Arab Leaders Denounce Fitna

Fitna, the anti-Islam film by Dutch politician and filmmaker Geert Wilders, has met with fervent criticism from leaders of the Arab and Islamic world. The Arab and Muslim leaders protesting against the movie asked for international laws to be put in place to act as a deterrent to anyone trying to shower insult on religion.

The film contains comments and statements from radical clerics of Islam. It goes on to depict the scenes of mass destruction from 9/11 and other terrorist attacks perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists, the visuals interspersed with verses from the Quran.

Wilders, an anti-immigrant politician in The Netherlands, said the reason he made the movie was because he felt that Islam and its holy book, the Quran, posed serious threats to the safety of freedom in the long run in The Netherlands. He said it was his duty to warn the people of his country of the dangers the two posed.

The title of the 15-minute film translates literally to ‘ordeal’ in Arabic, has been condemned by leaders from the capitals of all Islamic countries. This is the second instance of a body of work offending the sensibilities of Muslims across the world. Earlier, the publishing of cartoons depicting Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, in a Danish newspaper had led to widespread protests and violence by Muslims across the world.

The film threatens to create a major international and diplomatic fear. The streets of Pakistan witnessed protests after the movie found its way to the Internet on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of The Netherlands to its offices to lodge an official complaint against the movie. The ministry’s complaint termed the movie ‘a defamatory film that deeply offended the sentiments of Muslims all over the world.’

In Sudan, President Omar Al-Bashir asked Muslims attending an Arab summit in Damascus to ‘challenge those who insult’ the prophet. President Al-Bashir also called for a ‘binding international charter’ that would ensure people across the world showed respect to the religious beliefs of fellow humans.

In a statement, Al-Bashir said, “The offenses against our Arab and Islamic nations under the banner of freedom of expression are derogatory and defamatory and go against all human values.”

Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit of the Egyptian government issued a statement in Cairo, calling the movie by Wilder a ‘humiliation’ to Islam. The Organization of the Islamic Conference, based out of Jeddah, said in a statement that Wilder’s movie had been shot to foment hatred among people of other religions against Islam.

In its statement, the OIC said the movie intended to ‘incite disturbances, conflict, and to threaten the security and stability of the world. According to Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary-general of the OIC said in Damascus during the Arab Summit that the film, along with the earlier cartoons, had managed to achieve nothing else than boost anti-Islamic sentiments among the people of the West.

Ihsanoglu called the timing of the movie launch critical. He, however, lauded the Dutch government for staying away from any association with the film in any form. The film has seen objections being raised not just in Islamic countries, but also in the European Union.

The 27 EU foreign ministers issued a joint statement condemning the movie. The statement came about after a meeting that stretched across two days in Slovenia. The statement read, “This view is sharply rejected. The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence.”