A victim or a fraud?

Re “Abandoned to fanatics,” Opinion, Oct. 9

Salman Rushdie and Sam Harris would have us believe that Muslims despise Ayaan Hirsi Ali because she is an advocate of free speech and conscience. No, many Muslims despise her because of her deliberately provocative comments and insulting attitude toward Islam and the prophet Muhammad. The article states that she was a refugee, granted asylum for fleeing a forced marriage, and calls her a “casualty of Islam.” Forced marriages are neither an Islamic trait nor are they limited to Islamic societies.

Hirsi Ali came to the U.S. not solely because of security concerns in the Netherlands but to take a job here after she lost her membership in the Dutch Parliament for falsifying her asylum application. It remains a mystery why the U.S. bent its rules to accommodate someone guilty of forgery overseas. Rushdie and Harris have shown that fanaticism is not exclusive to any faith or philosophy.

Shakeel Syed

Executive director

Shura Council of

Southern California

Anaheim

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Harris and Rushdie are to be applauded for their support of Hirsi Ali. First the Dutch government tried to undermine this brave voice by charging her with irregularities in her original quest from refugee status to citizenship (a scandal that brought down the last government), and now the new government refuses to pay for her protection. On that score, what matters is not so much the person Hirsi Ali but the constitutional principle that criticism of religion is allowed in the Netherlands. Before World War II, Jewish refugees were primarily supported by Dutch Jewish organizations, not by the Dutch government. Apparently the government has learned little in fiscal or moral terms from that sad episode.

G. Jan Colijn

Pomona, N.J.

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The security costs for this brave woman may indeed be burdensome to the Dutch government, but shouldn’t civilized nations -- particularly whatever nation she resides in, permanently or temporarily -- be willing to collectively share this obligation? Better yet, let’s see some of the moderate, tolerant Muslim organizations that we don’t hear from often enough step forward to offer support, at least for her physical security. Such a gesture of goodwill would have far-reaching benefits.

Bob Carlson

Garden Grove