A French Muslim minister and women's rights campaigner came out in support Monday of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born former Dutch deputy threatened with death for her criticism of Islam. Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara said she would ask President Nicolas Sarkozy to offer France's protection to Hirsi Ali and help her cover the costs of her round-the-clock security protection.
  
The 38-year-old Hirsi Ali, who has been living under police protection since the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by an Islamic extremist in 2004, was in Paris to seek French citizenship, with the backing French intellectuals and artists. Hirsi Ali is threatened with death for her role in writing the script of Van Gogh's film 'Submission', about the treatment of women in Islam. A note targeting her by name was found on his body.
  
"I understand I'm provocative but it's to start a debate," she told AFP in an interview Sunday. "I did it to show that girls and women are beaten, removed from schools, in the name of Islam."

Muslim writer and feminist Irshad Manji, Amel Boubekeur, leader of the Islam and Europe programme, Robert Spencer, director of jihadwatch.org and Abed Ayoub, legal advisor for American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee, joined FRANCE 24’s Andrea Sanke to debate Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Islam and its taboos.
 
 
Does she deserve protection?

Hirsi Ali has infamously called the prophet Mohammed a pervert and a tyrant, sparking a heated debate on how offensive this was and whether she deserves the protection of the French government.

According to Ayoub, “her views are outside the block” and “hurt” a lot of Muslims.

But Manji responded that Hirsi Ali does not call for violence or death of  even the most fundamentalist Muslims. “Her words need not threaten anybody,” she said. Only those “steeped in rigid and brittle dogma” feel threatened by her.

Spencer added that “offensive speech was precisely what was envisioned by freedom of speech laws in the United States and in Europe.”

Boubekeur nevertheless fears the impact of the Hirsi Ali controversy on public opinion. “Most French citizens don’t have a clear idea of what Islam is,” she said. Any debate on Islam should, in her opinion, include practicing Muslims.

  
Footing the bill

While all the participants agreed that Hirsi Ali should be protected, Ayoub asked why French taxpayers should foot the bill for her protection. According to him, she knew what she was doing.

Manji replied, saying that this means  only those who can afford protection can enjoy freedom of speech. In conclusion, she praised France's decision to support a pan-European fund to protect “lower-profile dissident Muslims” such as the French Algerian director Mohamed Sifaoui.