A Muslim women's advocate critical of Islam has brought her message to Yale University, where she was warmly greeted by her audience, and by protests days earlier.
The New Haven Register reports that Ayaan Hirsi Ali spoke Monday night, invited by the William F. Buckley Jr. Program. Hirsi Ali reminded her audience of about 200 that Brandeis University disinvited her last spring, and withdrew its offer of an honorary degree.
In an opinion piece for the Brandeis student newspaper, The Justice, Max Moran wrote:
Hirsi Ali has done hugely significant work defending women and girls from forced marriage and female genital mutilation in the third world-work which I, along with many on both sides of this debate, find inspiring and praiseworthy. She has also, however, stated directly that she believes the Western world is at war with the religion of Islam. To quote her 2007 Reason interview, "once [Islam] is defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It's very difficult to even talk about peace now. They're not interested in peace." According to Hirsi Ali, that"they're" is the entirety of the Muslim faith, as she has made clear over the years that she does not distinguish between fringe extremism and the majority at large of those who practice the second most popular religion on earth. Her reasoning is quite understandable. As a child, Hirsi Ali was a victim of many of the human rights violations she now fights against, including genital mutilation. This was a direct result of the militant Islam that surrounded her childhood in Somalia. These are the facts.
Hirsi Ali said her experience at Brandeis illustrates the Islam practice of "resisting criticism." She praised the Buckley group for standing up for academic freedom. She said those who resist criticism are branded infidels and heretics.
Yale's Muslim Students Association said Hirsi Ali lacks the credentials to speak authoritatively on Islam, and asked the Buckley program to invite another speaker to counter her.
Max Moran is the son of WNPR's Diane Orson.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.
