Hirsi Ali Returns To Live In The Netherlands

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the controversial former Dutch parliamentarian, moderate-conservative atheist feminist, and outspoken critic of Islam, returned to the Netherlands today (article in Dutch). She is all over the Dutch press websites. The Dutch press reports that the news comes just a week after Ms. Hirsi Ali was presented with her American green card in Washington, D.C. Ms. Hirsi Ali was apparently forced to leave her new home in the U.S. - where she lived for a little over one year - because the Dutch Ministry of Justice is no longer willing to pay for her security protection abroad and that protection expires today. In recent months, her security had been increased even further after new threats emerged after the publication of her autobiography in the U.S.

In a press release from the U.S. immigration service on September 25, director Emilio Gonzalez welcomed Ms. Hirsi Ali to the U.S. as a permanent resident. "We welcome her to the protection provided by the U.S Constitution and encourage her to continue speaking our regarding those issues she feels passionate about.’ He described her as ‘a courageous woman who is exercising her right to free speech." Ms. Hirsi Ali said she was "overwhelmed with emotions and filled with great pride and gratitude to be counted as one of the many immigrants to the US…who came seeking freedom, refuge and the right to speak without fear of persecution."

Ms. Hirsi Ali has been under heavy guard for several years because of her staunch criticisms about Islam, women, and freedom and for the short film "Submission" which she made together with the film maker Theo van Gogh. In November 2005, a Islamic extremist murdered Mr. van Gogh and stabbed a death threat letter to Ms. Hirsi Ali into Mr. van Gogh's corpse. According to the Dutch press, the American government is unable to provide Ms. Hirsi Ali with protection for legal reasons. That legal reason is because the only private citizens whose protection the American government can fund are those of former presidents and their families.

Ms. Hirsi Ali will continue her work for the conservative American Enterprise Institute from a secret address in the Netherlands.

The GroenLinks (GreenLeft) Party are calling for an emergency debate in Parliament over Ms. Hirsi Ali (article in Dutch). The leftist party wonders if the Dutch government did everything it could to resolve Ms. Hirsi Ali's situation. They point out that the British government has for years funded Salman Rushdie's security protection even he is outside Britain (which is often), and that the Dutch government should do the same with Ms. Hirsi Ali. Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (People's Party for Democracy and Freedom), the center-right party of which Ms. Hirsi Ali is a member, does not yet see the need for a debate. However, Laetitia Griffith, the black libertarian who took over Ms. Hirsi Ali's parliamentary seat, wants clarity about Ms. Hirsi Ali's status since Ms. Hirsi Ali is in Holland but has a work permit for the U.S.

My response: I guess I go back to seemingly being the only black, moderate-conservative, feminist residing within the United States again. This is good in a way, for Ms. Hirsi Ali's voice is much more needed in Europe. European leftists were relieved that she would no longer be in their midst, but this can't be good news for them. LOL. Hence the emergency debate by GroenLinks. As a former Dutch parliamentarian whose faces regular death threats, the Dutch government is required to fund her protection if she is actually within Dutch borders. However, she has a green card so can flee to the U.S. if things get hot (she has lived in exile in USA three times in the past). Call her an opportunist, but it is strategically a smart move.