education
Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes children's book 30/05/2008 00:00
Jews drink blood and Muslims steal anything they can lay their hands on. In her children's book Adan and Eve, which was published today, controversial former Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali pulls no punches when it comes to listing prejudices. The story is about the impossible friendship between a Muslim boy and a Jewish girl. By Maurice Laparlière*
Adan's father is an authoritarian man, who beats his wife and his children. He marries off his daughters at a young age to distant relatives in his native country of Morocco. Eva's parents are detached and greedy. They regard their child as a project, which is expected to score high points at school and in violin class.
Adan and Eve are the odd ones out in their class. Adan has accidentally won a scholarship to a posh white school, but his classmates are afraid he will steal their mobile phones. Eva gets laughed at for her obesity and the pink doll's dresses that make her look like a sausage.
Prejudice
One prejudice after another makes its appearance in the first few chapters of Adan and Eve, which might make readers suspect that the book only incites
stigmatization. However, the author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, herself of Somali origin says:
"These are the stereotypes that live within these communities. This is how people think of one another. I don't think it is gonna reinforce them, if it's approached in the right way. My friend in The Netherlands told me: A schoolteacher decided to talk about it. The idea was: bring it to the surface and then have a discussion abou
t it. In fact, I think that will decrease the stereotypes and cure them. At least: address them in a way that -I think- is not done satisfactorily at the moment."
After a rather hesitant start to the friendship, outsiders Adan and Eve prove to have many things in common. But parental pressure and incomprehension from the outside world spark a desperate move. The two abscond from home, and rumours begin to take on a life of their own; has the Jewish girl defiled the Qur'an? Or has she been abducted by criminal Muslims? Rioting breaks out in Amsterdam as a result.
Talking point
At the Anne Frank School in The Hague, Miss Tineke reads to the eleven-year olds, many of them of foreign descent.
"Adan took a curious look at the girl. She reminded him of a picture in a book. Her hair was all curly, and her clothes were brand new. Her teeth gleaming white like the teeth you see on a tube of toothpaste."
(photo right: Ayaan Hirsi Ali)
At this school, the book achieved its intended purpose, because the children have been talking about Adan and Eve for days.
What the children say:
• Exciting book.
• I think it's an exciting book, but I would not take it out from the library.
• The book does not portray reality.
• I would have preferred a book that did not talk about religion, only about friendship, now they're saying bad things about Jews and Muslims again.
• Not all people think badly about Muslims. We always have a lot of fun with the lady next door.
• Muslims are not like they are portrayed in the book, and I am sure the same applies to Jews.
The critical reactions will not have taken authoress Ayaan Hirsi Ali by surprise. To a certain extent, she even predicted them. As Ms. Hirsi Ali says:
"Everything I ever said was met with rejection and hostility from a majority of the Muslim community. But I have always known individuals from within the Muslim community that who don't go into denial, but who always say; well, this is true. But it doesn't matter. In order to change, you need to provoke change. And generally, people don't get angry about nothing. People usually get angry about something that's really there. And a father who hits his child, in a community where it's common to hit children, I think: there's first reaction is anger. But after that, a child that is hit again, she is gonna see: well, maybe she is right..."
Adan en Eve was written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Anna Gray. The latter name is a pseudonym because the authoress fears her collaboration in the book will put her life in danger. The book will be translated into English, Danish, Spanish and Italian.
*RNW translation (nc)
30-05-2008
[Copyright Radio Netherlands 2008]
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