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Fitna is a film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Dutch parliament. The movie offers his views on Islam and the Qur'an. The film's title comes from the Arabic word fitna which is used to describe "disagreement and division among people", or a "test of faith in times of trial". The movie was released to the Internet on 27 March 2008.

Release

Wilders released the movie on March 27 2008 at 7pm local (Dutch) time on the video website Liveleak. The Dutch version of the movie received 1.6 million pageviews in 2 hours. The English version garnered over 1.2 million in 5 hours.

Wilders originally negotiated a possible broadcast of the film on Dutch television. The contents of the film were not known at the time. None of the Dutch broadcasting companies would agree to show the film in its entirety, without editing. Wilders then said that he would "Rather have entirely on the Internet, than half on television".

Later the Dutch press centre Nieuwspoort was reported to be willing to show the film, as long as Wilders would pay for the increased security during the press conference and the weeks after it, which he declined to do.

On March 22 the NMO (Dutch Muslim Broadcasting Association) offered to air the film if they could preview the film for any possible illegal material and Wilders would take part in a debate after the airing with pro- and opponents. Wilders declined, saying "No way, NMO."

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Reaction prior to the release of the movie

It was feared that the film would lead to violent demonstrations by Muslims such as the organized protests against the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons that were published in the Danish newspaper 'Jyllands-Posten' in 2005. This previous Muslim violence resulted in the burning of the Danish embassy in Syria and other acts of violence around the world, including the murder of a Catholic nun and people from several different religions, including Muslims.

Reaction from the Netherlands

The movie was first mentioned in the Dutch media on November 27 2007. The Dutch government almost immediately expressed great concern about the film release. It made evacuation plans available to all its consulates and embassies worldwide, in case an emergency should arise in light of the forthcoming film, and it tightened security measurements around certain military installations abroad.

Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands worried about possible repercussions for Dutch citizens and economic interests. In response Wilders accused Balkenende of capitulating to Islam.

The publication of the film was investigated by the Dutch Ministry of Justice to find out whether the release of the film could be prevented, but this could not be done.

On March 6, 2008, the Dutch government raised its national terroristic threat level from the status 'limited terroristic threat' to 'substantial terroristic threat' because it fears Muslim terrorists will launch attacks against European targets, citing the film as justification.

Public protests have occurred on Dam Square, in Amsterdam, on March 22, 2008.

In response to concerns, Dutch broadcaster Radio Netherlands Worldwide created a multi-language website to detail the film, the surrounding controversy, its creator, and the nation of its origin. The Dutch newspaper De Pers printed a reconstruction of how the concerns came about and who was responsible for them.

The film also caused severe reactions in newspapers. In one issue of de Volkskrant, an ad was posted on the front page which claimed that if Wilders had said the things he has said about Muslims about Jews, he would have been prosecuted for antisemitism.

International reaction

The European Union alerted its diplomatic missions around the world to expect a reaction to the release of the film.

NATO said it feared that the consequences of Fitna would affect the safety of troops in Afghanistan. Indeed, Zabihullah Mujahid stressed that the Taliban would probably increase their attacks on Dutch military and humanitarian peacekeepers in Afghanistan, if the film were released.

Syria's Grand Mufti, Ahmad Badr al-Din, said that if Geert Wilders pictures the image of a burning Qur'an in his film, the Dutch people will be held responsible and possible attacks against Western public interests are not out of the question.

Wilders is the subject of a fatwa, allegedly associated with Al-Qaeda, calling upon Muslims to assassinate Wilders in the name of Islam.

Iran has threatened to review its diplomatic stance with The Netherlands, should the film be aired.

Public protests occurred in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Egypt is closely monitoring the situation.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy officially declared that France would provide every necessary support to aid the Netherlands in the suppression of any Muslim violence that would result from Fitna's release.

Pakistan YouTube ban

In February 2008, Pakistani regulators internally banned YouTube for several days due to a "blasphemous" video clip one report claimed to be a trailer for Fitna. Google eventually complied with the Pakistani protest and the material was removed. As a result of the block, Pakistan accidentally caused the YouTube site to be unavailable worldwide for a couple of hours. On March 25, in a statement on its website, the Czech National Party offered to screen Fitna if it were to be banned in the Netherlands.

Fitnathemovie.com website suspension

In early March 2008, a preliminary version of the movie's official website, fitnathemovie.com, was put online. The only page on the site consisted of a picture of the Qur'an accompanied by the text "Geert Wilders presents Fitna" and "Coming soon". On March 22, the hosting provider of the website, Network Solutions, replaced the page with a message stating that the company “is investigating whether the site's content is in violation of the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy.” and that “Network Solutions has received a number of complaints regarding this site that are under investigation.” On March 24, Network Solutions issued a press release saying the company asked Wilders for a copy of the film to review to gauge compliance with the Acceptable User Policy. It was only after they received no response from Wilders, they say, that they suspended the website. Wilders responded saying he has other options available and his film will be made public before April 1.

Reaction after the release of the movie

The reaction was partly mild in comparison with what was expected, with some Muslim delegates describing it as “not as jarring as anticipated”, saying they were “extremely relieved”. A worldwide violent reaction is not expected by several sources, in stark contrast with threats made by Islamic leaders in the months before the release of the film.

In a televised reaction following the release, Mr. Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands came with a reaction on behalf of the Dutch government.

"The film equates Islam with violence. We reject this interpretation. The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence. In fact, the victims are often also Muslims... ...We therefore regret that Mr Wilders has released this film. We believe it serves no purpose other than to cause offence."

Dutch parliamentarians of the largest political parties, Pieter van Geel (CDA), Mariëtte Hamer (PvdA) and Mark Rutte (VVD) stated that it is sad that the film does not present any solutions to current problems in the Dutch society - integration of Muslim immigrants and Muslim extremism - and invited Mr. Wilders to discuss possible solutions in the parliament.

According to Der Spiegel, a speaker for a Muslim organization, Yusuf Altuntas, said that Wilders "is obviously looking to push the limits, but he resists crossing them." For instance, in the film a ripping sound overlaid with imagery of the Qur'an is said to be the ripping of a page from the phone book, and thunder sounds are replacing what might otherwise be perceived as bomb explosion sounds. The Arabic expert Leo Kwarten on the other hand is quoted to have said that "these subtleties may however be lost in the Arabic world."

Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist of one of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons of Muhammed, has expressed concerns because his cartoon is used in the film without his permission, a violation of copyright. The Danish Union of Journalists has said it will file a lawsuit on Wastergaard's behalf as he is still in hiding from the death threats against him. Westergaard says his cartoon was aimed against Islamic terrorists, not against Islam as a religion.

See also

• Criticism of Islam
• Criticism of the Qur'an
• Criticism of Muhammad
• Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
• Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy

References

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47. Traufetter, Gerald (2008-03-27). "Koranfeindliches Video veröffentlicht - Protest gegen Rechtspopulist Wilders". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2008-03-27.
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50. McLaughlin, Kim (2008-03-26). "Danish Prophet cartoonist says has no regrets". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-03-27.

External links

• Official website of Fitna (currently suspended)
• Fitna at IMDb
• Original Dutch and English versions of Fitna at LiveLeak
• Original Dutch, English and downloadable versions of Fitna at Wikileaks

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