The Caged Virgin - Ayaan Hirsi Ali [73]
Yet the Al-Nisa organization of Muslim women believes that since 9/11 Muslims have come under heavy pressure. They feel pushed into a corner, unfairly held responsible for the actions of people who are up to nasty things in faraway countries and call themselves Muslims. The organization’s chair thinks that criticism of the position of Muslim women is in itself a good thing, but that my timing in making the movie was unfortunate and that Muslims must not be hurt.
This argument is incorrect. Muslims in the Netherlands are not cornered. On the contrary, they fully enjoy the freedom of religion that prevails in this Western secular country and its enormous prosperity. The fact is: as long as Muslims here are not in charge of the country, they will go on feeling hurt.
Many Muslims react with outrage when flaws in their religion are pointed out to them. Some threaten physical violence, or become verbally abusive. Here are comments about Submission; Part I from some official spokespeople for Dutch Muslim organizations (although nobody knows exactly who they represent):
“Hirsi Ali’s film defeats the object. Discussing the position of women in Islam is a good thing. But this is a terrible shock for devout Muslims, many of whom will immediately feel the need to become defensive. This spoils the debate in the Netherlands. Right now it would be better if we focused on restoring a normal relationship. I have no idea what her motives were, but I regard it as pure provocation.” These are the words of Mohamed Sini, chairman of the Trust for Islam and Citizenship, who says he respects, above all, the freedom of speech.
The chairman of the Netherlands branch of the Arab-European League (AEL) says: “The discussion about the position of Islam is weakened by Hirsi Ali’s confrontation. It comes as no surprise that Theo van Gogh does this sort of thing; he never has a constructive thought about anything. But she is a member of the Dutch House of Representatives. I cannot think why she wants to offend millions of Muslims in the Netherlands.” He says that—except for some extreme cases—there is little wrong with the position of women in the Islamic world. “Dutch people who would like to find out a little more about this should not listen to Hirsi Ali only. She projects her own bizarre experiences onto the whole group.”
Having ranted on like this, he then admits that he never even saw the film: “I’m not going to waste my time on this madness.”
Just before the film was broadcast on television, a spokesperson for the Contact Group for Muslims and Government commented, “I am not in the least bit interested in that little film, and I don’t want to see it. It will be a distortion of the facts, anyway. I find it absurd that Hirsi Ali does nothing but provoke. It’s time for her to keep her mouth shut.” He chooses to “ignore” Hirsi Ali and Van Gogh completely: “That is the best strategy; sooner or later they’ll stop. They simply don’t deserve a reaction.”
The chairman of the Turkish Muslim organization Milli Görüs said, in the Rotterdam daily, “If Hirsi Ali wants to wage a religious war, that is her business; I have decided not to comment on it [the film].”
The chairman of the Netherlands Muslim Council responded to Submission: “For the Islamic community this is one step too far. The more orthodox Muslims will certainly not accept this.”
Driss El Boujoufi of the Union of Moroccan Muslim Organizations in the Netherlands (UMMON) had the following to say: “Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants it to be a competition, and she is looking for opponents. But we’re not playing