Security was tight at the Riverside Theatre Monday when humanitarian, author and Dutch feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali spoke to an overflow crowd about issues in the Muslim world. The backstage area for the theater was locked down for security reasons, and patrons with bags had to submit to a search by theater personnel, marketing director Oscar Sales said. Vero Beach police officers were also stationed at the building’s entrances and exits.Hirsi Ali is a 40-year-old Somalia native and former member of the Dutch Parliament who is well known for defending the rights of women in Muslim society. She gained international attention following the murder of Theo Van Gogh, who had directed her short film “Submission,” a documentary about the oppression of women under Islam. The assassin, a radical Muslim, left a death threat for her pinned to Van Gogh’s chest.
During her prepared remarks on Monday, the second speaker for this year’s Distinguished Lecturer series told the audience there are two schools of thought regarding the religion of Islam. “The first position defends Islam as a religion of peace,” said Hirsi Ali. “The second says that Islam is not a religion of peace but one of conquest. I believe that Islam seeks world domination by all means.”
She added that she has learned to live with the increased attention that her political views have brought to her life. “I have to live with the title of infidel,” she said. “But it is a banner I carry with pride.”
In response to an audience question about negotiations between the United States and Islamic nations, Hirsi Ali said that it was important for Americans to determine what issues they are not willing to compromise about. “If Obama goes with a clear vision, that will help a great deal,” said Hirsi Ali. “But Islam sees the hesitancy of westerners and they are unscrupulous about using it.”
Hirsi Ali lives with round-the-clock protection because she is a prominent critic of Islam. She is a resident fellow for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., working from an undisclosed location in the Netherlands.
Janice Keon of Vero Beach said that while she enjoyed the lecture, she didn’t find Hirsi Ali’s remarks hopeful for the future. “I wish she had given us some solutions for solving some of the world’s issues,” said Keon. “We just seem to be at a stand-off.”