Hirsi Ali

Hirsi Ali, the Dutch politician who has come under threat against her life for her anti-Islamic views, is moving here to D.C. to work for the American Enterprise Institute. These threats have made it difficult for her to find a place to live:

It's been a tough couple of weeks for Hirsi Ali, who was wrapping up a book tour in the United States as the information resurfaced. A few weeks ago, a court ruled that she could be evicted from her apartment in the Dutch capital. Neighbors had complained that they felt harassed by the police who guard her apartment and the court gave Hirsi Ali until August to clear out.

Today's Wall Street Journal has a lengthy front-page article on Ali, that includes this bit:

Dick van Tetterode, a retired doctor who lives in an adjacent building, says he worried briefly about bombs, but decided he'd probably lose only his windows.

During a slow afternoon stroll outside Ms. Hirsi Ali's building, the 84-year-old doctor reflected on her predicament and on his own flight from the Nazis during World War II. A student at the time, he spent two years hiding on a Dutch farm. Two of the three people he credits with saving his life were killed by the Germans. Struggling to hold back tears, he says he regrets never thanking their children properly for their fathers' bravery.

But Ms. Hirsi Ali's case is different, he says. He admires her conviction, he says, but thinks her rage at Islam belongs in the Middle East and Africa, not the Netherlands. "This is not our fight," he says.

That's pathetic.

Meanwhile, some on the left -- who claim to be the most ardent defenders of free speech -- say they have little sympathy for Ali's plight.

That's pathetic too.