Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Fight over lawmaker divides the Dutch

Fight over lawmaker divides the Dutch
By Marlise Simons The New York Times
WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2006

THE HAGUE Ayaan Hirsi Ali is among the most famous and successful immigrants in the Netherlands. A Muslim atheist, as she calls herself, the Somali-born woman rose to win a seat in the Dutch Parliament and gained a reputation for probing the uneasy coexistence of Islam and the West. She reviled her former religion, bringing down death threats.

Rita Verdonk, a former prison warden, is the Dutch minister of immigration who hopes to become the country's first woman prime minister. She had been rising in the polls for being tough on undocumented immigrants, vigorously applying the letter of the law.

The two politicians, once friends, even allies, have now become caught in an ugly conflict triggered by the fight for their ideas, and so far both have come out losers.

The squabble began when a Dutch television show delved into the false story that Hirsi Ali gave when she arrived as a refugee. Although the story had been known before, Verdonk said she was forced to strip Hirsi Ali of her nationality and therefore her seat in Parliament.

The dispute has made waves in the Muslim world and in the West. Many people in Europe and the United States see Hirsi Ali as an articulate and daring politician. But her many enemies have found a new opportunity to cast doubt on her credibility.

Stung by the attacks, Hirsi Ali has made available several family letters that support accounts of her life that are now being questioned.

She has been a lightning rod in a country that is moving to the right as it struggles with how to deal with immigrants, most of them Muslim. After two high-profile assassinations, people are deeply divided over whether to be cautious or blunt toward Muslims who settle in the Netherlands but do not adapt to the country's social mores.

But Verdonk is also being vilified. Newspapers, even those critical of Hirsi Ali, have lacerated the minister for humiliating the lawmaker. Verdonk has had to make a turnabout after a 10-hour grilling from an outraged Parliament and public reprimands from cabinet colleagues, something rarely seen here. The prime minister has ordered that Hirsi Ali's citizenship be restored, or issued anew, depending on the rules.

Dutch diplomats, embarrassed by scathing news coverage abroad, have hastily circulated statements insisting that Hirsi Ali is not being silenced or expelled and that she had decided to leave the country to take up a fellowship in Washington even before the latest dispute broke out.

But the public is divided. Opinion polls have said that half the people questioned agreed with the immigration minister's move, and Internet chat rooms set up by immigrant groups have brimmed with insults, bidding good riddance to the Muslim "traitor."

As she resigned from Parliament, Hirsi Ali politely expressed her sadness but said the difficult questions about "the future of Islam in our country" will not go away.

It is true that in this country of 16 million people, more than one million of whom are first- or second-generation Muslims, distrust runs deep.

"Some Muslims were euphoric, which I don't quite understand," said Hikmat Mahawat Khan, leader of the Contact Group, an umbrella organization that includes all Dutch Muslim associations. "Instead of blaming Ms. Hirsi Ali, they will now have to deal with difficult subjects themselves. And politicians should also worry, not because they lost a valuable colleague, but because they now have to show their colors."

Integration is being debated across Europe, and so is the persistent question of whether newcomers should be made to adapt to local laws and customs.

Hirsi Ali urged the Dutch to stand firm and not to appease immigrants, asserting that Dutch Muslims, like much of Islam, were largely backward. She said they needed to free themselves from the control of an archaic clergy who preached the subjugation of women and ostracized homosexuals. The many Islamic schools and mosques could breed militants, she argued, urging that they be closed.

All this disturbed the Dutch culture of consensus.

At first, when Hirsi Ali joined Parliament in 2003, she was lionized by newspapers and television reporters who were fascinated by her articulate debates in perfect Dutch, her daring and novel way to discuss Islam, her arranged marriage in Africa, her exotic beauty. But as one commentator wrote, over time she suffered from overexposure. As she gained international fame and was courted by foreign press and institutions, Dutch newspapers began to criticize her as a celebrity for whom the country was too small.

In recent days, bloggers and commentators challenged Hirsi Ali's motives for fleeing to the Netherlands. She maintained that she wanted to escape a forced marriage with a Somali cousin and while waiting to meet him in Germany, fled to the Netherlands.

Defending her account, Hirsi Ali made available a letter she received from Kenya, from her sister Haweya, in August 1992, after her arrival in a Dutch refugee camp. "Your husband in Germany is looking for you, and the whole search is being coordinated by father here. Be warned."

Her detractors have also said that she lied about her relationship with her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, a former politician who had to flee Somalia, saying she had nothing to fear and had a good relationship with him.

Hirsi Ali, underlining the duress facing her, agreed to release an unpublished letter. It was her father's curse, the last letter she said she received from him.

In January 1993, after she had written to ask for his forgiveness for disobeying him, running away and refusing the husband imposed on her, she also said that she needed his blessing.

"Dear deceitful Fox," her father replied, "you do not need me and I do not need you. I just invoked Allah to disgrace you as you have disgraced me. Amen! This is the last message you will have received from me, as your letter was the last message I was to accept from you. Go to Hell! and the Devil be with you. May Allah punish you for your deception. Amen! Yours, The Fool."

THE HAGUE Ayaan Hirsi Ali is among the most famous and successful immigrants in the Netherlands. A Muslim atheist, as she calls herself, the Somali-born woman rose to win a seat in the Dutch Parliament and gained a reputation for probing the uneasy coexistence of Islam and the West. She reviled her former religion, bringing down death threats.

Rita Verdonk, a former prison warden, is the Dutch minister of immigration who hopes to become the country's first woman prime minister. She had been rising in the polls for being tough on undocumented immigrants, vigorously applying the letter of the law.

The two politicians, once friends, even allies, have now become caught in an ugly conflict triggered by the fight for their ideas, and so far both have come out losers.

The squabble began when a Dutch television show delved into the false story that Hirsi Ali gave when she arrived as a refugee. Although the story had been known before, Verdonk said she was forced to strip Hirsi Ali of her nationality and therefore her seat in Parliament.

The dispute has made waves in the Muslim world and in the West. Many people in Europe and the United States see Hirsi Ali as an articulate and daring politician. But her many enemies have found a new opportunity to cast doubt on her credibility.

Stung by the attacks, Hirsi Ali has made available several family letters that support accounts of her life that are now being questioned.

She has been a lightning rod in a country that is moving to the right as it struggles with how to deal with immigrants, most of them Muslim. After two high-profile assassinations, people are deeply divided over whether to be cautious or blunt toward Muslims who settle in the Netherlands but do not adapt to the country's social mores.

But Verdonk is also being vilified. Newspapers, even those critical of Hirsi Ali, have lacerated the minister for humiliating the lawmaker. Verdonk has had to make a turnabout after a 10-hour grilling from an outraged Parliament and public reprimands from cabinet colleagues, something rarely seen here. The prime minister has ordered that Hirsi Ali's citizenship be restored, or issued anew, depending on the rules.

Dutch diplomats, embarrassed by scathing news coverage abroad, have hastily circulated statements insisting that Hirsi Ali is not being silenced or expelled and that she had decided to leave the country to take up a fellowship in Washington even before the latest dispute broke out.

But the public is divided. Opinion polls have said that half the people questioned agreed with the immigration minister's move, and Internet chat rooms set up by immigrant groups have brimmed with insults, bidding good riddance to the Muslim "traitor."

As she resigned from Parliament, Hirsi Ali politely expressed her sadness but said the difficult questions about "the future of Islam in our country" will not go away.

It is true that in this country of 16 million people, more than one million of whom are first- or second-generation Muslims, distrust runs deep.

"Some Muslims were euphoric, which I don't quite understand," said Hikmat Mahawat Khan, leader of the Contact Group, an umbrella organization that includes all Dutch Muslim associations. "Instead of blaming Ms. Hirsi Ali, they will now have to deal with difficult subjects themselves. And politicians should also worry, not because they lost a valuable colleague, but because they now have to show their colors."

Integration is being debated across Europe, and so is the persistent question of whether newcomers should be made to adapt to local laws and customs.

Hirsi Ali urged the Dutch to stand firm and not to appease immigrants, asserting that Dutch Muslims, like much of Islam, were largely backward. She said they needed to free themselves from the control of an archaic clergy who preached the subjugation of women and ostracized homosexuals. The many Islamic schools and mosques could breed militants, she argued, urging that they be closed.

All this disturbed the Dutch culture of consensus.

At first, when Hirsi Ali joined Parliament in 2003, she was lionized by newspapers and television reporters who were fascinated by her articulate debates in perfect Dutch, her daring and novel way to discuss Islam, her arranged marriage in Africa, her exotic beauty. But as one commentator wrote, over time she suffered from overexposure. As she gained international fame and was courted by foreign press and institutions, Dutch newspapers began to criticize her as a celebrity for whom the country was too small.

In recent days, bloggers and commentators challenged Hirsi Ali's motives for fleeing to the Netherlands. She maintained that she wanted to escape a forced marriage with a Somali cousin and while waiting to meet him in Germany, fled to the Netherlands.

Defending her account, Hirsi Ali made available a letter she received from Kenya, from her sister Haweya, in August 1992, after her arrival in a Dutch refugee camp. "Your husband in Germany is looking for you, and the whole search is being coordinated by father here. Be warned."

Her detractors have also said that she lied about her relationship with her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, a former politician who had to flee Somalia, saying she had nothing to fear and had a good relationship with him.

Hirsi Ali, underlining the duress facing her, agreed to release an unpublished letter. It was her father's curse, the last letter she said she received from him.

In January 1993, after she had written to ask for his forgiveness for disobeying him, running away and refusing the husband imposed on her, she also said that she needed his blessing.

"Dear deceitful Fox," her father replied, "you do not need me and I do not need you. I just invoked Allah to disgrace you as you have disgraced me. Amen! This is the last message you will have received from me, as your letter was the last message I was to accept from you. Go to Hell! and the Devil be with you. May Allah punish you for your deception. Amen! Yours, The Fool."


from the May 24, 2006 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0524/p07s02-woeu.html

Europe rethinks its 'safe haven' status
Ayaan Hirsi Ali's departure from Dutch politics last week played off fears about 'bogus' asylum seekers.
By Sarah Wildman | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

VIENNA - The night air in Vienna has finally turned warm, filling the city's trams with visitors. On the Ringstrasse, tourists take in the city, pointing out the City Hall and the parliament.

"Did you see that one girl - so young! And wearing a veil," a woman clucks in lightly accented English, staring out the window of tram D. "They will form a separate culture."

The sentiment isn't isolated. Earlier this month, Austria's Interior Minister Liese Prokop announced that 45 percent of Muslim immigrants were "unintegratable," and suggested that those people should "choose another country."

In the Netherlands, one of Europe's most integrated refugees and a critic of radical Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, resigned her seat in parliament in the wake of criticism that she faked details on her asylum application to the Netherlands in 1992. And France's lower house of parliament last week passed a strict new immigration law, now awaiting Senate approval.

Indeed, recent rumblings from the top echelons of governments across Europe suggest that the continent is rethinking its once-vaunted status as a haven for refugees as it becomes more suspicious that many immigrants are coming to exploit its social benefits and democratic principles.

"The trend today more and more in Europe is to try to control immigration flow," says Philippe De Bruycker, founder of the Odysseus Network, an academic consortium on immigration and asylum in Europe. "At the same time we still say we want to respect the right of asylum and the possibility of applying for asylum. But of course along the way we create obstacles for asylum seekers," he acknowledges.

A day after Ms. Prokop made her controversial statement on May 15, Ms. Hirsi Ali - a Somalian immigrant elected to parliament in 2003 - was informed by her own political party that her Dutch citizenship was in question. Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, a former prison warden dubbed "Iron Rita" who has long promised a tough stance on immigration, said "the preliminary assumption must be that - in line with case law of the Dutch Supreme Court - [Hirsi Ali] is considered not to have obtained Dutch nationality."

At issue were inconsistencies in Hirsi Ali's application for asylum in 1992 - giving a false name and age, and saying she was fleeing from Somalia's civil war, not a forced marriage. Though she had publically admitted to the falsities in 2002, a recent TV documentary heightened public scrutiny of the controversial parliamentarian, who has been under 24-hour protection from death threats since the murder of Theo Van Gogh, the director of a film she wrote. Hirsi Ali's case, heatedly debated across Europe in the days since Ms. Verdonk's announcement, was seen as particularly ironic. But it also highlights the dramatic change in Europe since the turn of this century.

In the years following the World War II, a chagrined US and Europe vowed to follow the Geneva Conventions and create safe havens for refugees. Yet such lofty ideals were hard to uphold after massive influxes of workers in the 1960s and early 1970s were halted during an economic downturn.

Those immigrant populations - often Muslims from North Africa and the Middle East - swelled with family reunification, yet often remained economically and socially distinct from the societies that had adopted. The image of the immigrant began to change, and distinctions between those who came for work and those who came for safety began to blur.

Now, says Jean-Pierre Cassarino, a researcher at the European-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration in Florence, Italy, "asylum seekers are viewed as potential cheaters."

Today, in once-homogenous Europe, tensions between immigrants and native Europeans appear to be increasing. The perception that an ever increasing number of newcomers - who neither speak the language of their adopted country nor accept its cultural mores - are changing the culture has increased support for ideas once only advanced by far-right political parties.

"France, Austria, and the Netherlands all have had very significant electoral success of the far-right parties," says Michael Collyer, a research fellow in European migration policy at the University of Sussex.

Collier points to the success in France - also this past week - of a strict new immigration law proposed by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr. Sarkozy's proposal would institutionalize "selective" immigration, giving an advantage to privileged immigrants of better economic and education status who are more "integratable."

It would also change the rights of family reunification for workers already in the country; speed up the expulsion of undocumented immigrants who are discovered or whose applications for asylum are rejected; lengthen the amount of time it takes to apply for permanent residency status for married couples; and toughen visa requirements. Most controversial, Sarkozy announced deportations for undocumented immigrant school children.

"We speak of the need to fight immigration but we don't have a clear position on whether we need immigrants," says Mr. De Bruycker, noting the precipitous dip in population growth in European Union countries in the last half century. He adds that a series of recent incidents have affected the image of immigrants in the European mind. The murder of a Jewish man - Ilan Halimi - on the outskirts of Paris earlier this spring, for example, by a band of immigrant youths. Or the murder of a Malian woman and a Flemish child in Antwerp last week by the son of a founder of Belgium's most far-right party.

"In Europe, we are still unable to accept that we are a continent of immigration," says De Bruycker.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Secrets and lies that doomed a radical liberal - Observer