A Victory for Intolerance

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

http://www.welt.de/z/plog/blog.php/the_free_west/the_free_wests_weblog/2006/05/19/a_victory_for_intolerance
A Victory for Intolerance

"
Today's editorial in The New York Times:

'Immigration is a political mess in America, but it's reasonably
tractable compared with the problem in the Netherlands, which has seen
its liberal values turned inside out by tensions between Muslim
immigrants and the Dutch. The question, broadly speaking, is whether
multiculturalism is possible in such a small, ethnically homogeneous
nation, or whether the government will keep insisting on assimilation.
There have been flash points along the way, chief among them the 2004
murder of the filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim extremist. Now there's
a new one: the resignation of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was born in Somalia,
from Parliament.

When she sought refuge in Holland in 1992, she gave a false birth date
and a false name. She has said so publicly several times. She has
explained that she was trying to escape the marriage her family had
arranged for her. After a brief investigation, the Dutch immigration
minister, Rita Verdonk, who is a member of the same party, insisted on
the letter of the law and initially declared that Ms. Hirsi Ali's
citizenship was never valid. Under pressure, Ms. Verdonk has agreed to
reconsider.

But the real point, of course, is that Ms. Hirsi Ali has become too
potent a social critic to be tolerated any longer. In her resignation
speech, she said, "I wanted to put the oppression of immigrant women —
especially Muslim women — squarely on the Dutch political agenda." This
debacle is the measure of her success.

In the script of Mr. van Gogh's film, "Submission," and in her speeches
and books — including "The Caged Virgin," which has just been published
here — Ms. Hirsi Ali has been an unflinching advocate of women's rights
and an unflinching critic of Islamic extremism. Her life has been
threatened, and she is still in real danger. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whose real
name is Ayaan Hirsi Magan, says she plans to leave the Netherlands for
the United States. She should be welcomed here under either name.'

Shame upon my country.

     deWinter at 19. May 2006, 17:04 CET
"

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********