Monday, May 15, 2006

Ayaan Hirsi Ali not Dutch?!

It has been decided: Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to be considered not having ever received Dutch citizenship. This, according to the Minister Verdonk for Integration and Immigration, is in line with legal precedence. Shocked reaction from a number of close friends of Hirsi Ali, including EU Minister for Competition Kroes, who said she was ashamed of the Netherlands for forcing the parliamentarian to have to “flee” again.

A number of net-izens called this “legal murder” (legale moord), and puts it in line with the two murders of prominent Netherlanders who were ‘silenced’ for speaking out, beginning with Pim Fortuyn in 2002, and Theo van Gogh in 2004. .

Well, Ayaan Hirsi Ali wanted to leave before all this commotion broke out it seems. Sshe already decided to leave the Netherlands and take up a position at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington .The Institute is well-known for its neo-conservative tendencies and its close ties with people in the Bush administration.

Is the Netherlands too small for the maverick politician? Though the plans were already known before hand, with the recent uproar about her how she wrongly obtained Dutch citizenship it all seems too coincidental. Perhaps like she claims to be, she is: “an autonomous individual and a citizen of the world”.

Her departure is sure to please Muslims here in the Netherlands, who have been feeling insulted time and again by her comments.
According to a recent public opinion poll, around 66% of Netherlanders believe she should resign as parliamentarian, whereas 47% believe that her citizenship should be revoked.

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