October 10, 2002
More twists in the Hirsi Ali case

In yet more twists in the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the weekly Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland now claims that she's made up the death threats, mostly based on the fact that her father, who lives in London, now denies having received any such threats after initially reporting them. So what is going on? The newspaper Trouw has an analysis of the case. That there have been threats is beyond any doubt, as many of these have been made on public fora on the internet. Furthermore, some phone calls have been traced to Sweden and Italy. So what to make of her father's story?

Two facets of Muslim culture are important here. First is the patriarchal structure, where the father of the household is supposed to be able to control what members of his family are doing. That's why phone calls would be directed to him as well as his daughter. Second is the tribal nature of Arab societies, with its emphasis on shame and honor. To avert shame and gain honor for the tribal group, in the case the wider Somali expatriate community, the right thing to do is to deny the death threats.

In the assessments of both the police and the Dutch internal security service, the threats are real and the danger is real. This is not in the least strengthened by the argument Ayaan Hirsi Ali had on television with M. Cheppih, the chairman of the Muslim World League in the Dutch town of Tilburg. This organization is known to be funded with Saudi money, preaches a violent and fundamentalist Islam and seeks to recruit young Dutch Muslims for its cause. The security service is also observing continued radicalization amongst Muslim youth in the country, with special venom being directed against apostates such as Hirsi Ali. The police hope that if Hirsi ali lies low for a while, tempers will cool. But further publicity would rekindle the flames and the danger; respect for freedom of expression is apparently still too much to ask for in parts of Arab immigrant community.

Posted by qsi at October 10, 2002 11:25 PM | TrackBack (0)
Read More on Ayaan Hirsi Ali , Islamism , The Netherlands
Comments

i think this woman is lying.
she is just trying to get attention by looking all innocent so that people would feel sorry for her.

and her portrayal of islam is so out of context, she is rude, ignorant, and trying to use islam as a scape goat!!

she needs to be forgotten and put to rest!!!

Posted by: jason on January 12, 2003 08:51 AM

This young woman hit the nail on the head saying: "It's men who created god, not vice versa. Reason(common sense), counts more than religion."
And I wish her good Luck, good Health, Strenth, Money, to stay independent and above all, Millions of friends, people, who support her and want to do away with this stupefiying, blind religious trash.

Posted by: ali raya on January 23, 2003 08:57 PM

Couldn't agree with you more ali raya.

Posted by: Edwin on January 27, 2003 08:44 PM

Unbelievable what this woman is saying about the Muslim religion, if she has decided to become an MP, I don't think it’s a good idea to use the Muslim Religion a subject that she could use to support her entering the parliament

Posted by: Max on February 26, 2003 10:01 PM

This has nothing to do with Islam but all the most with freedom of expression. So called progressive people criticized rightly Catholiscism but are oh so afraid to do the same with other religions. I'm sorry this has nothing to do with racism but with fundaments of democracy, namely I defend everybody to speak out freely even if I don't agree.

Posted by: Filip on March 2, 2003 05:17 PM

wa

Posted by: wa on June 20, 2003 11:01 PM

For those who think this woman a liar, they seem to be forgotten that she has lived in Islam and knows what it is really in nature. It is easy for some people in the West to make Islam to be good when they have not suffered with it. It makes them look good to say so even when they are in total ignornace.

Words of peace mean nothing without real peace and I illustrate that most Islam nations seem to have much violence and seldom democracy. It is mad that the Dutch allow these Muslim people to be so in oppression of women when other women in Netherlands are so free. It is hypocrisy and this Ali woman has shown it to be so. I say she is a hero and will help free women from religions oppression. Peace and success Ayaan!

Posted by: Saraswati on August 24, 2003 09:25 PM
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