Aayan Hirsi Ali spoke at Harvard today. You may remember that she is one of the signers of the Manifesto Against Islam that created a stir during the height of the Muhammad Cartoon Wars.

She is an author, speaker and film maker. She is a member of the Dutch Parliament. She has been an outspoken critic of Islam, the religion in which she was raised. She has especially been critical of the treatment of women and girls under Islamic law.

She has also had to live under around the clock police protection for years as she has been condemned to live ‘an eternity in hell’ by Islamic fanatics.

And yet, she continues her work and continues to speak out.

It is encouraging to me that there is still people in the world who have courage in the face of real danger. She is heroic. And Hirsi Ali seems to do all this with grace and dignity.

The danger we face is all too real. Her’s is a message that we, in the West, need to hear.

Miss Kelly has a marvelous first hand account of her talk today. ‘How can it be that such a small woman is so feared?’ she asks.

Christopher Hutchens encourages us to make her book a best seller, The Caged Virgin.

February 2006 Spiegel interview with Ms. Ali.

There should be solidarity. The cartoons should be displayed everywhere. After all, the Arabs can’t boycott goods from every country. They’re far too dependent on imports. And Scandinavian companies should be compensated for their losses. Freedom of speech should at least be worth that much to us.

sugiero [Sammenhold Blogroll member] has the video of a Norwegian TV interview (in English). Sugiero also reports that the Organization of the Islamic Conference has threatened Ali.

Michelle Malkin has a first hand account of her speech at Harvard tonight.

Little Green Footballs weights in with video and announcement of her speech tonight. [and says: look at her eyes.]

I love a quote that Sisu pulled out of the video:

This war affects all of us. History will someday write — if we win this war — that women were among the bravest and noblest warriors to stand up to the jihadi threat.

Theres more at Hot Air; Stop the ACLU; Freedom for Some; Solomonia; Kesher Talk; Peaktalk; Jeremayakovka; The Dragon & the Phoenix; Volokh Conspiracy; Blue Crab Boulevard; We Should Live

UPDATE: Roger Houston has a fantastic first-person account of Ms. Ali’s talk at Harvard today.

UPDATE #2: sugiero has posted a video of an interview with Ms. Ali on Swedish television. It’s time we call this problem by it’s real name.

linked with: Third World County; TMH’s Bacon Bits; Stuck on Stupid; Jo’s Cafe; The Business of America is Business; Cigar Intellegence Agency