Muslim women glad Hirsi Ali quit Netherlands

By Alexandra Hudson

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - For three years Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali galvanized Dutch society with a frank account of her traumatic past and her conviction that Islam is a violent, misogynous religion.

That conviction led to death threats, the murder of her associate, filmmaker Theo van Gogh and, her critics say, the alienation of precisely those she aimed to engage as relations between Muslims and non-Muslims deteriorated as never before.

Now almost a year since the former Dutch parliamentarian hit headlines worldwide for admitting she lied to gain asylum in the Netherlands, many of the Dutch-Muslim women Hirsi Ali sought to stir and inspire state bluntly they are relieved she is gone.

The 37-year-old now works for a U.S. think-tank, while her international profile as an ex-Muslim critic of Islam soars.

"I am glad that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is gone, because now the tone has softened, it has become less extreme and tensions have eased," said Nermin Altintas, who runs an education centre for migrant women.

Hirsi Ali is held responsible by many in the Muslim community for "Islamising" the Netherlands' migrants, polarizing communities and diverting attention from those trying to boost integration in what they see as a more constructive approach.

"Let her call one woman forward and show how she really helped her," said Famile Arslan, a 35-year-old family lawyer.

"We worked for 10, 15, 20 years to help emancipate Muslim women... and she stole the respect we should have had as grass- roots movements working for change."

But Hirsi Ali's former spokeswoman, Ingrid Pouw, who worked with her during her time in the Dutch parliament said she received many messages of support from Muslim women, who said they were too afraid to go public.

"She often had messages from women, sometimes with violent husbands, saying 'please go on'," Pouw said.

POLARISING FORCE

In the Netherlands, where the majority of the country's 1 million Muslims are of Moroccan or Turkish background, some of Hirsi Ali's pronouncements on Islam met astonishment.

"Her statements on Islam were very harsh. I have a completely different experience of Islam... as I come from a Turkish cultural background," said Altintas.

Hirsi Ali caused uproar by calling Islam "backward", and by branding the prophet Mohammad a paedophile and a tyrant. However, it was the film "Submission" she wrote for Dutch television which most provoked.

In the short film, an actress whose naked body is covered with a thin veil appeals to God about the violence she believes she must endure in his name, while in other scenes naked women cower with texts from the Koran inscribed on their bodies.