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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/ayaan-hirsi-ali-qanda-west-muslims-only-as-victims
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| Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Q&A: the west must stop seeing Muslims only as victims | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| It is becoming increasingly difficult to criticise Islam and Muslims in western countries such as Australia, the Somali-born author and human rights campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali has said, because “we only see them [Muslims] through this prism of victims and victimisation”. | It is becoming increasingly difficult to criticise Islam and Muslims in western countries such as Australia, the Somali-born author and human rights campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali has said, because “we only see them [Muslims] through this prism of victims and victimisation”. |
| It was “perfectly fine” to question and criticise any religion, including Islam, Ali said on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night. | It was “perfectly fine” to question and criticise any religion, including Islam, Ali said on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night. |
| The program was criticised on social media for discussing Islam without having a practising Muslim on the panel. The panel was selected as part of the the Sydney writers’ festival and featured international authors. | |
| Related: Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – review | Related: Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – review |
| There were some questions about philosophy and the arts, but much of the discussion focused on Muslims, Islam and radicalisation. | There were some questions about philosophy and the arts, but much of the discussion focused on Muslims, Islam and radicalisation. |
| Ali, a former devout Muslim and now outspoken critic of Islam, was responding to an audience member who asked how she felt about her views and books being criticised by liberals. She replied: “I do think that it’s not only important to address the extremists and their agenda, but how the left contributes to that agenda.” | Ali, a former devout Muslim and now outspoken critic of Islam, was responding to an audience member who asked how she felt about her views and books being criticised by liberals. She replied: “I do think that it’s not only important to address the extremists and their agenda, but how the left contributes to that agenda.” |
| Sigh. Why isn't there a Muslim on the panel? How about talking to Muslims not just about them? Come on. #QandA | Sigh. Why isn't there a Muslim on the panel? How about talking to Muslims not just about them? Come on. #QandA |
| She said she had Muslim friends who had been subjected to forced marriages and female genital mutilation, and who had been forced to wear a veil. Ali herself was subjected to female genital mutilation as a child. She urged people not to be “squeamish” about criticising those practices. | She said she had Muslim friends who had been subjected to forced marriages and female genital mutilation, and who had been forced to wear a veil. Ali herself was subjected to female genital mutilation as a child. She urged people not to be “squeamish” about criticising those practices. |
| “This is what is happening to Muslim women,” she said. “If you have young girls who are subjected to forced marriage, it is not a marriage, it’s an arranged rape. It is a forced rape and I wish we were not squeamish about it. We were not squeamish about slavery, we were not squeamish about eradicating apartheid, and I wish that is one thing we would not be squeamish about.” | “This is what is happening to Muslim women,” she said. “If you have young girls who are subjected to forced marriage, it is not a marriage, it’s an arranged rape. It is a forced rape and I wish we were not squeamish about it. We were not squeamish about slavery, we were not squeamish about eradicating apartheid, and I wish that is one thing we would not be squeamish about.” |
| Ali’s latest book, Heretic, argues for the reformation of Islam. | Ali’s latest book, Heretic, argues for the reformation of Islam. |
| And those are legitimate issues that Ayaan raised which need to be addressed but they are not religious practices. #QandA | And those are legitimate issues that Ayaan raised which need to be addressed but they are not religious practices. #QandA |
| The author and co-founder of The Philosophers’ Magazine, Julian Baggini, said Muslims “are put in the category of the oppressed, which means you can’t say anything critical of them”. | The author and co-founder of The Philosophers’ Magazine, Julian Baggini, said Muslims “are put in the category of the oppressed, which means you can’t say anything critical of them”. |
| “I think there are reasons why people like myself, white male westerners, are rightly queasy about going in and aggressively criticising people from other cultures,” he said. | |
| “I have been travelling a bit this year and I go to places like India and speak to Islamic philosophers, and a huge number of them say they’re sick of being told how to live by white western imperialists. So I think some of the reluctance of liberals to be vocal about this is because in the past ... we’ve been too quick to assume our morality is superior and impose it on people.” | |
| Related: Writers' festival cheat sheet: how to bluff your way through the literary season | |
| Emma Sky, an author and teacher of Middle East politics at the Jackson Institute, said it was not her role to criticise Muslims or condemn Islam and that the appropriate people to address extremism within Islam were Muslims. Most of the world’s Muslims did not view members of Islamic State as Muslim, she added. | |
| At this point, I'm annoyed that we are always discussed & not part of the conversation. Wish @RandaAFattah or @YMorsi was on #qanda tonight | At this point, I'm annoyed that we are always discussed & not part of the conversation. Wish @RandaAFattah or @YMorsi was on #qanda tonight |
| “Do I look at Ted Cruz or [Donald] Trump and think those are representatives of Christianity?” she said. “Do we want to have people of other faiths condemning Christianity because of the way that those people behave? Yes, there’s lots that needs to happen within Islam and I talk to many Muslim friends about that, but I don’t feel as a western, non-Muslim that my role is to stand up and criticise aspects of their religion. | |
| “I will criticise acts of violence, and the horrible terrorist attacks that took place in France. Those are awful. But I will not say, ‘that is Islam’.” | |
| British rapper, poet and author Kate Tempest responded by saying that terror was being inflicted globally, including at the hands of the British and Australian governments. But it was easier to point to violence as occurring outside our own culture, she said. | British rapper, poet and author Kate Tempest responded by saying that terror was being inflicted globally, including at the hands of the British and Australian governments. But it was easier to point to violence as occurring outside our own culture, she said. |
| “It’s a very difficult thing to separate these acts of terror because I think that actually, there is so much disastrous terror being inflicted globally,” she said. | “It’s a very difficult thing to separate these acts of terror because I think that actually, there is so much disastrous terror being inflicted globally,” she said. |
| Rape, domestic violence occur beyond religion & geographic boundaries #Qanda | Rape, domestic violence occur beyond religion & geographic boundaries #Qanda |
| “We can spot barbarity in other cultures and in our past, but when it’s in our midst we find it harder to accept and own up to it. We are in the middle of a barbarous time and greed is at the root of it. It’s interesting we’re talking about these diabolical regimes but there is an equally diabolical regime in power which is the regime of capitalism.” | “We can spot barbarity in other cultures and in our past, but when it’s in our midst we find it harder to accept and own up to it. We are in the middle of a barbarous time and greed is at the root of it. It’s interesting we’re talking about these diabolical regimes but there is an equally diabolical regime in power which is the regime of capitalism.” |
| A number of people following the program on Twitter also expressed disappointment that the panellists were not asked about the impact of the Australia Council’s drastic funding cuts, despite the panel being part of the writers’ festival. | |
| The arts sector has been left reeling over the past week, as many organisations found out they had not received funding grants. | The arts sector has been left reeling over the past week, as many organisations found out they had not received funding grants. |
| #QandA What chance do we have to be a good society when the govt cuts arts funding as if our culture/soul was just a dessert to be skipped? | #QandA What chance do we have to be a good society when the govt cuts arts funding as if our culture/soul was just a dessert to be skipped? |
| I'm expecting some questions about arts cuts tonight, 65 organisations had funding cuts reported last week #qanda #UJ16 | I'm expecting some questions about arts cuts tonight, 65 organisations had funding cuts reported last week #qanda #UJ16 |
| What is the panel's opinion on the extreme cuts in the arts in australia? #question #qanda | What is the panel's opinion on the extreme cuts in the arts in australia? #question #qanda |