Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Talk at UW-Madison

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



Ayaan Hirsi Ali last night at UW Madison (Badger Herald)


As I posted yesterday, Muslim apostate Ayaan Hirsi Ali spoke last night at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The first report on her appearance comes from Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch (Spencer is a fierce critic of radical Islam.)

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/02/-freedom-fighter-freedom-fighter.html

Here is the report from the Badger Herald (UW campus newspaper).

http://badgerherald.com/news/2010/02/03/hirsi_ali_gives_her_.php

I can not say I am surprised. While it appears there was no major problem, the shouts of "Allahu Akhbar" could only have been meant to intimidate Ali. It sounds somewhat similar to when Daniel Pipes came to my school (UC-Irvine) a few years back and had his talk disrupted by the Muslim Student Union.

I have attended many of the events sponsored by the UCI-MSU. Occasionally, there have been counter-protesters who carried pro-Israeli posters and flags. Yet the standard procedure is to let the speakers have their say then hit them with hard questions during the Q&A, which I think is the proper way to go.

What the Muslim Student Association at UW Madison apparently doesn't understand is that when they try to shout down a speaker who is criticizing Islam and making the case that certain aspects of Islam are incompatible with a free and open society, they are merely putting an exclamation mark on the speaker's words.

Prior to Ali's appearance, MSA president, Rashid Dar told the press that he was concerned that the audience would come away from Ali's talk with a negative impression of Islam. When you combined Ali's compelling story with the shouts from MSA members, it probably was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Entrance to UW lecture hall for Ali's appearance (Milwaukee Journal)

In addition, consider what neutral or uninformed audience members must have thought as they had to pass through metal detectors in order to enter the hall. Why was that? Just this past Sunday, I attended an AIPAC luncheon in Irvine (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). It was the same thing. We all had to pass through metal detectors. In addition, a bomb-sniffing dog was on duty. Why is that?

Those who oppose Ali's words might ask themselves why she has to live under such security.