Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders has posted a controversial film critical of Islam's holy book, the Koran, on the internet.
The opening scenes show a copy of the Koran, followed by footage of the attacks on the US on 11 September 2001.
The 17-minute film was posted on video-sharing website LiveLeak.
Its planned release had sparked angry protests in Muslim countries. Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende said the film wrongly equated Islam with violence.
"We believe it serves no purpose other than to offend," he said in a statement.
"But feeling offended must never be used as an excuse for aggression and threats."
The film is called "Fitna", a Koranic term sometimes translated as "strife".
Dutch broadcasters have declined to show the production by 44-year-old Freedom Party (PVV) leader Mr Wilders, who lives under police protection because of earlier death threats.
'Spiteful'
Graphic images from the bomb attacks on London in July 2005 and Madrid in March 2004 are shown.
Pictures of a woman being stoned, scenes from a beheading and images of the Dutch director Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by a radical Islamist in 2004, are also included.
And pictures appearing to show Muslim demonstrators holding up placards saying "God bless Hitler" and "Freedom go to hell" also feature.
The film shows a young girl in a headscarf making derogatory comments about Jewish people.
It also displays a graph showing how the number of Muslims in the Netherlands and Europe has grown.
The film ends with someone turning pages of a Koran, followed by a tearing sound.
A text that appears on the screen says: "The sound you heard was from a page (being torn from a) phone book.
"It is not up to me, but up to the Muslims themselves to tear the spiteful verses from the Koran."
The film concludes: "Stop Islamisation. Defend our freedom."
Two years ago the publication in Denmark of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad sparked protests across the Muslim world.
But Brahim Bourzik, a spokesman for a Dutch Moroccan group, told Reuters news agency he did not believe Mr Wilders' film would spark fury from Muslims in Holland.
"It is not a film, it is propaganda," he said. "All the elements have been seen before, there is nothing new in it."
The UK-based website which allowed the film to be posted online defended its decision on Thursday.
"LiveLeak.com has a strict stance on remaining unbiased and allowing freedom of speech so far as the law and our rules allow," it said in a statement posted online.
"Propaganda movie" seems an excellent description!.
But in the end there is nothing new to see here. He just strings some old images together, and quotes some radical Muslims. He's completely generalizing. I don't think it's worth a demonstration/riot, but your mileage may vary!
"It is not up to me, but up to the Muslims themselves to tear the spiteful verses from the Koran."
So it's okay for him to create a totally spiteful video against Muslims but it's not okay for Muslims to have (so-called) spiteful verses in the Quran.
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
The initial reaction in the Netherlands following the long-awaited showing of right-wing politician Geert Wilders' anti-Islam film Fitna is one of relief.
Commentators are almost unanimous in their assessment that the internet video is much less inflammatory than expected.
Mr Wilders himself called the film "respectable" saying he wanted it to spark debate - others said it was "nothing new".
Public opinion has been restrained, with no demonstrations or riots.
Comments posted to popular websites like that of De Telegraaf - the Netherlands' best selling newspaper - are mixed.
"It seems to me that this will not lead to problems for Mr Wilders or the Netherlands, it was a mess, just separate fragments linked together. It was nothing more than what Wilders always says, in fact it was toned down," writes Simon from Amsterdam.
Support
Frank in Utrecht had this to say: "I'm no fan of Wilders but when you see things as laid out in this film you get a clear picture. It will make a lot of people think, and luckily thinking has never done anyone any harm."
We think the images are repulsive, totally terrible. They are images that have already gone down in history as the deeds of criminals - they are responsible for these acts, not Islam Fouad Sidali
Co-operation of Moroccans in the Netherlands
There were also many messages of support for Mr Wilders with people saying they felt he was addressing issues other politicians are afraid to talk about - those being Islam and integration.
In their reactions, different Dutch Muslim organisations expressed a similar sense of relief.
"The worries that I and Dutch society had about riots and that sort of thing are now considerably reduced," said Brahim Bourzik from the National Moroccan Council.
However, there was criticism from Muslim groups, which say that Mr Wilders is painting an image of all Muslims as extremists.
"The film is not as shocking as we thought it was going to be. We haven't had phone calls from our community that people are offended by this. But having said that, we think the images are repulsive, totally terrible. They are images that have already gone down in history as the deeds of criminals - they are responsible for these acts, not Islam," said Fouad Sidali from the Co-operation of Moroccans in the Netherlands.
Graphic images
The film, whose title Fitna means 'Ordeal' or 'Strife' in Arabic, shows verses of the Koran alternating with graphic scenes of recent atrocities: the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, the charred bodies of train passengers bombed in Madrid and gruesome images from attacks in London and Somalia.
The 15-minute production quotes the Koran - Surah Four, verse 56 - as saying: "Those who have disbelieved our signs, we shall roast them in Hell."
Mr Wilders' message is clear: be warned because Islam's true purpose is to conquer the world and destroy our freedom and democratic systems.
We believe it serves no other purpose than to cause offence PM Jan Peter Balkenende
Towards the end, a hand is shown grabbing a page of the Koran. The image is accompanied by the sound of tearing paper.
The screen then goes blank and subtitles explain that the sound was that of a page being torn from a telephone book.
Mr Wilders then declares that it is not up to him to tear malicious verses out of the Koran, but that Muslims themselves must do that.
In a press statement issued, unusually in English as well as Dutch, just a few hours after the film appeared on the internet, the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende criticised the showing of the film.
"The film equates Islam with violence, we reject this interpretation. The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence and in fact the victims are often also Muslims.
"We therefore regret that Mr Wilders has released this film, we believe it serves no other purpose than to cause offence."
Maurits Berger, an expert on Islam from Leiden University, shares the view that the film is milder than expected, but he says there could still be problems.
"I'm worried about what I call the Salman Rushdie effect - then, having not read the book was no bar to protest and that could be the case here," he said.
"It may be that people will protest against 'the anti-Muslim' film without ever having seen it - so there is still need for caution."
Most experts believe that the film will not get Mr Wilders into legal problems, saying it is not discriminatory in the legal sense.
But the government says it will look at this issue and a mistake in the film may well see the member of parliament in hot water.
A photograph of the rapper Salah Edin was mistakenly used as the photo of Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh. The rapper is consulting his lawyers.
And the Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, is suing Mr Wilders through the Danish Union of Journalists, alleging he infringed copyright by using a cartoon of his without permission. The cartoon depicts the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.
Despite the mild reactions to the film, the co-ordinator for terrorism prevention, Tjibbe Joustra, is keeping the level of terrorist threat at "substantial". This is the second-highest level in the Netherlands.
theres 1001 other similar videos on the web. the only difference is that theyre made my people who are not in places of authority. Quite frankly, id have thought Mr MP Sahib would have put a bit more effort into the video and made it a bit more original.
What a load of hype over nothing...
He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. [Quran {33:43}] www.QuranicAudio.com www.Quran.com
Yeah, I have seen his face on the bbc news website. His hair looks very weird and fake hair. :X
Yh lets avoid backbiting, as much as I'd love to
He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. [Quran {33:43}] www.QuranicAudio.com www.Quran.com
in the near future (1-2 years) i am going to be making my own documentary on the Bible, i will call it the Good News, make it 20 minutes long, that will be good, i will have sponsors and org backing by then and we will make it huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ps: my 2 public debates in the USA went very good, won hands down on both debates, the christians were all complimentary to me, they want me on their side. as soon as theyre availible i will post them here!
So it's okay for him to create a totally spiteful video against Muslims but it's not okay for Muslims to have (so-called) spiteful verses in the Quran.
Double standards, anyone?
Doesn't that work both ways?
"So it's ok for Islam to have spiteful verses in the Qu'ran about non-Muslims but not okay for Wilders to create a spiteful video against Muslims. Double standards anyone?"
in the near future (1-2 years) i am going to be making my own documentary on the Bible, i will call it the Good News, make it 20 minutes long, that will be good, i will have sponsors and org backing by then and we will make it huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why take out your anger on Christians? I don't think Wilders is a Christian?
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Re: Dutch MP posts Islam film on web
We think the images are repulsive, totally terrible. They are images that have already gone down in history as the deeds of criminals - they are responsible for these acts, not Islam
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