Noticed this piece of news today:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060516/wl_afp/netherlandsusislam_060516223945
—————————————————
"THE HAGUE (AFP) - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a right-wing Dutch lawmaker critical of Islam, said she was resigning as a member of parliament and would leave The Netherlands following a furore over lies on her asylum application.

Hirsi Ali, a friend of murdered filmmaker Theo van Gogh who has received death threats from Islamic radicals, told a press conference that she would resign immediately and leave the Netherlands altogether.

"Today I resign as a member of parliament. I will leave the Netherlands, saddened but also relieved," she said.

The move came after tough-talking Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, who is a member of Hirsi Ali’s right-wing VVD party, told parliament Monday that Hirsi Ali’s citizenship could be revoked because she had provided false information on her asylum application."

....
———————————————

Thoughts? Opinions? This appears to be a political move by the Dutch government, given that the "false information" she provided was acknowledged as such long ago. (She apparently changed her name in fear of retribution, among other things).

Apparently she is planning to move to the US since she has a post at the American Enterprise Institute lined up. They are quite a conservative outfit; one of the staunchest supporters of the Republican Party and George Bush. It does, oddly, seem as though she would be an interesting fit with the CFI as well, given her outspoken background.

That said, I don’t know the specifics of her political beliefs or arguments against Islam. Anyone care to fill in?

Dutch anti-Islamic lawmaker forced out of the Netherlands

Noticed this piece of news today:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060516/wl_afp/netherlandsusislam_060516223945
—————————————————
“THE HAGUE (AFP) - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a right-wing Dutch lawmaker critical of Islam, said she was resigning as a member of parliament and would leave The Netherlands following a furore over lies on her asylum application.

Hirsi Ali, a friend of murdered filmmaker Theo van Gogh who has received death threats from Islamic radicals, told a press conference that she would resign immediately and leave the Netherlands altogether.

“Today I resign as a member of parliament. I will leave the Netherlands, saddened but also relieved,” she said.

The move came after tough-talking Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, who is a member of Hirsi Ali’s right-wing VVD party, told parliament Monday that Hirsi Ali’s citizenship could be revoked because she had provided false information on her asylum application.”

....
———————————————

Thoughts? Opinions? This appears to be a political move by the Dutch government, given that the “false information” she provided was acknowledged as such long ago. (She apparently changed her name in fear of retribution, among other things).

Apparently she is planning to move to the US since she has a post at the American Enterprise Institute lined up. They are quite a conservative outfit; one of the staunchest supporters of the Republican Party and George Bush. It does, oddly, seem as though she would be an interesting fit with the CFI as well, given her outspoken background.

That said, I don’t know the specifics of her political beliefs or arguments against Islam. Anyone care to fill in?

Hirsi Ali

Free Inquiry had a Hitchens piece that mentions her:

http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=hitchens_25_2

From what I’ve heard, the situation is complicated.  Yes, she thinks that Islam is incompatible with ideas of democracy in the West, but she’s also coming to the US to work for a neo-conservative think tank that is tring to reconcile the two ideas.  And she’s making (or has made) a movie with Van Gogh about Islam’s intolerant views of homosexuality, or something along those lines.

Debbie

Re: Hirsi Ali

[quote author=“DebGod”]From what I’ve heard, the situation is complicated.  Yes, she thinks that Islam is incompatible with ideas of democracy in the West, but she’s also coming to the US to work for a neo-conservative think tank that is tring to reconcile the two ideas.  And she’s making (or has made) a movie with Van Gogh about Islam’s intolerant views of homosexuality, or something along those lines.

Right, it’s a complex situation ... I’m not even sure that she’s leaving the Netherlands. Apparently there was some backlash against her opponents. Anyone heard any updates?

That said, the issues you raise—that she believes that (at least some form of?) Islam is incompatible with democracy, homosexuality, etc.—don’t bother me at all. And while I personally dislike the ideas fostered by the conservative think-tank she may join, I could hardly begrudge her free ability to join them and say whatever she likes.