued there, I think.