“I want to live”

When her book was published, all hell broke loose. Relatives and friends distanced themselves from her. In her fight for a life in freedom she was left all alone. Lale Gül – a name to remember.

It is almost twenty years ago that Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali made her entrance into Dutch society by telling a group of devout Muslims on national TV what she thought of extremist Islamic belief. She called it cruel and unfair towards women, openly expressed her disgust at the way homosexuals are treated in Islamic countries, and fumed about how apostates are doomed to be killed. She even openly and briskly called Islam a backward religion and pleaded for an enforced enlightenment. Her frankness came with a price. After the broadcast Ayaan had to go into hiding. From that moment on, she needed permanent surveillance, threatened by the Somali community and by Muslims from other backgrounds ...