Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Brandeis University
honorary doctorate
not surprised
signature drive
Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 12:16
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Hirsi Ali not surprised Brandeis U backed off honoray degree

Former VVD Second Chamber member Ayaan Hirsi Ali says she is not surprised that the Brandeis University in Boston had backed off from plans to grant her an honorary doctorate. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"27794","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-18218","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"150","height":"150","alt":"Ayaan Hirsi Ali"}}]]"I was surprised they wanted to give me an honorary doctorate to begin with," she told Fox News. "In this country, if you insult Christians or Jews, you'll receive angry letters. And they think that if you insult Muslims there will be violent reactions. Probably that's why Brandeis decided not to give me the honorary doctorate anymore." Hirsi Ali was a member of the Second Chamber  from 2003 to 2006; she was raised in a strict Muslim family, but renounced the faith and has been quoted as making comments critical of Islam.  "She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights, and we respect and appreciate her work to protect and defend the rights of women and girls throughout the world,"  Brandeis University's said in a statement on Wednesday. "That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values." More than 85 of about 350 faculty members at Brandeis had signed a letter asking for Hirsi Ali to be removed from the list of honorary degree recipients. And an online petition created Monday by students at the school of 5,800 had gathered thousands of signatures from inside and outside the university as of Tuesday afternoon.  

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Rutte: Current lockdown will be gone by July; Terraces could reopen March 31
  • Train collides with van killing driver
  • Retailers go to court to re-open stores
  • Dutch Health Council recommends AstraZeneca Covid vaccine for over-65s
  • Sixteen cases of South Africa Covid strain in Gorinchem outbreak
  • Acute care leader: "Race against time" in 3rd coronavirus wave; Covid hospital total stable

Top Stories

  • Rutte: Current lockdown will be gone by July; Terraces could reopen March 31
  • Dutch Health Council recommends AstraZeneca Covid vaccine for over-65s
  • Acute care leader: "Race against time" in 3rd coronavirus wave; Covid hospital total stable
  • Proof of negative test results could help reopen NL faster: Covid think tank
  • 28 arrested at anti-lockdown protest in Amsterdam
  • Netherlands extending travel alerts to April 15; Child swim lessons to restart soon: Reports

© 2012-2021 NLTimes.nl, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact