Hirsi Ali Strikes Again

Whenever I see an article in The New York Times praising a feminist, I take notice. It makes me suspicious. I immediately think the woman must be a "special" kind of feminist. American media is not in the habit of heaping praise on feminists. Nope.

By a special feminist I mean someone like Hirsi Ali, for instance, who specializes in bashing Islam. There are plenty of Muslim, Islamic, and atheist feminists out there who are against all of the things Ali is against: female genital mutilation, honor killing, forced marriages, unequal treatment, fundamentalist religion and terrorism. But they will never be hailed as "brave" the way Ali is because they don't bash Islam. Not the way she does. Unlike what the title of this review of her new book, Infidel, says-- "No Rest for Feminist Fighting Radical Islam"-- Ali trashes all of Islam, not just radical Islam. She doesn't make distinctions, which is one reason she's so loved in conservative circles. She also insists on an organic connection between the "faith" and terrorism.

Add to that she's brown, a former Muslim, a victim, an escapee, and the receiver of death threats (she's also young, thin, and pretty) and you have a dream come true for the people at the American Enterprise Institute, where Ali is resting these days.

I wonder if she will change her tune that she's in the US now. The radical Islam she clashed with in Holland is not the dominant Islam in the US. Her shrillness may need to be tempered. I'm sure she'll be coached. Maybe then she can make a guest appearance on "Little Mosque on the Prairie"?