Showing posts with label anti-Koran film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti-Koran film. Show all posts

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Parliamentary Press Chairman Suspended for Anti-Wilders Bias

NIS NEWS BULLETIN: Rutger van Santen, chairman of the Parliamentary Press Association (PPV), has been suspended by Radio Netherlands World Service (RNW) on grounds of his prejudice against MP Geert Wilders.

Van Santen is not allowed to write anything for a month. After that, he is not allowed to report on Dutch politics for another three months, newspaper De Volkskrant reported yesterday.

The measure was prompted by an interview the reporter had with leftwing Green (GroenLinks) MP Tofik Dibi for TV channel Het Gesprek (The Interview). Van Santen asked Dibi to call Wilders a racist. Despite refusals by the young MP, Van Santen continued to press him to use this term.

According to RNW chief editor Wim Jansen, Van Santen is "too emotionally involved in his subject, has become too much an interested party and can no longer take care to take a journalistic distance." His behaviour therefore damages the reputation of RNW, a government-subsidised broadcaster.

Van Santen had already been warned twice by RNW earlier, in August 2007 and last March, not to continually display his aversion to Wilders.

In the past, Van Santen was active on behalf of the far-left Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP) and of the pro-Palestine movement Palestina Komittee. Nonetheless, he worked his way up to chairman of the parliamentary press. Recently, he made a complaint on behalf of the PPV when Wilders was chosen by the population as politician of the year 2007. [Source: Parliamentary Press Chairman Suspended for Anti-Wilders Bias]

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Muslim Countries Want the Netherlands to ‘Take Steps’ Against Geert Wilders

DUTCH NEWS: Muslim members of the human rights commission of the United Nations want the Netherlands to take steps against Geert Wilders and his anti-Koran film Fitna, reports Trouw on Wednesday.

The comments came during a two-week meeting of the commission in which countries are being judged on their human rights.

Junior justice minister Nebahat Albayrak, who is part of the Dutch delegation, said the public prosecution department is looking into whether the film broke any laws.

Egypt had harsh words for the Dutch judge who said that as an MP Wilders had the right to criticise radical Islam and the Koran and that he was not inciting racial hatred. The judge's comments showed a lack of feeling for the duties and jurisprudence on human rights, the Egyptian delegate said.

The commission plans to hold three meetings each year until all 192 UN member countries have been judged on their human rights. The Netherlands is in the first batch of 16 countries. [Source: Muslim Countries Call for Action on Wilders]

DAWN:
UN Action Sought Against Blasphemy >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Pakistan Parliament Slams Anti-Koran Film and Cartoon

REUTERS: ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday denouncing an anti-Koran film made by a Dutch politician and the reprinting of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers.

Titled "Fitna", a Koranic term sometimes translated as "strife", the film by anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders accuses the Koran of inciting violence and has drawn condemnation from many Muslim countries, including Pakistan.

Small protests have also been held by hardline Islamic groups in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation of 160 million people, against both the film and the republication of one of the 12 cartoons of the Prophet in Danish newspapers in February.

At least 50 people were killed during violent protests in the Muslim countries in 2006 over the cartoons, which were first published in late 2005. Five of were killed in Pakistan.

"This House strongly condemns the printing and reprinting of the sacrilegious and blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet of Islam and release of an offensive and derogatory documentary on Islam titled 'Fitna'," read the resolution adopted by the National Assembly, parliament's lower house.

The resolution called on the United Nations to take steps to ensure respect for all religions. Pakistan Parliament Slams Anti-Koran Film and Cartoon >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Friday, April 11, 2008

Indonesia Ends Ban on YouTube over Geert Wilders’ Film, Fitna

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesian Internet providers have stopped blocking YouTube and other file-sharing Web sites showing an anti-Islam film made by a Dutch politician after complaints from Web users.

The online service providers said Friday they will instead try to block access to individual pages on the sites carrying Geert Wilders' short film.

"It is like removing cancer from the body without making the patient die," Information and Communication Minister Mohammad Nuh told reporters.

On Tuesday, the government in the world's most populous Muslim nation ordered Internet service providers to block YouTube, MySpace and other sites, but savvy surfers had little trouble circumventing the ban.

In an editorial, The Jakarta Post newspaper said the ban "sent a disturbing sign that the president and his advisers are not only dumb, but also dangerous. It shows a mind-set that takes us back a decade to the era of censorship." Indonesia Ends Ban on YouTube over Anti-Islam Film >>> Associated Press | April 11, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Sudan Calls Off Visit by Dutch Defence Minister

IOL: The Hague - The Sudan cancelled at the last minute a planned visit by Dutch Defence Minister Eimart van Middelkoop without giving a reason, The Hague said on Tuesday.



The Dutch Defence Ministry said the Sudan informed the government that it would not provide an entry visa to van Middelkoop, whose visit was to have begun on Tuesday.



No reason for the move was given. But Dutch media speculated that the recent anti-Islamic film of rightist politician Geert Wilders was behind the decision.



In his film Wilders, who is known for his anti-Islamic views, argues for a ban on the Koran and cites passages in it which he claims incites [sic] violence by Islamic extremists. [Source: Sudan Calls Off Dutch Minister’s Visit]

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback)

Monday, April 07, 2008

Dutch Court Refuses to Ban Fitna

THE PRESS ASSOCIATION: A Dutch court has refused to ban an internet-based film criticising the Koran.

A group representing Dutch Muslims had sought an injunction banning right-wing politician Geert Wilders' film "Fitna", which links terror attacks by Muslim extremists with texts from the Koran.

In a written judgment, a civil judge at The Hague District Court said Mr Wilders' right to free speech allows him to criticise radical Islam and passages from the Muslim holy book. Dutch Court Refuses to Ban Fitna >>> | April 7, 2008

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Interview with Geert Wilders: ‘Moderate Islam Is a Contradiction’

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback)

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

The West Should Applaud the Brave Geert Wilders for His Courage to Air the Film, Fitna, Against Great Odds, Pressure and Criticism

Ever since Geert Wilders released Fitna last week, all we have heard from the mainstream media and from politicians is criticism of the Netherlands’ best-known, most courageous, and clearest-thinking public figure.

So many people, spineless ones mainly, have said that Mr Wilders set out to insult the Qur’an and Muslims. What a ridiculous thing to say! Surely, what he set out to do is plain to see: He set out to inform the Dutch (and by extension , other Westerners) that they were in danger of losing their country to a backward, regressive ‘culture’: Islam. He stated categorically that this was the last chance for the Dutch to do something about the explosive growth of Islam in their country.

Now what is extreme about that? And what is "far-right" about it, as far as that goes? Yet Geert Wilders is almost always portrayed as a "far-right", "extreme" politician by just about all the media. Why? Just because he wants to warn his fellow countrymen of the dangers that lie ahead? Seems like good old-fashioned common sense to me. Patriotism, even!

I have been warning for years of the danger of the explosive growth of Islam in the West. And just in case anyone out there thinks that I entitled my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age , for reasons of sensationalism, think again! That title was carefully chosen, for I truly believe that we are heading for a "New Dark Age" if our politicians do not stop passing ridiculous laws to mollycoddle Muslims. They need to change course, and quickly.

I have just finished reading Mark Steyn’s book, America Alone. Clearly, he has taken up the theme in my book; since he refers to the coming "New Dark Age" often enough in it. So I am obviously not alone in my judgement that a "New Dark Age" is dawning here in the West.

In the past days, it has come to light that many Muslim countries, that oh-so-Western country Turkey included, are calling for the film Fitna to be banned. Clearly, Muslims don’t want to be confronted by the truth, for obviously they are hurt by it. The truth, as they say, so often does hurt.

So what Muslims now want the West to do is close down freedom of speech and freedom of expression. If we do that, it will be a fast track to a "New Dark Age". It is freedom of expression which so clearly delineates our two worlds: the world of the West and the world of the East. Were our politicians to be so stupid as to contemplate such a move, then they will surely deserve to incur the wrath of the electorates around the Western world!

Like so may others, I waited patiently for the film, Fitna, to be released. We had to wait a long time for it, but it was well-worth the long wait. I had expected the movie to be controversial, and it was. But in actual fact, it wasn’t that controversial at all; on the contrary, I found the film to be rather mild and measured. There was very little in it which most of us haven’t seen before. But it was very cleverly put together, and the choice of music was superb. All in all, Fitna impressed; and it had a message which all Westerners should take the time to ponder, since so many Westerners go about their daily lives, oblivious of the dangers which lie ahead of them.

I take my hat off to Geert Wilders for a number of reasons: First and foremost among them is for his courage in stating the things which almost all other politicians are far too cowardly to state. I also applaud him for his clear thinking, and for his refusal to obfuscate the truth.

The images in the film were, in some ways, shocking; but only to the uninitiated. For people who are familiar with the blogosphere, they were mild indeed. But powerful for all that.

The Dutch government has egg on its face! Those politicians made such a fuss over the impending release of that short film that they showed themselves up to be the wimps they truly are.

Oh, and a point on Islamophobia, something which so many Muslim countries seem to view with increasing alarm…

As I have said before, the term ‘Islamophobia’ is a misnomer, since a phobia is an irrational fear of something. Many people fear Islam; but that fear, alas, is not ‘irrational’. People’s fears are based on solid experience and history. It is an undeniable fact that the intention of Islam is to take over the Western world, and replace our way of governance with the Islamic way. Given the track record of most Muslim countries, it is surely not phobic to fear the exceedingly fast growth of Islam here in the West. On the contrary, actually, it would be irrational not to fear that explosive growth!

Moreover, I should like to say this: If Muslims don’t want their religion to be feared, if they want to be liked and welcomed around the world, they have to change their behaviour. Governments cannot legislate for its people to ‘love’ Islam. Only Muslims can make themselves loved and welcomed; and to bring these changes about, then they need to change their own behaviour. They need to stop their inexorable programme of expansion around the world, they need to free up their peoples, and they need to stop the cruel punishments: the beheadings, the stonings to death, the amputations for theft - the general cruelty which is so obviously part and parcel of their way of life. And they certainly need to put a stop to putting people to death for apostasy.

The expression, "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful", is found in almost every chapter (Surah) of Al-Qur’an al Kareem. Isn’t it high time that Muslims started to follow the example that Allah has supposedly given them? Isn’t it high time that Muslims started to show the same compassion and mercy that Allah supposedly shows His followers?

In summary, I would say this about Fitna. It was an excellent film, well worth waiting for. It was in no way insulting to Muslims; though I appreciate that many might have been hurt by it. But then, as I have already stated, the truth is usually hard to swallow. Nobody, Muslim or non-Muslim, likes to be confronted by the harsh realities of life. I applaud Geert Wilders for having the courage and bravery to raise issues in the Netherlands (and in the West) which should have been raised long ago. Bravo, Mr Wilders! Bravo!

©Mark Alexander

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Brave Geert Wilders Gets Offer from Right-Wing Party in the Czech Republic to Host His Fitna Website

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Web site for an anti-Koran film being made by Dutch right-wing lawkmaker Geert Wilders was suspended over the weekend by its US hosting service. But a far-right party in the Czech Republic has offered to screen it if Wilders can't find another outlet.

A far-right political party in the Czech Republic has offered to show a Dutch lawmaker's anti-Koran film if it is banned in the Netherlands.

The offer came after a US Internet hosting service suspended on Saturday the Web site promoting "Fitna," the 15-minute film far-right politician Geert Wilders says he is making.

In the Netherlands, where Wilders leads the reactionary Freedom Party, the film has sparked demonstrations even before its release.

Thousands demonstrated in central Amsterdam against the film Saturday in a protest intended to show that Wilders does not represent the whole country.

The American Internet company, Network Solutions, released a statement Saturday saying it had suspended the promotional Web site until its sponsor could show the plans for the site did not violate the company's standards.

"Over the last month, Network Solutions received a number of complaints," read the statement. "We are still waiting to hear from our customer. In the interim, we have temporarily suspended the site."

The site formerly showed the film's title, "Fitna," the text "coming soon," and an image of a gilded Koran. Now it shows a note that the site is under investigation.

The Czech Republic's small National Party offered to release the film on the Internet using one of its servers, in a message posted Sunday on its Web site. Czech Party Offers to Show Anti-Islam Film >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

”Mission Accomplished” for Geert Wilders

Photobucket
Photo of Geert Wilders courtesy of Google Images

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: It is the kind of stunt that has many fearing the worst: Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders plans to release a film about Islam. Politicians worldwide are already trying to stop the project, before a single scene has been shown. Critics fear the film could lead to bloodshed in many countries.

Let us summarize what has happened to date. On Nov. 2, 2004, an Islamic fundamentalist murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, a descendant of the painter Vincent van Gogh, in broad daylight on a street in Amsterdam.

The killer, a 26-year-old Dutch citizen, the son of Moroccan immigrants, shot the filmmaker at 9 a.m. as van Gogh was riding his bicycle. He then slit his throat and, using a knife, pinned a note to his victim's chest, claiming responsibility and explaining his motives. The killer's true target was politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali. But she, unlike van Gogh, was under 24-hour police protection. The bloody act was also a declaration of war against Dutch society, which, as the murderer was convinced, was controlled "by the Jews."

Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali had collaborated to produce a short film called "Submission," which uses four real-life examples to illustrate the poor treatment of women in Islam. The film was shown on Dutch television in the summer of 2004. Mosques in the Netherlands were unhappy about it, but their reactions were less vehement than expected. Van Gogh had already developed a reputation as a provocateur who paid little attention to what people thought about him -- a committed enfant terrible. He liked to refer to Muslims as "geitenneukers," or goat fuckers. He made fun of dead Jews by describing them as "copulating yellow stars in the gas chamber." He also had little regard for Christian values and symbols. How a Film Triggered a Global Panic >>> By Henryk M. Broder

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Netherlands to Get Backing from EU Counterparts over Anti-Quran Film

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BRUSSELS, Belgium: The Netherlands is asking for European Union solidarity at a summit of the bloc's leaders in case the expected release of an anti-Quran film by a maverick Dutch lawmaker leads to violence, officials said Thursday.

And the EU, which said 2 1/2 years ago that publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed deemed offensive by Muslims went too far, appeared set to back the Dutch position on freedom of speech. The issue was to be discussed later Thursday.

The Dutch lawmaker, Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, has said he plans to air the film this month. Dutch and other European officials fear the film could spark violent protests in Muslim countries similar to those held after the publication of the cartoons in Denmark.

The Netherlands has been warned by Islamic figures and countries, including Iran, that releasing the film would lead to violence there. It wants other EU countries to support its view that it cannot silence Wilders due to the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told fellow Christian Democratic leaders — including German Chancellor Angela Merkel — meeting before the summit that his government does not share Wilders' anti-Islam views but it respects his right to air his views. Officials: Netherlands to get backing from EU counterparts over anti-Quran film >>> Associated Press

NIS NEWS BULLETIN:
Netherlands Wants No Explicit Statement on Freedom of Speech

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
More Pressure on Geert Wilders to Submit

PEDESTRIAN INFIDEL: Geert Wilders can find no broadcaster for Fitna. What's more, the Nieuwspoort press center is demanding 400,000 euros ($800,000 US $) for additional security if Geert wanted to hold a press conference when he releases Fitna on the internet.



Now, a renowned news journalist Henk Hofland called for Geert's Dutch security to be stripped away so the Muslims can have an opportunity to kill him. And Unilever and other corporations are doing the full court press to stop Wilders.



Such dhimmitude is certainly a bad omen for the Netherlands. I hope Fitna is 
released and the world can see the truth but the West has great enemies, not only the Muslims but the dhimmis who serve them. More Pressure on Geert Wilders to Submit >>> By John Sobieski

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wilders’ Film: The Ultimate Conclusion

KLEIN VERZET: ... from the current Wilders/Fitna drama is drawn by Josée van Iersel on Hoeiboei (NL).

Fitna will not be shown on TV in the Netherlands, and through the governments demand that Wilders' PVV shoulder the cost of secutity [sic] of "De Nieuwspoort" a public screening in the Netherlands will in all likelihood not happen.

Well, fellow Lowlanders - as of today it has become officially impossible to show a film critical of islam [sic] anywhere in the Netherlands.

As of today anyone who dares to nonetheless will be an outlaw - the Dutch government has officially confirmed that she no longer will guarantee [sic] the inviolability of her inhabitants, when and if they argue, show or fight that which foreigners want to be left unknown and uncontroversial for the sake of their ideology. An ideology no Netherlander needs, an ideology which they unanimously abhor and which they would show no respect whatsoever were they to take the trouble of educating themselves about it and not follow blindly the mendacious cliches used by the bien pensant to close the matter.

[...]

As of today the highest authority is not the people of the Netherlands by way of a mandated Government, but it is the international ummah...

We have become a de facto integral part of the islamic [SIC] world, because in allowing islam [sic] to force us into unheard of and inconvenient caution - that would only be justified in a case of open war - and because of dispicable [sic] and ignorant cowardice we have handed them what sovereignty we had left. And there'll be no-one who will lose any sleep over this tonight.

Mohammed über alles... and the West is his slave.

And that, as they say, is that. The Ultimate Conclusion (Comments Welcome)

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Churches Ask Wilders Not to Show Film

NIS NEWS BULLETIN: UTRECHT, 13/03/08 - The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN) has appealed to MP Geert Wilders not to broadcast his Koran film. "Would it not be a proof of real freedom if you decided not to show the film?" the PKN asked rhetorically.

PKN represents the protestant churches in the Netherlands. Its Secretary General Bas Plaisier invites Wilders to show the film privately at the PKN head office in Utrecht so that they can enter a debate with him if the film is offensive.

"We will watch the film with respect for you and your convictions and discuss the content of the film with you," Plaisier writes in the protestant opinion magazine Centraal Weekblad. "It is possible that all the commotion is unwarranted, and if so, we will say so honestly. But if your film could hurt people and put many thousands of people around the world in danger, will you then reconsider your intentions?"

Plaisier says the church "does not properly understand" what Wilders is trying to do. "Have you ever considered not making use of your freedom to say what you think? Would it not be a proof of real freedom if you decided not to show the film? We would esteem you for this." [Churches Ask Wilders Not to Show Film]

PR-INSIDE:
Council of Europe Warns Dutch Lawmaker Against Releasing Anti-Quran Film - AP

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
International Tension Grows over Wilders’ Film

DUTCH NEWS: International pressure on the Netherlands over the controversial anti-Koran film by Dutch MP Geert Wilders is growing, despite the Dutch prime minister’s reassurances in parliament on Wednesday that Europe and Islamic countries are appreciative of the active stance taken by the Dutch government on the issue.

On Wednesday Reuters news service reported that Iran's deputy foreign minister said the Netherlands has the power to stop Wilders from screening the film about the Koran which has already sparked protests in the Muslim world.

‘The Netherlands is responsible ...they can stop it,’ Mahdi Safari told Reuters, urging the Dutch government to invoke the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Freedom of speech should not stretch to allowing Wilders to offend the rights of others, he added.

‘If such a man will insist on this it is irresponsible for the world and society," Safari told journalists at a briefing after meeting Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, reports Reuters.

Both Safari and Iran's ambassador to the Netherlands Bozorgmehr Ziaran said they could not predict the reaction of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims to the film, or prevent possible violence. ‘Why would you expect us to control 1.2 billion Muslims when you cannot control one person,’ Ziaran is quoted as saying. He added Wilders sought to violate Muslim's rights by demonising them, and was a war-monger and troublemaker. International tension grows over Wilders' film >>> | Wednesday 12 March 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Iran Warns Dutch Lawmaker’s Anti-Koran Film Will ‘Breed Violence’

FOX NEWS: THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Iran warned on Tuesday that an anti-Quran film by a maverick* right-wing Dutch lawmaker would "breed violence" and said the Dutch government could ban it based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, has said he plans to air the film this month, though no date has been set. The government says it is powerless to ban the film before seeing its contents and is wary of breaching Wilders' right to freedom of expression.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari cited the 1948 Human Rights declaration's 29th article that individual rights may be limited in the interest of respecting other people's freedoms and "meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society."

Wilders, known for his anti-Islam rhetoric, says the film will depict the Quran as a "fascist book" that can be used by extremists to incite violence and which preaches the oppression of women and homosexuals.

"Freedom of speech is not unlimited," Tehran's ambassador to the Netherlands, Bozorgmehr Ziaran told a small group of reporters at the Iranian Embassy. The film, he added, "would just breed violence."

Wilders, Ziaran said, "is not a peacemaker, Mr. Wilders is a warmonger." Iran Warns Dutch Lawmaker's Anti-Koran Film Will 'Breed Violence' >>>

* Have you noticed that whenever the MSM refer to Geert Wilders they always refer to him as “maverick”? And if they don't use the term "maverick", they use some other disparaging term instead.

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Monday, March 10, 2008

Cartoonist Says Dutch Must Show Anti-Koran Film

REUTERS: AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Danish cartoonist behind controversial images of the Prophet Mohammad has urged a Dutch right-wing politician to broadcast a film expected to be critical of the Koran despite fears it might spark violence.

Kurt Westergaard is the author of a series of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed including one showing him with a bomb as a turban which triggered riots in the Muslim world and a boycott of Danish products when they were published in 2006.

Fearing a similar backlash against the Netherlands, the Dutch government has urged politician Geert Wilders not to broadcast a film he has made about the Koran, distancing itself from his views and considering a possible ban.

Westergaard told the Dutch Volkskrant daily on Monday no Danish politician would dare to suggest blocking the film.
"That would mean political suicide. A Danish politician knows that you should not limit freedom of expression. Wilders must just show his film," he said in an interview. Cartoonist says Dutch must show anti-Koran film >>> | Mon 10 Mar 2008

DUTCH NEWS:
Dutch want EU support for stand on Wilders

HERALD SUN (AU):
Summit to debate Islamophobia in West By Lydia Georgi in Dubai | March 10, 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

EU Braces for Outrage over Dutch Lawmaker's Anti-Koran Film

HAARETZ: The European Commission, fearing violence in Islamic nations over an anti-Koran film being made by a Dutch lawmaker, said Wednesday it has sent a memo to its foreign staff on how to handle inquiries about the film.

The EU's executive office did not put forward a position on the film by
lawmaker Geert Wilders, which has not yet been released. Its memo to EU offices worldwide was meant only to keep them posted on developments in the European Union, the commission said.

In 2006, the appearance in European newspapers of 12 caricatures of the
Prophet Mohammad that originally appeared in a Danish newspaper prompted violent protests in Islamic nations.

EU spokeswoman Christiane Hohmann says the memo on the film suggests that EU staff abroad handle any questions by stressing that tolerance and freedom of speech are issues we value very highly in Europe.

The Dutch government has been working for weeks to limit fallout in the Muslim world.

It has increased security at its embassies and urged Wilders to scrap his film for the sake of Dutch national interests and the safety of Dutch citizens abroad. Wilders, who is extremely critical about Islam, has refused to do so. EU braces for outrage over Dutch lawmaker's anti-Koran film >>> By The Associated Press

RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE:
Pakistan Protests Against Wilders Film

REUTERS:
Anti-Koran Dutch Film "Propagates Hate" – Pakistan | Wed Mar 5, 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Wilders’ Film Website Goes Online

Photobucket

RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The Hague - The website for the anti-Qur'an film Fitna by Geert Wilders is online under the name fitnathemovie. There is little to see at the moment: only the cover of the Qur'an with the text "Allahu Akhbar", which means "God is Great" and "Geert Wilders presents Fitna - Coming Soon" against a black background. Wilders' film website goes online >>>

GEERT WILDERS:
Fitna the Movie

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Wilders Says His Film Is Legal

RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The Hague - The leader of the right-wing Freedom Party, Geert Wilders says there is nothing illegal about his anti-Qur'an film Fitna. He is negotiating with a number of television stations about their broadcasting the film, under the condition that it be sent out in its entirety.

Mr Wilders hopes to find a television station willing to broadcast the 15-minute film within the next few days; otherwise he will show it at a press conference later this month and then broadcast it via the internet. He is willing to show the film to National Anti-Terrorism Coordinator Tjebbe Joustra one day before its broadcast. However, he wants a guarantee that the film will not be banned. Sources in the Justice Department say such a guarantee cannot be given.

In the Afghan capital Kabul around 300 MPs demonstrated against the Wilders film and the Danish cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad. They demanded that the Afghan government deliver an official protest to the Dutch and Danish governments. [Source: Wilders says his film is legal >>>]

NIS NEWS BULLETIN:
Wilders is Refusing to Let Government See his Film

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Monday, March 03, 2008

Anti-Qur’an Film to Air in the Netherlands

Photobucket
Photo of Geert Wilders courtesy of Google Images

ASSOCIATED PRESS: THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — 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.

The right-wing legislator previously warned of a "tsunami" of Islam swamping the Netherlands and said Muslims should tear up half of the Quran if they want to live here.

Wilders has lived under round-the-clock security since the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic radical enraged by his short film, "Submission," a fictional study of abused Muslim women with scenes of near-naked women with Quranic texts engraved on their flesh.

The film "Fitna" — an Arabic word meaning discord — puts the centuries-old Dutch traditions of religious tolerance and freedom of speech on a collision course.

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.

"Our law is very clear — anybody can make a film. We have freedom of expression and you cannot restrict that," says Moroccan-born Sadik Harchaoui, chief of the Forum Institute for Multicultural Development.

"Can you offend people? The answer is yes. I'm not saying you should do it or it is desirable, but you can," he added. "But if the film is insulting and preaches hate, then the law has to take action."

The Dutch government says it cannot ban the film but is attempting to distance itself from Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party, which holds nine of Parliament's 150 seats. Anti-Quran Film to Air in Netherlands >>> By Mike Corder

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)