Ayaan Hirsi Ali ( Nl-Ayaan Hirsi Ali.ogg^?) (born 13 November 1969 in Mogadishu, Somalia) is a member of the Tweede Kamer (the Lower House of the Netherlands), for the Liberal Democratic Party (VVD). Her first name Ayaan means lucky person or simply luck in Somali.

Biography

She was born in Somalia. Her father was an opponent of Siyad Barre and her family had to flee. They fled to Saudi Arabia, later moving to Ethiopia and then to Kenya. Here she attended high school. In 1992, after being forced into an alleged arranged marriage with a distant cousin in Canada, she did not catch her connecting flight at Frankfurt (Germany) and caught a train to the Netherlands instead. Here she received a residence permit on humanitarian grounds (even though she had landed in Germany and under EU rules should have applied for asylum there) and later citizenship. (Some doubts have also been expressed about the accuracy of her story in general. In the German magazine Der Spiegel she admitted living in Berlin before travelling to the Netherlands.) She studied political science (MA) at Leiden University.

After graduation she became a scholar at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation , the scientific bureau of the labour party PvdA. Her research there focused on the integration of foreign women (mostly Muslim) into Dutch society.

For many years she worked as a translator and interpreter, mainly for the Dutch justice and immigration departments.

This research gave her strong opinions on the topic, resulting in a break with the PvdA. Her opinion was that there wasn't enough room or support within the PvdA for criticisms on the negative consequences of certain socio-cultural aspects of migrants and Islam. In her book, De zoontjesfabriek (Factory of Sons), she criticized traditional Islamic views on the position of women in society. The book also criticizes certain (non-religious) cultural traditions such as female circumcision, which is a practice that is common in Somalia and a few other African nations.

The Dutch (Liberal) VVD party adopted Hirsi Ali as a candidate for parliament. In the above-mentioned book, she says that the opportunity offered by the VVD to become a member of the Lower House (thus allowing her to put forth her ideas in parliament) was an important factor in her decision to change from social democrat to liberal.

After the publication of her book, Hirsi Ali received a number of death threats. Most of these were placed on Internet forums and were not regarded as being serious. Other threats were taken more seriously, and as a result Hirsi Ali receives permanent police protection and personal bodyguards. Her family, in seeking revenge and honour, may also attempt to kill her. In February 2005 she revealed that she had been housed at at a military base in Amsterdam, which she was fed up with. The government found her a new secure home, the location of which has been kept secret.

In an interview with the daily paper Trouw (Saturday 25 July 2003), she said of the prophet Muhammad: "Measured by our western standards, he is a pervert. A tyrant." This referred to the fact that Muhammad married a nine-year-old girl. Several Islamic organisations and individual Muslims filed charges for discrimination. However, Hirsi Ali was not prosecuted. According to the prosecutor, her criticism "does not contain any conclusions with regard to Muslims, and the worthiness of them as a group is not denied."

In 2004, together with controversial Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, she made the film Submission about the oppression of women in Islamic cultures. The title refers to Islam (which means submission to Allah) and was heavily criticized by Dutch Muslims, who found it to be disgraceful and blasphemous. The movie shows half-naked women, with texts from the Qur'an on their bodies. Van Gogh, also critical of Islam, received numerous death threats, and was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a radical Islamist, on 2 November 2004. A letter left on the body was primarily addressed to Hirsi Ali.

In 2005, she was included in the Time Magazine list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

• High school in Kenya
• HBO (1 year) in Driebergen (Hogeschool de Horst)
• Political Science, University of Leiden

Career

• Various small jobs from cleaning to mail sorter
• Interpreter/translator 1995 - 2001
• Researcher at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation April 2001 - november 2002
• Fraction assistant VVD November 2002 - January 2003
• Member of Parliament Tweede Kamer (Lower House) from 30 January 2003 - present

Sources

• CV is translated from Dutch Wikipedia. Original public source: http://www.tweede-kamer.nl/leden_commissies_fracties/griffie_lfc/kamerdet7798.html
• Ayaan Hirsi Ali niet vervolgd Article in the Volkskrant , 24 april 2003

External links

• Interview with the BBC
• interview with Dutch TV
• Dutch MP Creates Seismic Waves by Insulting Prophet Muhammad