this is not a recent story, but i feel it resonates today, and since it concerns topics that i think about on a 24/7/365 basis--issues of freedom (both political and artistic), security vs liberty, "multiculturalism" vs "melting pot", and, in general, the inability of those of us in "the west" to acknowledge the real threat posed to life as we know it if we don't come to terms with the FACT that there is an ideology out there, Radical Islam/Islamofascism whatever, that seeks to establish a global caliphate based on the tenets of a 7th century hard-line interpretation of islamic law as set forth in the Quran.
we're really good at clamping down on ourselves and protecting airliners and whatnot (losing our freedom in the process), and pretty good at using our military power to kill the "bad guys" (though the jury is still out on this)...but we're absolutely horrible when it comes to defending ourselves at our most vulnerable area--the freedoms which our relatively civilized society has afforded us. we've been drilled for years and years that we are somehow "bad people" for exploiting the lesser-developed countries of the world. we've all, no matter what country you're from, have had to deal with the fact that at some point in all of our history, we've had racial issues to be collectively ashamed of. i wouldn't argue with that at all. but, when this "shame" translates into a complete paralysis when it comes to identifying those things which can transform our society in ways which we wouldn't like (i.e. sharia law), we seriously need to examine our thought processes.
the picture in the right-hand corner of this post is one of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. she was born in somalia and was raised all over the place--kenya, saudi arabia, back to kenya & somalia, etc...and eventually, to escape a forced marriage to a somali man from canada, she eventually wound up travelling legally to the Netherlands, where she falsified her application to eventually become a legal resident there. she describes this voyage in her autobiography, "Infidel" (which may still be among the bestsellers on the New York Times list), which traces her gradual questioning of the faith she grew up in, Islam, to her final rejection of it altogether, which resulted in her becoming an atheist.
she identified herself as a feminist and to a great extent a supporter of european-style socialism, which in a relatively short amount of time got her elected to parliament in the netherlands. but, her outspoken nature and her widespread criticism of the abuse of women under islam, plus her reaching across the political aisle to embrace those other politicians who shared some of her concerns about the massive influx of muslims into the netherlands (i.e. Pim Fortuyn, "extreme right-wing" candidate for prime minister, a gay man who saw the threats posed to the freedom and open-mindedness of the netherlands due to the increasing population and differing values of muslim immigrants), eventually led to background checks to her own immigration status and her subsequent resignation from parliament.
during this time, ayaan met filmmaker theo van gogh, whose personal radar began to become keenly aware that all was not well in the netherlands, and one of the main reasons were the stresses due to culture clashes between the free-thinking dutch and their new guests, the not-so-free-thinking immigrants. they decided to collaborate on a film (which i have posted at the bottom of this page) called "Submission: Part One". in this short film, which in no way is a cinematic classic, they tell a sad story of abuse and inner struggle of a young muslim woman who pleads with allah to help her understand why this is so, and how the quran sanctions it. it's effectively done using a young woman, partially covered but partially naked as well, her exposed skin covered with relevant passages from the quran.
knowing the explosive nature of this film, ayaan begged van gogh to not attach his name to the credits. this is from the introduction to her book, "Infidel":
"...but Theo was a valiant man--he was a warrior, however unlikely that may seem. He was also very Dutch, and no nation in the world is more deeply attached to freedom of expression than the Dutch. The suggestion that he remove his name from the film's credits for security reasons made Theo angry. He told me once "If I can't put my name on my own film, in Holland, then Holland isn't Holland any more, and I am not me""
in November 2004, after the film had been shown on TV and generated controversy, van gogh was accosted in the streets in Amsterdam, in broad morning daylight, and was attacked by a man named Muhammad Bouyeri, a moroccan muslim, who shot him at least five times, and while van gogh begged for his life, Bouyeri pulled out a butcher knife and proceeded to nearly saw off van gogh's head. he then took another butcher knife and used it to stab a five-page letter into van gogh's chest. the letter was addressed to ayaan hirsi ali. (in the title of this thread i've linked a story about this from the BBC...it's lacking in detail, but i figure the BBC is considered a relatively neutral source of news).
a dear friend of mine just returned from a business trip to the netherlands. while he was there, while surfing the internet, he came across where i was making comments in another forum; comments which to him imply that i'm just a nutty islamophobe with paranoid delusions due to an over-exposure to talk radio. he made some comment in the same forum to the effect of "i just spent the day in amsterdam...there were muslims everywhere...and, guess what? no one was blowing anyone up!".
i don't worry about the "terrorist" aspect of this as much as i do the unwillingness to even acknowledge that there may be a problem down the line. if my friend had just stopped and thought about how he was in a northern european city, and found there to be a lot of muslim immigrants all over the place (instead of people wearing those wooden shoes, perhaps?), and wondered what the effect of their growing political power may be, i would feel a lot better about things.
EPILOGUE:
ayaan hirsi ali, due to the burden of government-provided security because of increasing death threats in her adopted home of the netherlands, recently moved to the United States, where she lives at an undisclosed location and is still under protective watch by dutch security forces.
suggested reading: as well as "Infidel", which i've referenced above, i highly recommend reading "America Alone", by Mark Steyn--i've never laughed so loud while being frightened...
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