Dutch lawmaker not seen as a scapegoat

In “The scapegoat” (Opinion, May 20), Melanie Phillips exploits the difficult situation of Somali-born legislator Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the Netherlands to castigate what she deems European appeasement of Islamic radicals.

Hirsi Ali is to be admired for her courageous public stance on the Islamic treatment of women. But she did lie on her application, and Dutch policy demands that everyone who lies loses their citizenship.

What Phillips fails to tell us is that Hirsi Ali had already decided to leave and had accepted a job at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Yes, the Dutch and other Europeans are struggling with this issue of how much assimilation to demand of immigrants. But Phillips seems to equate “moral compass” with white Western superiority instead of appreciating the much harder and more nuanced work of learning to live together in multicultural societies.

ANNEKE CAMPBELL

Venice

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“Yet another light in Europe will have been extinguished” if Hirsi Ali is forced to leave the Netherlands. Please, spare me the melodrama.

I don’t know Hirsi Ali, and I certainly don’t wish any harm to her. However, to claim that she is somehow an enlightened voice on issues related to Islam or women’s rights is absurd. She has done tremendous harm to the cause of women’s empowerment by doing nothing more than Islam-bashing and alienating moderate Muslims who could have been her allies in the struggle against Muslim extremists.

Lights have been extinguished all right: the lights of hope and truth. Hirsi Ali turned them off with her hatred.

SUMMER HATHOUT-BLACKSHIRE

Pasadena