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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 view 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". Geert Wilders also announced his next project, which will offer his view on Christianity and the Bible, which was actually scheduled before the Fitna project.

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 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.

Content

The sixteen minute movie shows a selection of Suras from the Qur'an, interspersed with partial newspaper clippings and media clips. The movie is accompanied by music from the Peer Gynt suite by Edvard Grieg, specifically Aase's Death (Aase is the mother of Per in the play written by Henrik Ibsen).

The movie starts with a warning, stating that the movie contains "very shocking images". During the title screen, a book is subsequently opened that resembles the Qur'an. A page in the book contains a cartoon from the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, showing the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb on his head. Next to the cartoon, a timer starts counting down from 15 minutes.

The first Sura is introduced, accompanied with Qur'anic recital and English subtitles.

Suras are juxtaposed to video clips of Imams stating Islamic teaching, and videos of violent atrocities committed in the name of Islam. The source for the English translations is unstated.

Al-Anfal, the first Sura of the film, is translated as: "Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able of gathering, to strike terror, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies, of Allah and your enemies." Footage of 9/11 is shown, followed by the Madrid train bombings. An Imam declares, "Allah is happy when non-muslims get killed."

The next Sura, An-Nisa, is shown as a justification for Islamic antisemitism. An Imam raising a sword declares: "A Jew is hiding behind me, come and cut off his head. And we shall cut off his head! By Allah, we shall cut it off! Oh Jews! Allahu Akbar! Jihad for the sake of Allah!" An auditorium of several hundred people respond with approving chants and fist shaking.

Following this, a three year old Muslim girl, named Basmallah, calls Jews "apes and pigs" during an interview on Saudi Arabian television channel, Iqra TV. More antisemitism is shown by another Imam, who states: "The Jews are Jews. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed." Child soldiers are shown uniformed and holding guns.

Still pictures of demonstrators holding banners declaring "God Bless Hitler" and "Be Prepared For the Real Holocaust" are shown.

Sura 47, Verse 4 is shown in relation to the murder of Theo Van Gogh, committed by Mohammed Bouyeri. Bouyeri is reported as saying: "If I had the opportunity to get out of prison, and I had the opportunity to do it again, what I did on November 2nd, Allah I would have done exactly the same." Protesters are shown supporting Van Gogh's murder, warning others to heed lessons or "pay with your blood".

Dutch newspaper headlines are reproduced, outlining intimidating threats of murder to prominent questioners of Islam, followed by footage of Jack Hensley's beheading. Hensley's decapitated head is shown held up by Al-Qaeda terrorists.

Sura 4 is heard, and is used to demonstrate Islam's Ummah ideal. The Sura is translated here as: "They but wish that ye should reject faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing as they, so take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah. But if they turn renegades, seize them and kill them wherever ye find them, and take no friends or helpers from their ranks." This is shown through a Vox pop: "If someone converts to Christianity, he deserves the death penalty."

An Imam declares: "Islam is (more) superior than the Jews, than the Christians, than the Buddhists, than the Hindus. The only (law) Allah accepts is Islam."

The final Suma shown is Sura 8, verse 39: "Fight them until there is no dissension, and the religion is entirely Allah's." This reinforces the previous segment, with Imams delivering proclamations of Islamic superiority to followers:

• "Islam is a religion that wants to rule the world. It has done so before and eventually will rule it again."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, of Iran, states:

• "The message of the {Islamic} Revolution is global, and is not restricted to a specific place or time. Have no doubt... Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world."

Another Imam says to his supporters,

• "We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again! The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world!"

The final segment of the film deals with issues related to Islam in the Netherlands, under the heading: "The Netherlands under the spell of islam". These issues include Islam's opposition to democracy, opposition to homosexuals, opposition to women's rights, and immigration.

An unidentified person claims that "The mosque will be part of the system of the government of Holland", in an apparant refusal to accept liberal democracy. Wilders' political ambitions may be found more readily here, as shown through his use of juxtaposing a newspaper headline "Cabinet: no ban on burqa" against a Muslim woman fully covered up. A graph illustrating the number of Muslims in Holland since 1909 is shown, against a background of Muslim women. An apartment building is shown with many satellite dishes, which may be symbolic of immigrants. Dutch police are shown removing their shoes before entering a mosque.

A Dutch Muslim says he will enact an honor killing if his mother or sister "have sex with someone else". Another refuses to accept adultery or homosexuality, saying that "Islam considers something like that a crime."

A postcard is shown, purportedly from Holland, with pictures of mosques in place of visitor attractions, with the words "Groeten uit Nederland" superimposed.

Audio recordings that are said to have been taken from mosques in Holland show Imams denouncing political parties, "worldly concepts like liberalism democracy." Another states that adulterers must be "stoned" to death. A graphic image of gays being hanged, under Sharia law is a depiction of a possible future dystopia of Holland. Children are shown with blood covering their faces, after being cut with knives by older people. Female circumcision is implied, and a decapitated woman's head is shown laying on a floor. Another woman dressed in a burqa is shot through the head by a man.

Finally, a succession of newspaper headlines are shown, containing stories related to Islam in the Netherlands, their views, actions, ambitions and politics. Some verified headlines are:

• "Sudanese demand execution of British 'miss teddy bear'" (see Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case)
• Almost half of young Moroccans anti-western"
• Moroccans throw gay in water"
• "Throw gays from tall buildings"
• "Al-Qaeda proclaims death penalty Jihad against Wilders"

The movie ends with a hand seen gripping a page of the Qur'an. As the frame goes black, a tearing sound is heard and the following rolls over the screen:

The sound you heard was a page being removed from the phonebook

For it is not up to me, but to Muslims themselves
to tear out the hateful verses from the Qur'an

Muslims want you to make way for Islam
but Islam does not make way for you

The Government insists that you respect Islam,
but Islam has no respect for you

Islam wants to rule, submit (sic), and seeks
to destroy our western civilization

In 1945, Nazism was defeated in Europe
In 1989, Communism was defeated in Europe

Now the Islamic ideology has to be defeated

Stop Islamisation

Defend our Freedom

After these lines have scrolled over the screen, the cartoon that was also shown during the start of the movie is shown, that resembles the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, carrying a bomb on his head, and the counter next to the image reaches zero. A lightning flash is shown, followed by the ending title screen, in which the book that resembles the Qur'an is closed and the characters of "Fitna" blur to "Fin".

Themes

Wilders has said the 15-minute film will show how verses from the Qur'an are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically based on those verses.

Wilders has described the film as "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization"

Suras

Parts of the following Suras are mentioned in Fitna, in order of appearance:

Factual errors

• When referring to the murder of Theo van Gogh, instead of showing the murderer (Mohammed Bouyeri)'s face, a picture of the Dutch rapper Salah Edin is displayed.

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 is posted which claims 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.The shutdown was followed by extensive criticism of Network Solutions' alleged hypocrisy in hosting the domain of Hezbollah, an entity that America and the Netherlands (along with four other countries) designate as a terrorist organization.

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” and “extremely relieved”. A worldwide violent reaction is not expected, 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 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 is upset because his cartoon is used in the film without his permission. He believes this is a copyright infringement, and has asked the newspaper Jyllands-Posten to take legal steps. Kurt Westergaard says his cartoon was aimed against Islamic terrorists, not against Islam as a religion.

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External links

• Official website of Fitna (currently suspended)
• Fitna at IMDb
• Original Dutch and English versions of Fitna at LiveLeak
• WikiLeaks page on Fitna