UN Condemns Dutch Anti-Islam Film
Source; Alalam TV, 29-03-2008
THE HAGUE--UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has joined Muslim nations in expressing outrage over an anti-Islam film posted on the Internet by an extremist Dutch MP.
UN chief Ban called Geert Wilders' film offensive while Iran and Bangladesh warned it could have grave consequences and Pakistan protested to the Dutch ambassador.
Ban said in a statement that he condemns in the strongest terms the airing of Geert Wilders' offensively anti-Islamic film.
"There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free speech is not at stake here", he said.
The screening was a calculated "insult to the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world," according to the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
"The film is a deliberate act of discrimination against Muslims, incitement for hatred and an act of defamation of religions which is solely intended to incite and provoke unrest and intolerance among people of different religious beliefs," said OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.
The "Fitna" video, which features violent imagery of terror attacks in New York and Madrid intertwined with Qua'nic texts, was posted on the internet on Thursday.
Morocco's Communications Minister Khalid Naciri called Wilders "mentally retarded".
However, an extremist Czech nationalist party said Friday it had posted "Fitna" with Czech subtitles on its website.
"We think it is important to show this film. For Christian Europe, Islam is a greater danger than Nazism. We are trying to show people what this danger is," said National Party spokesman Pavel Sedlacek.
European Muslims were angered by a separate plan by a theatre in Potsdam, Germany to stage the world premiere of a play based on Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses".
The president of the German Islamic Council, Ali Kizilkaya, said that "the religious sentiments of Muslims are being treated in a provocative manner".
The late founder of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Khomeini, issued a fatwa -- or religious decree -- in 1989 calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie for insulting Islam through his blasphemous book.
On Wilders, Iran said the 17-minute film showed Westerners were waging a "vendetta" against Islam, and warned of repercussions.
A Jordanian media coalition said it would take Wilders to court and launch a campaign to boycott Dutch products.
In Karachi, Pakistan, supporters of the Islamic party Jamaat-i-Islami staged a protest, chanting "Death to the filmmaker."
In an interview with AFP on Friday, Wilders rejected any responsibility for any retaliation against Dutch nationals or interests abroad.
"I hope it doesn't happen but even if it does the people who commit such acts are responsible, not me," he said, pointing to a quiet first night in the Netherlands.
Fearing a repeat of violent clashes that followed the publication in 2005 of blasphemous cartoons depicting the prophet of Islam in Danish newspapers, the Dutch government has distanced itself from Wilders' film.
A poll published Friday showed that almost a third of all Dutch people had seen the film or parts of the film -- although the TNS Nipo polling institute said fears over reprisals lessened after viewing.
But Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende warned against drawing easy conclusions.
"We are not past it yet... Sometimes it can take months before the true repercussions are felt," he told journalists.
The public prosecutor's office in the Netherlands is scrutinizing the film to see if it breaks Dutch law. Wilders claims the film is legal.
THE HAGUE--UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has joined Muslim nations in expressing outrage over an anti-Islam film posted on the Internet by an extremist Dutch MP.
UN chief Ban called Geert Wilders' film offensive while Iran and Bangladesh warned it could have grave consequences and Pakistan protested to the Dutch ambassador.
Ban said in a statement that he condemns in the strongest terms the airing of Geert Wilders' offensively anti-Islamic film.
"There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free speech is not at stake here", he said.
The screening was a calculated "insult to the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world," according to the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
"The film is a deliberate act of discrimination against Muslims, incitement for hatred and an act of defamation of religions which is solely intended to incite and provoke unrest and intolerance among people of different religious beliefs," said OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.
The "Fitna" video, which features violent imagery of terror attacks in New York and Madrid intertwined with Qua'nic texts, was posted on the internet on Thursday.
Morocco's Communications Minister Khalid Naciri called Wilders "mentally retarded".
However, an extremist Czech nationalist party said Friday it had posted "Fitna" with Czech subtitles on its website.
"We think it is important to show this film. For Christian Europe, Islam is a greater danger than Nazism. We are trying to show people what this danger is," said National Party spokesman Pavel Sedlacek.
European Muslims were angered by a separate plan by a theatre in Potsdam, Germany to stage the world premiere of a play based on Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses".
The president of the German Islamic Council, Ali Kizilkaya, said that "the religious sentiments of Muslims are being treated in a provocative manner".
The late founder of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Khomeini, issued a fatwa -- or religious decree -- in 1989 calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie for insulting Islam through his blasphemous book.
On Wilders, Iran said the 17-minute film showed Westerners were waging a "vendetta" against Islam, and warned of repercussions.
A Jordanian media coalition said it would take Wilders to court and launch a campaign to boycott Dutch products.
In Karachi, Pakistan, supporters of the Islamic party Jamaat-i-Islami staged a protest, chanting "Death to the filmmaker."
In an interview with AFP on Friday, Wilders rejected any responsibility for any retaliation against Dutch nationals or interests abroad.
"I hope it doesn't happen but even if it does the people who commit such acts are responsible, not me," he said, pointing to a quiet first night in the Netherlands.
Fearing a repeat of violent clashes that followed the publication in 2005 of blasphemous cartoons depicting the prophet of Islam in Danish newspapers, the Dutch government has distanced itself from Wilders' film.
A poll published Friday showed that almost a third of all Dutch people had seen the film or parts of the film -- although the TNS Nipo polling institute said fears over reprisals lessened after viewing.
But Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende warned against drawing easy conclusions.
"We are not past it yet... Sometimes it can take months before the true repercussions are felt," he told journalists.
The public prosecutor's office in the Netherlands is scrutinizing the film to see if it breaks Dutch law. Wilders claims the film is legal.
