Brandeis University withdraws honour from notorious Islamophobe

Crescent International

Jumada' al-Akhirah 09, 1435 2014-04-09

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

Brandeis University in the US has been forced to withdraw an honorary degree it was to confer on the notorious Islamophobe, Ayaan Hirsi Ali who had lied on her refugee application to enter Holland. There was mounting pressure from students and other concerned groups and individuals about honoring a well-known hate-monger.

Boston, Crescent-online
Wednesday April 09, 2014, 17:27 DST

Following mounting criticism from students and faculty members across the United State, Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, has been forced to withdraw an honorary degree it was to confer on a notorious Islamophobe, Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

The Somali born Islamophobe was among five people to be honoured by Brandeis on May 18. One wonders what she had done to deserve such honour apart from being a rabid Islamophobe? She had also lied on her refugee application in the Netherlands that ultimately led to her being stripped of her membership in the Dutch parliament.

Obviously, such embarrassment proved a minor inconvenience. Hirsi Ali was immediately recruited by the Zionist-dominated American Enterprise Institute in the US.

So what motivated Brandeis to confer an honorary degree on this woman whose only claim to fame is her insulting language against Islam and Muslims? Some background information may help understand the issue.

The university in Massachusetts is named after Justice Brandeis who led the American Zionist movement for sometime. Brandeis is known as a stronghold of the Zionists that unashamedly supports the Zionist state in Occupied Palestine.

In 2006, the university had lashed out at former US President Jimmy Carter for writing a book titled, Peace not Apartheid. Carter had simply pointed out the dangers to Israel if it continued with its current policies that would turn into an apartheid state (many believe it is already an apartheid state) because of the segregation the Zionist state has imposed.

Hirsi Ali has made insulting Islam and Muslims an ambition of her life. The Zionists and other Islamophobes love her for this. She says what they are unable to say in public even though they fully support such views.

What has this refugee from Somalia said about Islam? She has called it “a destructive, nihilistic cult of death.” She wants all Islamic schools in the West to be closed because she thinks that “violence is inherent in Islam” and that “Islam is the new fascism.”

Imagine if someone had uttered such profanities about any other religion, whether Christianity, Judaism or even Hinduism? Would they be considered for an honorary degree at a prestigious university like Brandeis? Yet it is open season on Islam.

In a 2007 interview with the publication Reason, she claimed, “I think that we are at war with Islam,” and insisted it must be defeated. “It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now,” she said. “They’re not interested in peace.”

Bloggers on the web were the first to note and criticize the plan to honour this woman who cheated her way into Holland and discovered that spouting Islamophobic nonsense won her plaudits.

This was quickly picked up by students at Brandeis that started an online petition against the decision at Change.org. The campaign drew thousands of signatures. A student newspaper, The Justice also picked up the cause and drew attention to her obnoxious views and the controversy surrounding the honorary degree award.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) then joined in and sent a letter to the university president Dr. Frederick Lawrence, questioning its decision to honour a “notorious Islamophobe” like Hirsi Ali.

CAIR’s spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in an interview yesterday: “She is one of the worst of the worst of the Islam haters in America, not only in America but worldwide.”

When confronted by thousands of emails and online petition, Brandeis was forced to take note. In its statement, the university said, “For all concerned, we regret that we were not aware of” Ms. Hirsi Ali’s record of anti-Islam statements, though those comments have been fairly widely publicized.

“You would think that someone at Brandeis would have learned to use Google,” said Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia University.

While withdrawing the award of a degree, the university said Ms Hirsi Ali “is welcome to join us on campus in the future to engage in a dialogue.”

END