The Glory Of Freedom
The Arizona Republic has an editorial out that recognizes Ayaan Hirsi Ali as a voice that risks her very life for the words she speaks. Hirsi Ali received the annual Goldwater Award for Liberty from the The Goldwater Institute last Friday and spoke out again when accepting the award in Phoenix.
The hazards of expressing a controversial view in The Arizona Republic opinion sections run to outraged phone calls, indignant e-mails and caustic Internet comments. For protection, all a writer needs is a thick skin.
The risks couldn't be more different for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an outspoken feminist and critic of Islamic extremism.
She needs bodyguards and an armored car.
In 2004, an Islamist brutally shot and stabbed Theo van Gogh, her collaborator on a short film about Muslim women. The attacker thrust a knife into van Gogh, pinning a note to his body that threatened Hirsi Ali.
She didn't back off. She published a manifesto for Muslim women and a personal memoir. As recently as last week, she wrote a scathing op-ed about Sudanese authorities who arrested a British woman for naming a teddy bear Mohammed.
Forced into hiding, Hirsi Ali still speaks out because "there are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice."
The Goldwater Institute recognized her extraordinary commitment to freedom on Friday with its annual Goldwater Award for Liberty.
It would be hard to find a better choice.
Hirsi Ali represents one of the best examples of freedom of expression. She is incendiary, passionate and not about to mince words. She wants the West to reject a "cultural relativism" that leads us to tolerate regimes that oppress women in the name of Islam and that support Islamic schools with radical agendas.
Speaking at Friday's award ceremony in Phoenix, she said, "We have to believe in the glory of freedom to compete with the glory of martyrdom."
I've expressed my admiration for Ayaan Hirsi Ali before. The Netherlands was foolish to turn her away. The Goldwater Institute has an audio interview with Hirsi Ali up at their website.
By Bleepless, Tuesday, 11 December , 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Had the Nobel Peace Prize not been so despicably infected, it would have been appropriate.