Ali's Prey
Ayaan Hirsi Ali appears poised to propose solutions that don't solve the problem. And she won't have to deal with the consequences of her solutions because she's an ocean away from implementation.
As I type these words, I have just finished reading the introduction of Ayaan Hirsis Ali’s Prey: Immigration, Islam and the Erosion of Women’s Rights. Instead of reading the rest of the book and sharing a review, I wanted to stop and record my thoughts upon concluding the introduction.
In the introduction (which is signed August 21, 2020) Ali says that the problem isn’t the immigration of radical Muslim men into Europe that is the problem, but rather the problem is that those radical Muslim men who have immigrated into Europe haven’t been assimilated into European culture. In fact she goes to great pains to point out that if she’s not careful, she’ll give fuel to the fire of “right-wing” and “alt-right” movements.
Reading her introduction brought a meme to mind:
To be fair, I think Ali has a point: if you’re going to allow immigration, those people that immigrate must assimilate. That doesn’t mean they have to give up their old culture entirely: rather, the idea is more akin to “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Now, I doubt that there will ever be a country where rape or sexual abuse is ever at or goes to zero. But I am convinced that there are ways to keep the abuse to a minimum.
It’s interesting to note that, according to the bio on the flap of Prey, Ms Ali has published several books that sound like they have a feminist if not anti-radical Muslim tilt: Infidel, The Caged Virgin, Nomad, Heretic, The Challenge of Dawa. Her bio also tells us that she lives in the United States with her husband. In other words, she doesn’t have to live with the consequences of the position she puts forth in the book because she no longer lives in Europe.
Here in the United States, we want immigrants to assimilate. When I was growing up, the US was called a “melting pot”. However, we have millions of people who don’t come to this country legally, don’t assimilate and commit even more crimes after crossing the border. And yet, our political system treats them as a protected class.
The solution to this problem is to secure the border and deport those who are here illegally. For those who don’t understand the word “illegally”, it means breaking the law. in this case, the law was broken when these so-called immigrants did not go through the proper procedure to enter the United States.
I’m sure there will be useful information in Prey about women’s plight due to illegal immigration in Europe. But Ms Ali is wrong to conclude that stopping illegal or undesirable immigration is not part of a viable solution. The immigration of classes of people who commit violent crimes must be stopped and those who have entered sovereign nations illegally must be deported.