Posted on 03/27/2008 3:10:52 PM PDT by mdittmar
Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders released a film critical of Islam on Thursday, setting verses of the Koran against a background of images from terrorist attacks.
The 15-minute film was posted on a Web site. Shortly afterward Dutch television channels rebroadcast segments of it.
The Dutch government had warned Wilders the film could spark violent protests in Islamic countries, like those two years ago after the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
"The film equates Islam with violence. We reject this," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a televised reaction.
"We...regret that Mr. Wilders has released this film. We believe it serves no other purpose than to cause offense."
Initially, Dutch television refused to broadcast it and Wilders had difficulty finding an Internet platform.
The film showed statements from radical clerics and cited Koranic verses interspersed with images from attacks, beginning with the September 11, 2001, assault in the United States, the 2004 attack in Spain, and the murder later in 2004 of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.
It began and ended with one of the cartoons portraying Muhammad. Then there came the sound of a page being torn.
Subtitles assured the viewer it was a page from a telephone book, because "it's not up to me, but the Muslims to tear the hate-sowing pages out of the Koran."
After the release, Wilders told reporters he made the film, called Fitna, because "Islam and the Koran are dangers to the preservation of freedom in the Netherlands in the long term, and I have to warn people of that."
"It's five minutes before midnight and this is the last warning as far as I'm concerned," he said.
Early reactions to the film from were muted.
Yusuf Altuntas, of the Contact Group Muslims and Government, said Wilders "is seeking the limits, but not crossing the line. For Mr. Wilders, this is quite subtle."
The film was not as jarring as anticipated, said Maurits Berger, professor of Islam in the West at Leiden University.
"It's a series of images and photos, headlines from recent years which we already know," he said. The film told more about Wilders than the Koran, Berger said. "It represents his fear of Islam."
The film was released the evening before a Dutch judge was due to hear a petition of a Muslim group seeking an independent review of the film to see whether it violates hate speech laws.
The Dutch Islamic Federation was asking the court to impose a fine of $79,000 for every day the film is available to the public.
Muhammad Rabbae, chairman of the moderate National Moroccan Council, which appealed for calm in January before the film's release, said he had heard about the film but not yet seen it.
"On the one hand, this is less bad than we thought he was going to do," he told The Associated Press. But he also gives the impression the Koran justifies violence, "and that is really wrong."
Thousands of Dutch demonstrated Saturday in Amsterdam in a protest intended to show that Wilders does not represent the whole country.
please keep us informed especially me on when and where I could watch this.
The Dutch government had warned Wilders the film could spark violent protests in Islamic countries, like those two years ago after the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
“The film equates Islam with violence. We reject this,” Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a televised reaction.
So if the concept of Islam being equated with violence is rejected, they why are they worried about violence form Islamists????????
Oh, grow a pair you snivelling eurosissie.
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I guess the First Ammendment has been suspended too.
Apparently the web site has been taken down due to numerous complaints. Hmmm...
The HotAir english link is working
There is also a torrent available, if you want a copy of your own.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
WOW!!!!
Great Stuff!!!
Too bad there is not a single American politician that has the stones to say this!
wow cheers to all
no doubt the usuals will be attacking the clip, sticking up for them and making excuses etc etc
there won’t be one elected offical with the guts to say anything negative, yes they might say it behind closed doors but that won’t stop the danger will it
look at how Europe is going, My old country England has now no go areas for white christians, churches burnt down, people attacked , police forces asking permission from imams, special right given to them, arranged marriages ignored, honour killings are being done
look at a time when Israel was Judea and christians and jews lived together for hundreds of years and then islam is founded , they move in and say it’s their’s now
look at kosovo
look at lebanon
fact is that immigration can be considered an invasion and those who immigrate not wanting to assimilate will try and change the country to an islamic one
over 60% of muslims in the UK want sharia law for England
mohammed is now the most popular name in England
Very powerful. Sent the link on to many on my email list.
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