Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Returns to Dutch Parliament

After 75 days in hiding from Islamist extremist death threats, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Dutch Member of Parliament for the Liberals, returned to Parliament in The Hague this afternoon.

This brave and remarkable woman is an apt Dutch figurehead for anti-terrorism and resistance to Islamist Sharia law: she´s both its victim, and its most prominent opponent in Holland.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was born in Somalia but fled to Holland to escape an arranged marriage, went undercover after the brutal murder of film director Theo van Gogh. She had worked with him on the controversial film Submission, which highlights the mistreatment of women under Islam.

Last week, it emerged that the so-called "Hofstadgroep" of terrorists based in Holland, had planned to kill her, along with Amsterdam´s Mayor Job Cohen, on New Year´s Eve. Key members of the "Hofstadgroep" were picked up by Dutch anti-terrorist forces in the aftermath to Van Gogh´s murder last November.

At a press conference this afternoon, she defiantly vowed to continue the struggle against Islamism and Sharia law. Whatever happens, she is certain to play a high-profile part in the resistance of this most liberal of European societies to the threat of Islamist terror.

http://www.vvd.nl/index2.asp?ItemCode=VVD&HomePage=True

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

She is truly an inspiration to all of us - placing her own self in a highly dangerous public profile to highlight liberty and our requirement to struggle for it at risk to ourselves.