Dutch Film Producer Faces Prosecution for Insulting Muslims: How Do You Say "Free Speech" in Dutch?

by Susan L Rosenbluth
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
February 5, 2009

http://www.legal-project.org/165/dutch-film-producer-faces-prosecution-for

On Wednesday, Jan 21, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ordered the criminal prosecution of a nationalist Member of Parliament and filmmaker on charges that his statements on Islamist extremism—written, spoken, and filmed—"incited hatred and discrimination" against Muslims.

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders produced the controversial 16-minute film, entitled "Fitna" ( which means "Strife" or "Sedition" in Arabic) a year ago. It depicts the violence and intolerance associated with Islamist extremism. Citing quotations from the Quran, the film shows how extremists interpret the passages and then act on them to commit murder and mayhem.

The first half of the film intersperses Quranic passages calling for violence, usually against non-Muslims, with newspaper and TV clips depicting threats and acts of violent jihad.

The narrative is comprised of quotes from the Quran which encourage the faithful to commit violence and even murder against "infidels." Many of the scenes show imams preaching death to the Jews.

Next to an imam who swings a sword in an unmistakable threat to behead any Jews within his reach, are the quotes from the Quran which give approbation to his threatened violence.

To continue reading this article, please see the February issue of the Jewish Voice and Opinion, pages 23-29, available online here.

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