Yearning To Breathe

From IBD:
Posted 5/22/2006

Foreign Affairs: In the immigration debate, we hear of the world's downtrodden and oppressed arriving here in search of opportunity and freedom. Seldom has that been truer than in the troubling case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

President Bush is especially fond of making that argument, which gives him the high ground. But even he probably didn't anticipate the drama of Hirsi Ali's flight, first, from Somalia to the Netherlands and, now, possibly, to America.

Her ordeal has everything to do with the will of Western civilization to survive. Intriguingly, it takes a native of the Islamic world to remind us of what we take for granted.

Hirsi Ali, a native of Somalia, in 1992 escaped Islamofascism and sought an untroubled life in Holland, renowned for its tolerance. As sometimes happens in the history of displaced people, she tweaked her real name to establish her legality.

A Muslim woman, she decided to draw attention to the oppressed plight of women living among practitioners of fundamentalist Islam who, though increasingly populating the Netherlands, hadn't assimilated into European culture. She gave speeches, wrote books and teamed with filmmaker Theo van Gogh to produce "Submission," which showed graphically the more disturbing treatment of Muslim women. Van Gogh was stabbed to death in broad daylight by a fanatical Muslim, who knifed a note to his victim's chest threatening other offenders of the faith, including Hirsi Ali.

Along the way, she won a seat in the Dutch parliament. As a lawmaker, Hirsi Ali warned that her adopted country's excessive commitment to multiculturalism threatened not only Dutch identity but the values that made Holland an attractively tolerant refuge.

Accordingly, she lost the ability to conduct her life normally in a civil society. Her daily existence was besieged by death threats, forcing her to move about incognito. Even with stepped-up protection, she could not get sufficient personal security.

Last week, Hirsi Ali announced she would leave and take up a new life in America, where her message might be received more courteously. Why? Dutch immigration functionaries, usually among the world's most welcoming, ruled that Hirsi Ali's name switch — from Ayaan Hirsi Magan, done to escape a family-arranged marriage — invalidated her citizenship and elected status.

A reversal by the Dutch immigration minister could dissuade Hirsi Ali from abandoning the Netherlands. Whatever happens, we'd be glad to have her. No citizen of a free society should have to go through such uncertainty and ominous imminent violence.

Memo to Congress: As you complete an immigration bill, debating this amendment or killing that poison pill, make sure you leave the door open for seekers of political asylum.