Update 3/27/08: Geert Wilders movie has been released and is below
Update 3/28/08: Live Leak received serious death threats from some who follow Islam. In order to protect their employees they caved to the Islamists threats and pulled the film according to LFG.
Live Leak reports in their statement now shown in place of the film that this is a sad day for freedom of speech.
Do you see how the world is caving to Islamists? Dangerous, dangerous and it will only get worse.
A copy is still available on YouTube and is below the Live Leak video:
WARNING: The 16 minute video below contains very graphic and disturbing footage of the Twins Towers and other violent attacks carried out in the name of Islam.
It would be extremely helpful for the world to hear Islamic leaders condemn the horrific acts carried out in the name of Islam shown in Geert Wilders film as the source of what is insulting to Islam - rather than calling the film itself an insult to Islam. An apology from these leaders for the pain and suffering caused by those who kill because of their misguided Islamic beliefs would be nice, wouldn't it?
Why are these leaders not in a major uproar their religion has been so horribly tarnished by violence carried out in the name of Islam on a daily basis?
This is such a major abuse of the religion of peace! They should all be very upset.
Today, the Dutch Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende appealed for restraint.
An interesting response by Tariq Ramadan, the current President of the European think tank, European Muslim Network (EMN) in Brussels can be found on Alarab online. He said this movie could be used by Muslim majority countries to enflame others as a way to divert their attention from their own problems or to attack the West, the "enemy" like what happened with the Mohammad cartoon furor. He said the best reaction is silence. FYI: Ramadan is banned from entering the U.S. for questionable contributions that may have funded HAMAS.
Perhaps the movie will take a more tempid approach rather than one so provacative but I'm don't think so. Exposing the truth about Islam doesn't require using over-the-top methods. The truth is sufficient:
Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders is working on a provocative tv movie on the Qur'an. It is Mr Wilders' next step in his fight in what he sees as highly dangerous islam. He recently pleaded for a ban of the Qur'an, which he calls fascist. Wilders compared the Holy Book of Islam to Hitler's Mein Kampf. The politician says his film shows similarities with Submission, a film made in 2004 by Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Reaction It is not the first time that Mr Wilders is alerted to the dangers that his statements contain. The National Co-ordinator for the Prevention of Terrorism, Tjibbe Joustra, warned the MP in September that his utterances are conducive to radicalisation. Radical statements, says Mr Joustra, could be the final push for people who are harbouring violent plans. The Head of the Dutch security services, Sybrand van Hulst, is playing down Joustra's words in today's de Volkskrant daily. He says the Netherlands are getting used to the tone of voice practised by the likes of Wilders.
Submission Yet he was killed three months later by Mohammed Bouyeri, an Islamic fundamentalist. He said during his trial that Submission provided one of the motives for his act. Bouyeri was sentenced to life imprisonment. |
Update: 1/23/08: A senior Iranian lawmaker warned the Netherlands on Monday not to allow the screening of what it called an anti-Islamic film produced by Dutch politician, claiming it "reflects insulting views about the Holy Koran."
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, promised widespread protests and a review of Iran's relationship with the Netherlands if Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders' work is shown.
"If Holland will allow the broadcast of this movie, the Iranian parliament will request to reconsider our relationship with it," Boroujerdi said, according to IRNA, the official Iranian news agency. "In Iran, insulting Islam is a very sensitive matter and if the movie is broadcasted it will arouse a wave of popular hate that will be directed towards any government that insults Islam. Fox News
Update 1/23/08:
The Grand Mufty of Syria has threatened the Netherlands over Geert Wilders’ movie about the Koran. If the movie results in “war and bloodshed,” the Mufty said, Wilders and Dutch society as a whole will be to blame. After all, he argued, it’s illegal to deny the holocaust because it insults Jews - it should also be illegal to insult Muslims. Source
Update 1/26/08: A threat against Geert Wilder's life has been posted on YouTube. Clearly, this doesn't reflect well, at all, for the religion of peace. I suspect it will be pulled shortly. 3/14/08: I was wrong - it's still available to watch despite it violent intentions to harm Mr. Wilders.
Update 1/28/08: Wilders postpones film till March
“If you see what is spewed out daily via various Arabic broadcasters over the world in hatred against the Jews, Israel, the US and the West, the criticism of Wilders' yet-to-be-shown mini-film is pure hypocrisy,” Dutch fundamentalist Calvinist party Cees Van der Staaij said yesterday during an exchange in the Dutch Lower House. Deputy Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who replied for Minister Verhaegen, acknowledged that Van der Staaij has a point.
...The Dutch Muslim Council has called Wilders a “racist, fascist and authoritarian” and a threat to Dutch society. Several Dutch Muslim and leftist organizations and individuals have lodged more than 40 complaints against Wilders for incitement to racial hatred. Gerard Spong, one of the leading (and most expensive) lawyers in the country, has offered to defend their cases free of charge. Spong was a friend of the late Pim Fortuyn. Following the murder of Fortuyn in 2002 he lodged complaints against several Dutch politicians for having contributed to the hate campaign against Fortuyn which resulted in his assassination by a political adversary.
1/28/08: Video interview with Geert Wilders by Fox News
2/2/08: "The serious threats to my life and the Dutch government's panicked response to my film underline the truth of what I am saying. The Koran is dangerous," he (Wilders) said.
"I am human so I sometimes feel real fear but I will not let the politics of fear stop me from saying what must be said."
Mr Wilders, 44, lives under police protection and regularly moves from one secure accommodation to another. He has kept details of his 10-minute film under wraps, leading to media speculation that it is a hoax. But Mr Wilders is adamant about its existence.
Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch prime minister, has given warning of a "national crisis" if Mr Wilders broadcasts his attack. Read more
2/2/08: Read my post about the Organization of Islamic Conference getting involved in this matter here.
3/3/08: Protesters already have torched Dutch flags in Afghanistan ahead of a new Dutch film portraying Islam's holy book as a "fascist" text that incites violence and preaches the oppression of women and homosexuals.
A Dutch Cabinet minister postponed his trip to Somalia on Friday due to "specific threats" linked to the film, and the Dutch government has urged lawmaker Geert Wilders to scrap his film for the safety of its citizens abroad.
But Wilders said Monday he has begun negotiations with Dutch broadcasters about airing the 15-minute film, "Fitna." He said he will only allow them to show it in its entirety, and if they refuse, he plans to show it to the media and post it on the Internet.
"We have never learned to be intolerant toward people who are intolerant toward us, toward cultures that are intolerant toward us," he said in a recent Associated Press interview.
If it airs, Dutch Muslims are expected to file criminal complaints for racial or religious vilification. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to charge Wilders with any offense.
"It is our responsibility to make clear to everyone that the views and actions of this one elected representative are not those of the government," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told reporters last week. "We defend the core values of freedom and respect. We guarantee freedom of expression and of religion, for Muslims as for everyone else." AP
3/4/08: Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders says he will allow the Dutch anti-terrorism coordinator to see his controversial anti-Koran film before it is released, but only on condition that the viewing is not used as an excuse to ban it, NOS tv reports on Tuesday.
Earlier the Telegraaf said Wilders had refused to show the 10-minute film to Tjibbe Joustra, who is responsible for Wilders' security. DutchNews
3/14/08: Islamic group threaten to kill supporters of Geert Wilders. zTruth
3/23/08: Does "Fitna, the movie" exist? zTruth
