Adieu Ayaan!
Courtesy of the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Web-log
Her Dutch citizenship withdrawn, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is packing her bags for Washington. SPIEGEL spoke to her about leaving the Netherlands, her book project and the American Enterprise Institute, which has offered her a fellowship.
She apologizes for the mess in her apartment. But it's a mess that says volumes about her life. Still to be unwrapped bouquets, complete with messages of support, are strewn everywhere. A treadmill stands in the center of the room -- running in the nearby park would be way too risky. Newspapers lie scattered across the glazed white desk, her portrait on the front pages. She looks spiteful, with a touch of fear and anger in her eyes.
"I never really got a chance to settle down," says Ayaan Hirsi Ali as she steps into the small kitchen, "and yet I felt very much at home here." Now, though, the luxury apartment high above the roofs of The Hague -- her refuge from the death threats of Islamic fundamentalists -- has become foreign to her. The neighbors have sued her out of the building because they were tired of dealing with the security detail assigned to protect Hirsi Ali from attack. Even worse, the Dutch Minister of Immigration and Integration, Rita Verdonk, stripped her of her citizenship early last week, citing minor lies on Ali's citizenship application. A chapter in Hirsi Ali's life -- and an era in Dutch politics -- has come to an end. Settling Scores with Old Europe and Source: Der Spiegel By Gerald Traufetter
Mark Alexander
7 comments:
This brave lady is coming to my area! Hooray!
I'll be watching for her speaking engagements.
God bless Ayaan Hirsi Ali and keep her safe.
Read on the BBC that she's retained her citizenship with Verdonck having to make a U-turn.
I'd put the link in but I'm afraid I haven't a clue how to do this on blogger.
Sperestillan:
Thank you for this. I shall look for it and place it up here for you. By the way, welcome to this site.
Sperestillan:
Here's the link you referred to:
Somali-born former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to be allowed to keep her Dutch citizenship despite lying in her asylum application in 1992. Dutch ex-MP retains citizenship
Thanks very much. Been rooting around the internet and think I know how it's done now, so I'll know for next time.
Always:
You're lucky that she's going to your area to live. There will surely be plenty of speaking engagements. Verdonk has certainly done a U-turn, but I doubt that this U-turn will affect her decision to leave for the States at this late stage. After all, she has an appointment to take up.
Gormless Norman:
Yes, it is rather amazing that the Netherlands has handled this case so badly.
I'm rather surprised that Queen Beatrix didn't step in to rescue the situation (behind the scenes, of course). Though she might well have for all we know. It wouldn't do for this to get out.
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