Slaughter And 'Submission'

By: Rebecca Leung

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She's come a long way since she first arrived in Holland as a 22-year-old woman fleeing a marriage her father had arranged, and seeking asylum. Nowadays, she's a kind of star, and the Dutch take pride in how she rose from menial jobs in factories and hotels to attend university, and finally, to get elected to parliament.

How did she do it? "The American dream," says Hirsi Ali. "I think it's in every individual, if you have the will to improve your life."

She shook up Dutch politics by pointing to the blind spots in this tolerant democracy, like the murder of Muslim women who stray from the faith — so-called "honor killings."

"My accusation towards the Dutch society was, 'You think you are tolerant, but if you look behind those curtains in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, there are women who are abused. There are women who are taken to Morocco and Turkey and are killed there. They're murdered. And there are no records of those murders,'" says Hirsi Ali.

"I suppose some people would say we can't impose our alien laws on these new citizens," says Safer.

"That was the definition of tolerance before I came," says Hirsi Ali. "And now we are redefining that by saying, freeing these women, giving them a chance at life is not imposing Dutch will, or let's say Dutch values, on others. But it's protecting these individuals."

After the murder of Van Gogh, Hirsi Ali stayed in hiding for about three months. In January, she returned to parliament, to a democracy less sure of itself, and a new anxiety in Holland: a feeling that it's no longer safe to speak out or make art or movies about certain subjects.

Organizers of the Rotterdam Film Festival, for instance, cancelled a showing of "Submission," saying they feared violence.

But Hirsi Ali refuses to back down. She says she's going to make a sequel to "Submission."

"By not making 'Submission Part II,' I would only be helping terrorists believe that if they use violence, they're rewarded with what they want," says Hirsi Ali.

Will she submit to the threats? "Not me," she says.

Perhaps not. But last spring the whole issue of security just became too much for her and the Dutch government. She resigned her seat in parliament and this fall will join a think tank in Washington D.C.