Monday, October 15, 2007

There is something decent and honorable in the state of Denmark

Ayann Hirsi Ali, who was left - abandoned - like a fragile twig to twist in the wind by her adoptive motherland, Holland, was offered refuge in Denmark.

What a relief.

"Brian Mikkelsen, the Danish culture minister, has indicated the government would be willing to allow outspoken Dutch-Somali author Ayaan Hirsi Ali to live in Denmark under its protection from fanatical Muslims seeking to kill her.
Over the weekend Mikkelsen sent out a request to the country’s municipalities to invite the threatened author and filmmaker to live here. The move is supported by a recent parliament proposal to establish several ‘free cities’ for persecuted writers, a programme to be created with the support of the International City of Refuge Network.


‘Ayaan Hirsi Ali will be number one on the list of authors we should invite to Denmark,’ Mikkelsen announced on Sunday. ‘She has fought for the freedom of expression and has personally received threats on her life.’

Ali had been under Dutch protection until last week, but the Netherlands' parliament withdrew her official protected status because she has been living in the United States.

Mikkelsen said the government would be willing to pay all the expenses relating to Ali’s residence in Denmark.

‘It’s obvious the protection of Hirsi Ali would be a substantial expense,’ he said. ‘But we have to view that from a positive standpoint.’

Mikkelsen’s invitation is expected to receive broad backing from parliament members." ( Via: The Iconoclast)

While the Dutch coast along upon their famous reputation for tolerance and friendliness, it is their neighbours, the Danes, who actually do the heavy lifting when it comes to follow with deeds what some know only how to preach very prettily and emptily.

2 Comments:

At 11:11 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks, Noga, for this post and your last on AHA. After I read your first post on her situation, I tried to see whether anyone had set up a fund to pay for her security - I wanted to contribute. Couldn't find anything although I did find trail of someone (Hitch?) doing the rounds amongst high-profile philanthropists (rather than by popular drive), so I was reassured.

It's interesting to note that Denmark has poor integration measures, according to a study released today, whereas NL is close to the top of the league!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7043911.stm

Be well,
BBA

 
At 2:00 PM EDT, Blogger The Contentious Centrist said...

I wonder if and how these statistics correspond to the levels of tolerance or antisemitism observed in the countries under study.

Denmark has some relevant history:

"It's one of the great untold stories of World War II: In 1943, in German-occupied Denmark, the Danish people find out that all 7,500 Danish Jews are about to be rounded up and deported to German concentration camps. Danish citizens spontaneously make their own decision: it's not going to happen. And it didn't. Risking their own lives, the Danes quickly rallied round to save their fellow citizens, and almost all of the country's Jews were able to escape the clutches of the Nazis and find refuge in neutral Sweden."

http://www.auschwitz.dk/Denmark.htm

 

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