De leugen

On 15 May 2006, VVD politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali announced she had accepted a job with an American think tank. The same day, VVD minister Rita Verdonk declared that Hirsi Ali would probably lose her Dutch nationality. This was the onset of a political drama that led to the fall of the cabinet on 29 June. In the reconstruction of these events, protagonists like Rita Verdonk, Hilbrand Nawijn, Femke Halsema and Britta Böhler are introduced. Just like Jutta Chorus, co-author of a book about Hirsi Ali, they look back with mixed feelings. Now that the dust has settled, the affair has gained some nuance. The review is interlaced with images of an asylum procedure and archive footage of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. A striking element in this reconstruction is the music, set to lyrics by Erik Jan Harmens that comment on the affair. It is even more remarkable that some of the lyrics are sung by Femke Halsema and Rita Verdonk.