Liberalism under pressure (Lisa Jardine/BBC) {in Holland}

[eppur_se_muova]

A POINT OF VIEW
By Lisa Jardine

The removal of an immigrant raising awkward political questions is a warning sign over the future of the tradition of free speech and tolerance in Holland.

There are times when a small event raises an issue of enormous importance. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born politician and women's rights activist, is leaving Holland for good.
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Hirsi Ali arrived in Holland as an asylum-seeker in 1992, fleeing a forced marriage. There she campaigned tirelessly to draw attention to the abuses suffered by Holland's deprived Islamic women. In 2003 she became a member of Parliament for the Dutch Liberal Party, and successfully raised the profile of her cause, earning widespread admiration. She attracted fierce anger, however, from radical elements in the immigrant Islamic community.

{Screenwriter and collaborator} Hirsi Ali was forced into hiding on the day of {filmmaker} Theo van Gogh's murder. Ever since, she has had to have constant police protection, forced into an increasingly lonely isolation, ostensibly for her own safety. Three weeks ago, Ayaan Hirsi Ali resigned from the Dutch Parliament.

In the face of a growing clamour from both the Muslim and the secular communities to silence her, she has decided to re-settle in Washington. In spite of her imminent departure, she has now been told by the Immigration Minister, Rita Verdonk that she is to be stripped of her Dutch citizenship because - out of fear - she did not use her true name on her original application form.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5042418.stm