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Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Covid has changed the immigration debate
The political activist and feminist discusses her new book, Prey
It is hard to think of a more sensitive topic than the connection between sexual violence against women and the surge in immigration from Muslim countries into Europe since 2015. But then, it is hard to think of a more credible person to address it than Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who herself began life in Somalia and ended up claiming asylum in the Netherlands to escape a forced marriage.
In this fascinating interview, Ayaan discusses how the pandemic will effect the West’s view of immigration:
On how the centre-Right and centre-Left’s unwillingness to discuss immigration has galvanised extremist movements:
On what she found in her research:
On David Cameron’s response to the refugee crisis:
On Black Lives Matter:
On #MeToo:
On the cynicism of virtue signalling:
Many thanks to Ayaan for such an stimulating discussion.
Great lady not scared to say how it is !
More power to her elbow!
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been, for many years, one of the greatest and bravest people of our age. Her life story, and her ability to think and act her way out of various physical and religious/cultural ‘jails’, is truly astonishing. Needless to say, the left, the woke and the establishment hates her.
Why would the left hate her?
Because she is an atheist ex-Muslim who criticises Islam. The Left don’t like anyone criticising Islam, they consider it ‘Islamophobic’ because it is a religion of ‘brown people’ in their eyes (they can’t tell the difference between race and religion) and therefore any criticism is a white supremacist narrative.
She’s an apostate, the most hated thing among leftist and other repressive ideologues. Except that she isn’t an apostate, just someone who was never prepared to put up with all the wicked nonsense in the first place. A source of some hope in these ludicrous times.
Why would the left object to someone changing or denying the faith in which they were brought up?
They shouldn’t. But they do. Because they elide criticism of Islam the religion with criticism of ‘brown people’ they automatically see a white supremacist narrative.
More interviews like this of brave, smart, thoughtful people, Freddie
My friend’s husband is German. She told me about this problem two years ago. The rural areas are dangerous for women. A friend went to Paris right before the pandemic. She said it was frightening being there because of the harassment. How is it racist to say men should not treat women this way?
One ‘benefit’ of covid is the idea that we can supply the NHS with doctors and nurses from other countries. It has exposed the questionable morality of taking trained staff from poorer countries. I hope the proposed reform will look to significantly increase training of relevant staff at home as well as creatively reorganise our Intensive care facilities.
She is a force of nature this woman – and always so measured in her words! A leader.
Among her many insights perhaps the most important is this: that speed of migration prevents assimilation; it leads directly to ghettoes and thereafter to division – which the ongoing inflow can only inflame. As for Mr Sayers – well done for this interview; but once again I must oppose his understanding of “liberalism”. It is NOT about open borders, for Liberalism established the notion of the nation state in the first place. Think of Mazzini and his many admirers among the Liberal luminaries of the nineteenth century.
I guess we have to slice ‘classical liberalism’ away from modern ‘progressive liberalism’. I am definitely the former – and loathe the latter.
Quite so. Until recently, I considered myself a classical Lib; no more. Under the pressure of today’s appalling events, I’ve returned to the right wing Conservatism of my younger days. Nevertheless I retain an affection and respect for the classical lot; and am always cross that their good name should be made the puppet of radicals and worse.
Niall Ferguson’s book Civilization, The West and The Rest is excellent. Did not know he was married to Ali.
I so enjoyed this interview. Thoughtful, intelligent, logical…. a great mind and hard to find fault with any of her positions.
She is a moral giant.
In the last episode of the Hoover Institute panel show “Goodfellows”, Niall Ferguson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s husband, was saying he uses his wife’s security guards as his political focus group, and that her security had been beefed up with the publication of her new book. The family’s move from the Bay Area in California to rural Montana was also obviously motivated at least partly by security considerations. It is a shame that this brave woman has had to live like this for more than 16 years now, and will probably do so for the rest of her life. It is astonishing that this seems to have done nothing to dull her fighting spirit.
The fact her life is constantly in danger simply for criticising a religion tells me all I need to know about the religion, its devotees and why I don’t want any more of it in the UK or the West!
That was fascinating. Absolutely admire her and she is sooooo right.
Thank you Unherd and Ayaan Hirsi Ali for another much needed dose of sanity. I think my only disagreement with her might be that a good proportion of the metoo movement evolved from the same sort of anti-west nonsense she rightly decries towards the end of the interview. But she did say what she felt was ‘good’ and appropriate about the movement rather than give it her full backing! Thanks again.
There is hope after all. I really do hope this lady and her considered opinions are put forward as the the way to bring people together. Very impressed with her insights into how to face upto these difficulties – courageous and balanced
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a long time hero of mine. She expresses herself so clearly and eloquently but it’s also coming from a real place of real personal experience.
It certainly was amusing how Merkel and her cronies got off the Das kann nicht (it isn’t possible) when it came to borders, but then…come on. They always knew that borders were possible. Nothing will change, even if Ali thinks this shame will open people’s eyes to make them make their politicians see sense. They do what they want, and they give vaccines preferentially to immigrants over the aged. They do what they want to do.
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