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Ms. Ali is a “compelling public figure and advocate for women’s rights,” the Jewish-sponsored Massachusetts university said in a statement.

“That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values.”

Ms. Ali had been set to speak at the university’s May 18 commencement, where she was to receive an honorary degree in social justice.

Now she has been officially disinvited, although the university said “in the spirit of free expression” she would be welcome to speak about her ideas at a future date.

For her part, Ms. Ali said it was “scarcely credible” Brandeis had overlooked her earlier works. She accused the university of bowing to critics’ demands to have her “silenced.”

“What was initially intended as an honour has now devolved into a moment of shaming,” she said in a statement.

“[What is] deplorable is that an institution set up on the basis of religious freedom should today so deeply betray its own founding principles.

“I can only wish the Class of 2014 the best of luck — and hope that they will go forth to be better advocates for free expression and free thought than their alma mater.”

The Somalia-born Ms. Ali, 44, was raised in a strict Muslim family, but renounced Islam in her 30s after surviving a civil war, genital mutilation, beatings and an arranged marriage.

She came to the Netherlands as a refugee in the early 1990s and was elected a member of the Dutch Parliament in 2003-06. It was during that time she wrote the screenplay for [itals]Submission[itals], an 11-minute film that criticized how women were treated under Islam.