Here's what Ayaan Hirsi Ali would have said at Brandeis, had they not cowardly revoked her invitation:

"When I see millions of women in Afghanistan defying threats from the Taliban and lining up to vote; when I see women in Saudi Arabia defying an absurd ban on female driving; and when I see Tunisian women celebrating the conviction of a group of policemen for a heinous gang rape, I feel more optimistic than I did a few years ago. The misnamed Arab Spring has been a revolution full of disappointments. But I believe it has created an opportunity for traditional forms of authority — including patriarchal authority — to be challenged, and even for the religious justifications for the oppression of women to be questioned. The connection between violence, particularly violence against women, and Islam is too clear to be ignored. We do no favors to students, faculty, nonbelievers and people of faith when we shut our eyes to this link, when we excuse rather than reflect."

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304512504579493410287663906

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