Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Freedom Rider: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Neocon in Black Face
Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
12 Dec 2007
🖨️ Print Article

Freedom Rider: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Neocon in Black Face

by BAR editor and senior
columnist Margaret Kimberley

"She has become well paid and famous because she demonizes
her fellow Muslims."

AliAtMic
Ayaan Hirsi Ali first came to fame in the Netherlands, after
emigrating there from Somalia. She was elected to the Dutch parliament and
became known for criticizing that nation's Muslim immigrant communities,
especially for their treatment of women and girls. The story of a young,
pretty, African woman finding success and prestige in a foreign land was tailor
made for Hollywood, or for right-wingers looking for the perfect person to
excuse government sponsored mass murder.

The fairy tale story is just that. Ayaan Hirsi Ali exults in
the lowest depths of self-hatred. She has become well paid and famous because
she demonizes her fellow Muslims. As with black Americans or any other group of
despised people, the self haters, the Uncle Toms, are given a clear path to
fortune and favor.

Ali's political party soured on their relations with her
when it was revealed that she lied in order to enter the Netherlands with
refugee status. It turned out that the famous politician was like millions of
people from poor countries who will do anything to live in wealthy western
nations.

When Ali left the Netherlands to live in the United States,
her true ideology came to light. She became a fellow at the American Enterprise
Institute, one of the most powerful right-wing think tanks in the nation. Other
AEI scholars
include
John Bolton, Lynne Cheney, David Frum, Newt Gingrich, Charles
Murray, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and John Yoo.

"Ali's true ideology came to light."

John Bolton argued in favor of "blowing up" the United
Nations and was rewarded by the Bush administration with an appointment as U.N.
ambassador. Former Bush speech writer David Frum coined the phrase "axis of
evil" to legitimize wars of aggression against the rest of humanity. Charles
Murray is author of The Bell Curve, the paean to white supremacist
notions of black inferiority. Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz planned the
genocidal occupation of Iraq. John Yoo is a White House lawyer and author of
secret memos giving Bush authority to ignore the constitution and arrest and
torture whomever he wants whenever he wants.

These are Ali's cohorts, and her relationship with them
should never be forgotten when she utters her noxious words about "defeating"
Islam. She has no concern for Muslims who are being killed by the United States
military, currently the most prolific killer on earth. Her latest screed
published on the op-ed
pages
of the New York Times, exhorted "moderate" Muslims to fight
the "extremists" in their religion. As always, those in the powerless group are
asked to condemn actions for which they have no responsibility.

White Christian Americans are never asked why they don't
condemn the Iraq occupation that has cost nearly one million lives. They aren't
asked to condemn racism, warfare, torture, or sexism. They aren't asked because
their group is the group in power, and that connection gives them immunity from
any and all criticism. White supremacy and the protections it grants are alive
and well, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of its most prominent evangelists.

"Ali believes that the United States has the right to
occupy other nations or kill people whenever it wants."

If Ali and others are outraged when rape victims are punished
under Sharia law, they should
also be concerned when Iraqi women are killed by American bullets. They should
care that Muslim men are held without trial in Guantanamo and subjected to
torture. Palestinian women have died in childbirth when Israeli soldiers at
check points denied them access to medical care. Because these Muslims are not
victimized by other Muslims, they do not merit a mention from Ali.

Not only is she selective in her indignation, but Ali
believes that the United States has the right to occupy other nations or kill
people whenever it wants. "The land that the United
States should have occupied on the 12th of September should have been Saudi
Arabia," she says.
Ali sees nothing wrong with bombs, cholera outbreaks or theft of oil wealth.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a neocon, albeit in black face, and she
goes down the line in faithful
agreement
with all of their horrific beliefs. "I
completely and utterly agree with John Bolton that talking to Iran is a sheer
waste of time."  When she was
honored by the American Jewish Congress in 2006 she openly called
for war
against Iran. She didn't even bother using the Bush administration
nuclear canard:

"Either way we who live in the free world have war with Iran under Ahmedinejad. So the choice is not between peace and war. The choice that we have to make is between war with Ahmedinejad with a nuclear bomb, or war with Ahmedinejad without a bomb. Not making the right choice between these two terrible alternatives could spark off a present-day Holocaust."

"She is the worst kind of extremist, a lover of
government sponsored mass murder."
ALIsomali refugees
 
Dead Muslims are no problem for Ms. Ali, just as long as the United States is their killer. She doesn't even care about other Somalis. The United States-instigated devastation of her homeland has not prompted her to utter one word of condemnation. Under the guise of fighting al-Qaeda, the American military is once again killing and starving thousands of people. No matter. They were killed by a government run by Christians and Jews. There is no need for anyone in those groups to be "moderate" or condemn "extremism."
 
Ms. Ali should ask the question of herself that she asks of others. Where are the moderate Muslims? She certainly is not one. She is the worst kind of extremist, a lover of government sponsored mass murder. Of course, the government doing the killing has to be the right one. If it is, no one has to speak of moderates and extremists. For Ayaan Hirsi Ali might makes right, as long as the "superior" people are the mighty ones.
 
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley' maintains an
edifying and frequently updated blog at 
freedomrider.blogspot.com.  More of her
work is also available at her Black Agenda Report
archive
page.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Community Movement Builders - Newark
    CMB Newark Statement on the Delaney Hall Uprising
    03 Jun 2026
    The immigrants who revolted inside the Delaney Hall immigration jail are not criminals but prisoners of war, and their actions are those of resistance against a fascist detention system.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Central and East Africa Causes Alarm
    03 Jun 2026
    Since early May, the World Health Organization and the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been working to contain the spread of a rare and virulent strain of Ebola virus disease.
  • Sam E. Anderson
    Beyond the Algorithm: Defending the Cuban Revolution’s Record Against Ahistorical Attacks
    03 Jun 2026
    A critical analysis of the U.S. backed social media "influencer" war propaganda campaign against Cuba as it struggles against a criminal siege.
  • David Escobar
    Colombia: An ethical revolution (with a grassroots focus) / Una revolución ética (con acento popular)
    03 Jun 2026
    Colombia's presidential election will be held on June 21st as Historic Pact candidate Ivan Cepeda runs against the Trump endorsed right wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella. This analysis written…
  • Ramzy Baroud
    Why Didn’t Iran Put Gaza on the Table? A Difficult Answer
    03 Jun 2026
    From Gaza to Tehran, from the politics of resistance to the limits of regional diplomacy, a pressing question has resurfaced amid the 2026 war: why was Palestine not explicitly placed at the center…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us