“Almost all the angry letters I received were from Muslims. People called me an Uncle Tom, white on the inside, a traitor to my people. All these ad hominem attacks were basically distractions from the real issue, which wasn't me - It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is abuse, and how it is anchored in a religion that denies women their rights as humans. What matters is that atrocities against women and children are carried out in Europe. What matters is that governments and societies must stop hiding behind a hollow pretense of tolerance so that they can recognize and deal with the problem.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - “Almost all the angry letters I...” 1

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“What matters is abuse, and how it is anchored in a religion that denies women their rights as humans. What matters is that atrocities against women and children are carried out in Europe. What matters is that governments and societies must stop hiding behind a hollow pretense of tolerance so that they can recognize and deal with the problem.”

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“Just realized what matters to most people doesn't make it matters to me, but what matters for those close to me should make it matters to me”

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“They were trying to discover a cure for the toxin," I said."It doesn't matter what the intentions were or what the logic was behind the decision. What matters is that six million people died." Quain gasped in mock horror. "Unless those six million people are pretending to be dead.”

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“Many well-meaning Dutch people have told me in all earnestness that nothing in Islamic culture incites abuse of women, that this is just a terrible misunderstanding. Men all over the world beat their women, I am constantly informed. In reality, these Westerners are the ones who misunderstand Islam. The Quaran mandates these punishments. It gives a legitimate basis for abuse, so that the perpetrators feel no shame and are not hounded by their conscience of their community. I wanted my art exhibit to make it difficult for people to look away from this problem. I wanted secular, non-Muslim people to stop kidding themselves that "Islam is peace and tolerance.”

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“The thing that matters is not what they show me but what they hide from me and, above all, what they do not suspect is in them.”

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