'Fitna' fits-up Islam

Wilders' popularity in The Netherlands waxes and wanes depending on the climate of fear at any given time. It declined once the furore of Van Gogh's death subsided but peaked again after the Danish cartoons scandal in 2005-06. In the week following the airing of Fitna, Wilders' life has, predictably, been threatened numerous times. He has 24-hour police protection, no permanent address and cannot spend more than two consecutive nights in the same safe house. He claims he has acted in the name of freedom of speech but one wonders if this is really the case.

Other Dutch MPs have denounced him as a political arsonist. His popularity is dwindling again in the polls. The Dutch Parliament is even considering bringing charges against him. This has led to an online petition in his defence calling for a boycott of Dutch goods (ironically, so are many Muslims). But was Wilders really acting in the name of free speech or in the name of hatred? After all, this is the man who has called on the Koran to be banned, without apparently any sense of irony.

At some 600 years younger than Christianity, Islam has yet to undergo a Reformation and perhaps it is the case that Islam and the West are at a crossroads. Certainly many fundamentalist Muslims cannot accept criticism of their religion. But does Fitna encourage a dialogue with Islam or does is only demonise?

Mohammed Rabbae, Chairman of the National Moroccan Council of the Netherlands, has appealed for calm saying,"We want to tell our Muslims brothers and sisters abroad, in the Middle East, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia etc, that we as Muslims in the Netherlands are best positioned to analyse the situation in the Netherlands, and to determine the response to Wilders and others … I am appealing to our brothers and sisters abroad to follow our strategy, not to frustrate our strategy by any violent incidents or an attack to a Dutch embassy".

From this statement, one could deduce that contrary to Wilders' claims, not all Muslims are inherently violent and some are actually willing to engage in peaceful dialogue.

A quick look at some right-wing websites and blogs reveals that Fitna is being hailed as one of the most important documentaries of our time. The film is even bookended with one of the infamous Danish cartoons featuring the prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb in his turban and the sound of a ticking clock. In the end, of course, the bomb detonates. There is no other possible outcome: Islam is intent on destroying the world.

Fitna is a call to arms for those who hate Muslims, but unlike a real documentary, it does not analyse its subject, it does not defend its premise with more than the most superficial evidence, it does not offer any alternative points of view, and it does not offer any solutions to the questions it raises. In fact, Fitna raises far more questions than it answers. In this respect, it is not part of the solution, merely another flame added to the anti-Muslim fire that is raging in the West.