Another criticism I’ve received about Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the fact that she lied about her history (even her name) to get around the Dutch asylum laws. This was when she was trying to flee from a forced marriage to safety in Holland. She didn’t use her real name because she was afraid that her family would find her and force her to return.
Yes, she lied. She falsified her application for Dutch citizenship. It came back to bite her in the end, and her Dutch citizenship was revoked. But read her autobiography Infideland again ask yourself if she did something morally wrong. She wanted to live in a country that is peaceful, safe, and fair to everyone. A country in which she wouldn’t be forced to marry a stranger, submit to his dominance, and give up her hopes of education and a career. Can you blame her?
And observe what she did with the Dutch citizenship that she gained through duplicitous means. She became independent and self-sufficient, she worked and learned the language, she helped as a translator for other Somalian Muslim immigrants, she went to shcool, and she became a member of the Dutch parliament as well as an internationally best-selling author. In America we call this type of thing a “success story,” though rarely does one unfold on such a grand scale. (She actually lives in America now, working for the conservative think tank in the American Enterprise Institute.)
Further – and this is rather important – Hirsi Ali never tried to hide what she’d done later on. When she was running for the Dutch parliament, she immediately informed them that she had falsified her application for citizenship. Indeed, she admitted it several times, every time it was asked of her! And this did not stop her from being elected. It was only later, when she’d made political enemies and was at the center of her “controversial” position on Islam, that it became an issue and her citizenship was revoked.
She was up front about it before it mattered, before it became an issue, before it was brought to light. In a world of politicians and other leaders who apologize and show contrition only after they’re caught, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was honest before she was required to be, before it was necessary to save face in the court of public opinion. That’s something called “integrity.”
So she told a lie to escape injustice and live in a free country. Is this the worst thing that can be dredged up about Ayaan Hirsi Ali? The biggest skeleton in her closet? If so, I’d say she’s doing pretty well.
