Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants to become French

Monday 11 February 2008

Former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who now works for a right-wing US think tank, would like to become French, according to reports in most of the papers on Monday.

Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of Islam, was in France to be awarded the Simone de Beauvoir prize and meet supporters angry that the Netherlands has stopped funding her round-the-clock security.

The Netherlands stopped paying for Hirsi Ali’s protection after she moved permanently to the US. She is now trying to raise the money privately.

The AD reports that Hirsi Ali was described as the ‘Dutch Voltaire’ by French television news, and that her appearance at the meeting was greated by a standing ovation.

‘I need help,’ Hirsi Ali was reported as saying, before telling her audience about the situation she lives in. ‘I would like to become French, thank you.’

The Volkskrant reports that Hirsi Ali’s supporters include the French human rights minister Rama Yade, philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy and a string of French writers. And Trouw says ex-presidential candidate Ségolène Royal was in the audience on Sunday night.

Unlike in the Netherlands, Trouw points out, Hirsi Ali’s French ‘friends’ are all on the left.

© DutchNews.nl

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