Iranians urge Dutch to ban Wilders film
We've recently seen just how resolute Danish politicians can be when it comes to standing up for freedom of expression. We'll see how the Dutch shape up over the next few weeks as they are -*test*-('")ed to the limit over Geert Wilders' new film. From the BBC Iranians urge Dutch to ban film By Elettra Neysmith BBC News The Iranian government has intervened to try to stop the screening of a film in the Netherlands about the Koran. The Iranians say that the film, by the Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders, is offensive. The Iranian justice minister, Gholam Hussein Elham, wrote to his Dutch counterpart, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, calling for a ban. Mr Hussein Elham said freedom of speech should not be used as a cover for attacking moral and religious values. 'Freedom of expression' Mr Wilders says his film will show the Muslim holy book is an inspiration for murder. But the Iranian justice minister says it is an unnecessary attack on what Muslims regard as the holiest of things. He said the motivation behind the film was satanic and urged the Dutch government to stop its screening. Mr Wilders has already been advised that he may have to leave the country for his own safety. But the government has so far refused to intervene, saying the issue is one of freedom of expression. In 2004, the Dutch film director, Theo van Gogh, was killed by a Muslim extremist in an Amsterdam street after bringing out the film Submission. It dealt with the issue of abused Muslim women and included scenes of nearly naked women with Koranic texts engraved on their bodies.

Good article on Wilders from yesterday's Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/17/netherlands.islam

He deserves a lot of support, but I doubt he will get it from the gutless tossers in Euro-Gov land.

He's an interesting character who can't simply be filed away in a particular box: But if Wilders shares positions and aims with others on the far right in Europe, he is also a very specific Dutch phenomenon, viewing himself as a libertarian provocateur like the late Pim Fortuyn or Theo van Gogh, railing against 'Islamisation' as a threat to what used to be the easy-going Dutch model of tolerance. 'My allies are not Le Pen or Haider,' he emphasises. 'We'll never join up with the fascists and Mussolinis of Italy. I'm very afraid of being linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups.' Dutch iconoclasm, Scandinavian insistence on free expression, the right to provoke are what drive him, he says. It's incredible that one man has the power to cause such a stir. Perhaps we all do if we really wanted to...

Apparently Pakistan have blocked access to Youtube because of a promo for the new film by Wilders on Islam. Here's one I found earlier. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYS3PCBsJjE

Some in the Dutch establishment seem to be about to hyperventilate over the possible release of this film and the way that the Netherlands will be viewed, in certain countries, for failing to ban it. So, how about 'safety in numbers'? Let's all group together and explain freedom of expression and democracy to Muslims... From Radio Netherlands Europe should explain Wilders to world by Erik Hesen* 01-03-2008 Dutch MP Alexander Pechtold wants the Netherlands to form a common front with other European countries to explain to Muslims around the world why the anti-Qur'an film by right-wing MP Geert Wilders has not been banned. The leader of the democrat party D66 wants the Dutch government to do more to spell out what democracy and freedom of expression exactly stand for in Europe. The debate surrounding Mr Wilders' anti-Islam movie focuses too much on the Dutch context, according to Mr Pechtold. "The cabinet constantly warns Mr Wilders about the film's consequences. We should address ourselves more to other countries. Here we are accustomed to democracy and freedom of expression but not everyone abroad is. Elsewhere fundamentalists seize on these sort of films to preach hatred against the West. We have to explain what our fundamental rights represent. Maybe the prime minister should explain the matter on Al Jazeera. Or Mr Ahmed Aboutaleb , who speaks Arabic." Europe Mr Pechtold stresses, however, that the Netherlands should not go it alone but join forces with other European countries, which have a stake in this too. "The pro-*test*-('")s sparked by the Danish cartoons, for example, show this can happen to any country. In fact, we should now form a common front at the EU Council of Ministers. Democracy and freedom of expression are European inventions. But it now looks like each country is left to fend for itself." So far, the Netherlands doesn't appear to have been very successful in clarifying the situation. The prime minister has warned that Wilders' film could prompt violence against Dutch citizens and could even cause deaths. Mr Balkenende underlined there already are clear warnings. He noted that in Afghanistan the Taliban are threatening to step up their attacks on the Dutch troops there. He also mentioned fears among stewardesses to work on certain flights. And Development Minister Bert Koenders has been forced to cancel a planned trip to Somalia due to specific security threats. Double agendas Mr Pechthold does not, however, entirely share the prime minister's concerns. "Maybe things won't be so bad, because we are dealing with them now. It's hard to say. It all depends on how foreign regimes will exploit the movie. Foreign regimes often have double agendas. Iran's authorities are using this incident to try and counter economic sanctions. The thing to do, therefore, is to reach people directly, bypassing governments, to explain what democracy entails. I really regard democracy as an export product. We shouldn't just pursue economic interests but also strive to make people aware of our democratic values." Mr Pechtold stresses, however, that it's Mr Wilders' own responsibility to decide whether or not to broadcast the film. The Public Prosecutor only can determine whether the film breaches any constitutional rights once it has been shown. Mr Wilders appears undeterred by all the commotion. He dismissed the prime minister's warnings accusing the cabinet of capitulating to Islam, something he vowed he will never do.

The Dutch government is wobbling over the film. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/03/netherlands.islam

They are really worried and I do wonder just HOW worried they and their NATO allies are about the film. Just how far would they go to silence Wilders? From The International Herald Tribune Backlash begins even before Dutch lawmaker's anti-Quran film airs The Associated Press Published: March 3, 2008 THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Right-wing Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders calls his anti-Quran film "Fitna," an Arabic word that can be translated as discord or chaos. He could be describing the reaction to the film, which he said Monday he has finished but which nobody else has seen. Pro-*test*-('")ers have torched Dutch flags in Afghanistan. Pakistan tried to rein in YouTube. The Dutch prime minister says airline cabin crew are afraid to work on some flights. And a Cabinet minister postponed his trip to Somalia last Friday due to "specific threats" linked to the film. The Dutch government has been working for weeks to limit fallout in the Muslim world while also ordering security tightened at its embassies. It also has urged Wilders to voluntarily scrap his film for the sake of Dutch national interests and for the safety of its citizens abroad. Wilders has scorned the plea and accused the government of capitulation. NATO's Dutch secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, says he too is worried about the "potentially serious consequences" for alliance troops in Afghanistan, where 1,500 Dutch troops serve in the NATO-led force in the volatile south. "If they are put in the line of fire because of the film, I am concerned," he told Dutch television news show "Buitenhof." De Hoop Scheffer says people around the world, including some in the U.S. administration, have been asking him about the film. No wonder, considering the explosive nature of Wilders' comments about the film. It portrays, he says, Islam's holy book as a "fascist" text that incites violence and preaches the oppression of women and homosexuals. Wilders said Monday the 15-minute film is finished and he has begun negotiations with Dutch broadcasters about airing it. He said he will only allow them to show it in its entirety. If they refuse to show the whole film, he will call a news conference later this month to show it to media and post it on the Internet, he said. Pakistan's government ordered Internet providers to restrict access to YouTube, allegedly to prevent Pakistanis from accessing a clip of Wilders in which he makes derogatory remarks about Islam. The move inadvertently caused a worldwide outage of the video-sharing site. In Afghanistan, pro-*test*-('")ers set fire to Dutch flags this weekend and Islamic clerics called for the withdrawal of Dutch troops. Denunciations have rung out from Damascus, Tehran and other Muslim capitals. The film puts the centuries-old Dutch traditions of religious tolerance and freedom of speech on a collision course. "Our law is very clear — anybody can make a film. We have freedom of expression and you cannot restrict that," says Moroccan-born Sadik Harchaoui, chief of the Forum Institute for Multicultural Development. "Can you offend people? The answer is yes. I'm not saying you should do it or it is desirable, but you can," he added. "But if the film is insulting and preaches hate, then the law has to take action." If the film airs, Dutch Muslims are expected to file criminal complaints for racial or religious vilification. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to charge Wilders with any offense. The Dutch government says it cannot ban the film but is attempting to distance itself from Wilders, the 44-year-old leader of the Freedom Party, which holds nine of Parliament's 150 seats. "It is our responsibility to make clear to everyone that the views and actions of this one elected representative are not those of the government," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a televised press conference last week. "We defend the core values of freedom and respect. We guarantee freedom of expression and of religion, for Muslims as for everyone else." Wilders says the government's reaction so far has only served to fan reactions overseas. "It is a self-fulfilling prophesy," he said. Wilders believes the Netherlands needs to change its attitude to newcomers. "We have never learned to be intolerant toward people who are intolerant toward us, toward cultures that are intolerant toward us," he said in a recent Associated Press interview. The film is the la-*test*-('") attack on Islam by the maverick legislator. He has previously warned of a "tsunami" of Islam swamping the Netherlands and said Muslims should tear up half of the Quran if they want to live here. Wilders has lived under round-the-clock security since the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic radical enraged by Van Gogh's short film, "Submission," a fictional study of abused Muslim women with scenes of near-naked women with Quranic texts engraved on their flesh.