Hirsi Ali Offered a Safe Haven in Denmark
It is good to see that Denmark is offering Hirsi Ali a safe haven to stay (link). Criticism that the Dutch government is failing in this area is not completely fair and correct.
Hirsi Ali was protected in the Netherlands during the time she was receiving threads and would she have remained in nthe Netherlands she would have received protection during that stay. She decided to move to the US partly because she was offered a prestigious job in a conservative Think-tank, partly because if she would have remained in the Netherlands she would have had to live here under a constant protection program.
She was told that if she was moving to the US she would have to consider that the US wouldn�t automatically protect her and that she would have to hire her own protection. That Denmark is offering Hirsi Ali a safe haven is more a criticism towards the US that they are not providing a safe haven than the Dutch government is lacking.
Personally I would have preferred if the Dutch government would have given her some kind of protection in the US, maybe in collaboration with US government.
Two blunders of the Dutch government
In the past couple of weeks the Dutch government, lead by Balkenende, has made some blunders. First they let the Dutch princess Maxima make an highly controversial remark about the absence of a Dutch identity. Secondly, the moment that Hirsi Ali shows her face in the Netherlands she is being told that she could better go back to the US because she could have handled the issue around her protection from there.
Two mistakes that show that the Dutch government has no idea what the feelings and ideas are within the Dutch society.
Dutch Identity
The WRR (Scientific Council for Government Policy) recently presented the result of a study about the Dutch Identity. The report, entitled “Identification with the Netherlands”, was presented to the public by princess Maxima, the wife of the Dutch crown prince. Central point in her speech was the conclusion that “the typical Dutch identity” does not exist and cannot be captured in one dimensional characterizations.
Unfortunately, the report also made a connection between Dutch Identity and having more than one passport, something which I think is not related.
What is an Identity? Is it the common habits of a group of people, the language, the food they eat, the history they share, their religion? Yes and No. Identity is something you feel part off or you feel related to.
Just make the suggestion to a Dutchman that the Netherlands should be disbanded and made a province of Germany. Then you will see what the Dutch identity is.