Protect Her Like You Promised

Former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi deserves “the freedoms of speech and conscience we take for granted," argue Salman Rushdie and Sam Harris—who urge the Dutch to keep protecting her from Islamic killers. The Dutch promised protection in 2002, and should “recognize a scandal in the making” as they debate this week whether to renew the plan.

Rushie and Harris recount her tale in the Los Angeles Times, including her flight from Somalia and work on Theo Van Gogh's film about women in Islam. When Van Gogh was found dead, a threat to Hirsi was stabbed into his chest. Now the Dutch must protect “one of the most poised, intelligent and compassionate advocates of freedom of speech and conscience alive today," the writers say. (More Ayaan Hirsi Ali stories.)