Dutch Parliamentarian, Critic Of Islam, May Lose Citizenship

According to today's New York Times, the government of Netherlands is threatening to revoke the citizenship of a prominent member of Parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Minister of Immigration Rita Verdonk claims that Ali, a refugee from Somalia who arrived in the Netherlands 14 years ago, gave false information when she applied for political asylum, and later for Dutch citizenship. Ali said she has explained many times that she changed her name and birth date when she arrived in Netherlands, escaping from an arranged marriage. Ali has been an outspoken critic of conservative Islam and its treatment of women. She was the writer of a television documentary on violence against Muslim women that led to the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. The killer pinned a note to van Gogh's body saying that Ms. Ali would be next. Ali, who plans to move to the United States anyway, says that the Dutch government is trying to silence her.