Video

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Netanyahu ‘Should Get The Nobel Peace Prize’

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
Font Size:

Author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his resolve during Israel’s latest conflict with the terrorist group Hamas.

“I really admire Benjamin Netanyahu,” Ali told the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom.

“[H]e is under so much pressure, from so many sources, and yet he does what is best for the people of Israel, he does his duty,” she continued. “I really think he should get the Nobel Peace Prize. In a fair world he would get it.”

Born in Somalia, Ali was granted political asylum by the Netherlands in 1992. Living in the European country, she renounced her Muslim faith and became a campaigner for women’s rights in the Muslim world. Elected to the Dutch parliament in 2003, her outspoken criticism of radical Islam led to death threats and the need for round-the-clock security.

Ali, who moved to the United States in 2006 and has penned several books about her life and the plight of women in the Muslim world, says she agrees with Netanyahu that Israel can’t negotiate with an organization like Hamas that seeks its destruction. (SEE: In Stirring Speech, Israeli Ambassador Says Israeli Defense Forces Should Be ‘Given A Nobel Peace Prize’)

“Everyone was upset with Netanyahu when he said that he would not negotiate before the other side said that they recognize the existence of the State of Israel,” she said. “That is a basic demand. Without that it is pointless to go to the negotiations table. It is Negotiations 101.”

Hamas’ charter, written in 1988, calls not only for the destruction of Israel, but for a worldwide genocide of Jews. (READ: 9 Things You Need To Know About Hamas — Straight From Its Charter)

With an organization like Hamas, Ali elaborated, it is impossible for Israel to find “common ground.”

“You can negotiate with fellow human beings with whom you have some kind of common ground,” she said. “The assumption as we negotiate is that there is fair play. The problem with negotiating with Hamas is that they have a vision, a certain kind of utopia. And for that utopia to be realized, the State of Israel must be completely destroyed.”

“Shariah law has to be established, ideally, all over the world,” she continued, explaining Hamas’ worldview. “You can never trust a Jew, you can never trust a Christian. That is the utopia. Women have to behave a certain way, they have to be locked up, it is very totalitarian. You can negotiate until you are as blue in the face as the American flag, but it will never yield anything on the other side.”

Ali says the basic difference between Israel and Hamas is that the Jewish state values life while the Palestinian terror group values death. (READ: 4 Myths About the Israel Hamas Conflict)

“Israel is investing everything it has into life on earth,” she said. “Hamas is investing everything it has into life after death.”

Follow Jamie on Twitter