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Fitna (film)
Encyclopedia
Fitna is a 2008 short political
, propaganda film
by Dutch
parliamentarian Geert Wilders
with his view on the religion
of the Islam
. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Sura
s of the Qur'an
, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or describing acts of violence and/or hatred by Muslim
s. The film attempts to demonstrate that the Qur'an motivates its followers to hate all who violate Islamic teachings.
Consequently, the film argues that Islam encourages—among other things—acts of terrorism
, antisemitism, violence against women
, violence and subjugation of "infidels" and against homosexuals and Islamic universalism
. A large part of the film details the influence of Islam on the Netherlands
. The film was published on the internet
in 2008. Shortly before its release, its announcement was suspended from its website by the American provider because of the perceived controversy. It stirred a still continuing debate in the Netherlands
as well as abroad, and a criminal prosecution
.
The Arabic title-word "fitna" means "disagreement and division among people" or a "test of faith in times of trial". Wilders, a prominent critic of Islam, described the film as "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization
".
On 27 March 2008, Fitna was released to the Internet on the video sharing website
Liveleak
in Dutch
and English
versions. The following day, Liveleak removed the film from their servers, citing serious threats to their staff. On 30 March, Fitna was restored on Liveleak following a security upgrade, only to be removed again shortly afterwards by Wilders himself because of copyright violations. A second edition was released later.
(or PVV) foundation commissioned the film. It contracted a production company
credited in the film as "Scarlet Pimpernel Productions", a pseudonym
adopted out of fear of reprisal. In fact large parts of the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
written by Wayne Kopping and Raphael Shore
were copied.
Having failed to successfully negotiate a transmission of the film with any Dutch television station
, Wilders created a website, www.fitnathemovie.com, on 5 March 2008 with the intention of releasing the film. However, this was subsequently suspended (see below).
On 22 March, the Dutch Muslim Broadcasting Association (NMO) offered to air the film, on the proviso that it could be previewed for any possible illegal material and that Wilders would take part in a debate with proponents and opponents afterwards. Wilders declined, quoted as saying "No way, NMO."
Wilders released the film on 27 March 2008 on the video website Liveleak. The following day, Liveleak removed the film from their servers after receiving threats that they described as being "of a very serious nature". The film soon appeared on various BitTorrent and video sharing
websites.
Liveleak reinstated Fitna on 30 March, after security upgrades offering increased protection to its staff had been implemented. Soon after, Wilders withdrew the film to make some minor edits, such as removing the copyrighted Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and the photograph of Salah Edin, a rapper wrongly identified as Mohammed Bouyeri
, in response to lawsuit
s. Kurt Westergaard
, the cartoonist, was pleased with the news and believed the lawsuit would be dropped. In September 2008, Wilders agreed to pay Westergaard 7500 euro
s for using his Jyllands-Posten cartoon without permission.
A revised edition, containing a new cartoon in place of the contentious one, and a corrected picture of Bouyeri, was released on Liveleak on 6 April.
" was organized at the Begin Center in Jerusalem. Those present included Geert Wilders, Arieh Eldad, Robert Spencer, Itamar Marcus
, Daniel Pipes
, Shlomo Sharan and John David Lewis. During the conference the film Fitna was shown, it was distributed to all conference participants, and it was announced that the film would be shown in several European parliaments. The Ruder Finn
PR company organized the conference and set up the group's website, and are also actively distributing the film. Ruder Finn has been distributing the film for free.
During February 2009, Geert Wilders visited (or planned to visit) several European capitals to present the Fitna. He was barred from entering the UK, but his film was nonetheless shown in the House of Lords. Wilders also presented Fitna in Rome on 13 February 2009. The press releases to promote the showing in both cases was done by Ruder Finn.
s from the Qur'an, interspersed with newspaper clippings and media clips with The Arabian Dance
and Åses død
as an underscore.
," and a push for a Leidcultuur, a culture
that "draws on Christian
, Jewish
, humanistic
traditions and that poses a challenge to the Islamic problem."
The film starts with a warning to the viewer that the film contains "very shocking images". A caricature
of the Prophet Muhammad
with a bomb on his head is shown next to a timer
counting down from 15 minutes.
Sura
s are juxtaposed to video clips of Imam
s stating Islamic teaching
, and videos of violent atrocities committed in the name of Islam, including major terrorist attacks.
The first Sura of the film, Al-Anfal
verse 60, is translated as: Footage
of the September 11 attacks
is shown, followed by the Madrid train bombings
. An unidentified Imam rises above the smoke and declares "Allah is happy when non-muslims get killed." Stills taken from the 7 July 2005 London bombings
show an exploded bus and the underground train
.
The next Sura, An-Nisa
verse 56, is shown as a justification for Islamic antisemitism. Sheikh
Bakr Al-Samarai is shown raising a sword while declaring: "If Allah permits us, oh nation of Mohammed, even the stone will say Oh Muslim. A Jew is hiding behind me, come and cut off his head. And we shall cut off his head! By Allah
, we shall cut it off! Oh Jews! Allahu Akbar!
Jihad
for the sake of Allah!" An auditorium of several hundred people respond with approving chants and fist shaking.
Following this, a three year old Muslim girl, says that Jews are "apes and pigs" because "Allah" said so "in the Qur'an" in an interview on Iqraa TV
. More antisemitism is shown by an unidentified Imam, who says: "The Jews are Jews. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed." Child soldiers
in uniform
are shown holding guns.
Sura 47
, verse 4 is shown in relation to the murder of Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh
, committed by Mohammed Bouyeri
. Bouyeri is reported as saying: "If I had the opportunity to get out of prison, and I had the opportunity to do it again, what I did on November 2nd, Allah I would have done exactly the same." Protesters are shown supporting Van Gogh's murder, warning others to heed the lesson or "pay with your blood".
Dutch newspaper headlines are reproduced, outlining intimidating
threats of murder to prominent critics of Islam
, followed by footage of Eugene Armstrong's beheading. Armstrong's disembodied head is shown held up by Al-Qaeda
terrorists.
, verse 89 is heard, and translated here as: This is shown through a Vox populi
: "If someone converts to Christianity, he deserves the death penalty", which refers to the punishment of death for apostasy in Islam
. An unidentified Imam declares: "Islam is (more) superior than the Jews, than the Christians, than the Buddhists, than the Hindus. The only (law) Allah accepts is Islam." A short video clip
shows ethnic Albanians
attacking a Serbian Orthodox Church
in Kosovo
during the 2004 unrest
.
Headlines concerning assaults and death threats to former Muslims Ehsan Jami
, Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali
are shown.
The final Sura used in the film is Sura 8, verse 39:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran
is quoted as saying:
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, propaganda film
Propaganda film
The term propaganda can be defined as the ability to produce and spread fertile messages that, once sown, will germinate in large human cultures.” However, in the 20th century, a “new” propaganda emerged, which revolved around political organizations and their need to communicate messages that...
by Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
parliamentarian Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
with his view on the religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
of the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Sura
Sura
A sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
s of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or describing acts of violence and/or hatred by Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s. The film attempts to demonstrate that the Qur'an motivates its followers to hate all who violate Islamic teachings.
Consequently, the film argues that Islam encourages—among other things—acts of terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, antisemitism, violence against women
Violence against women
Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...
, violence and subjugation of "infidels" and against homosexuals and Islamic universalism
Universalism
Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
. A large part of the film details the influence of Islam on the Netherlands
Islam in the Netherlands
The history of Islam in the Netherlands started in the 19th century when the Netherlands experienced sporadic Muslim migration from the Dutch East Indies when it was a colony from the Netherlands...
. The film was published on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
in 2008. Shortly before its release, its announcement was suspended from its website by the American provider because of the perceived controversy. It stirred a still continuing debate in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
as well as abroad, and a criminal prosecution
Trial of Geert Wilders
A trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders took place in the Netherlands in 2010–2011. Wilders was accused of criminally insulting religious and ethnic groups and inciting hatred and discrimination...
.
The Arabic title-word "fitna" means "disagreement and division among people" or a "test of faith in times of trial". Wilders, a prominent critic of Islam, described the film as "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
".
On 27 March 2008, Fitna was released to the Internet on the video sharing website
Video hosting service
A video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video...
Liveleak
Liveleak
LiveLeak is a video sharing website that lets users post and share videos. Liveleak places emphasis on current events, politics and reality-based footage such as war scenes from various parts of the world.The site went live on October 31, 2006...
in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
versions. The following day, Liveleak removed the film from their servers, citing serious threats to their staff. On 30 March, Fitna was restored on Liveleak following a security upgrade, only to be removed again shortly afterwards by Wilders himself because of copyright violations. A second edition was released later.
Production
The Friends of the Party for FreedomParty for Freedom
The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It...
(or PVV) foundation commissioned the film. It contracted a production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
credited in the film as "Scarlet Pimpernel Productions", a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
adopted out of fear of reprisal. In fact large parts of the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2005 documentary film about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using extensive Arab television footage it claims to give an 'insider's view' of the hatred preached by radicals to incite global...
written by Wayne Kopping and Raphael Shore
Raphael Shore
Raphael Shore is an Canadian-Israeli film writer, producer, and rabbi. He is the founder of The Clarion Fund, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance the idea that the United States faces a threat of radical Islam....
were copied.
Release
The exact nature of Fitnas release had been uncertain up until its official launch. This was due to concerns of the legality of its content and anticipated acts of terrorism. The Dutch press centre Nieuwspoort offered to release the film, on the condition that Wilders would pay for the increased security required during the press conference and the weeks after it. Wilders declined to do so, citing prohibitive costs.Having failed to successfully negotiate a transmission of the film with any Dutch television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
, Wilders created a website, www.fitnathemovie.com, on 5 March 2008 with the intention of releasing the film. However, this was subsequently suspended (see below).
On 22 March, the Dutch Muslim Broadcasting Association (NMO) offered to air the film, on the proviso that it could be previewed for any possible illegal material and that Wilders would take part in a debate with proponents and opponents afterwards. Wilders declined, quoted as saying "No way, NMO."
Wilders released the film on 27 March 2008 on the video website Liveleak. The following day, Liveleak removed the film from their servers after receiving threats that they described as being "of a very serious nature". The film soon appeared on various BitTorrent and video sharing
Video hosting service
A video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video...
websites.
Liveleak reinstated Fitna on 30 March, after security upgrades offering increased protection to its staff had been implemented. Soon after, Wilders withdrew the film to make some minor edits, such as removing the copyrighted Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and the photograph of Salah Edin, a rapper wrongly identified as Mohammed Bouyeri
Mohammed Bouyeri
Mohammed Bouyeri is an Islamist Dutch–Moroccan and convicted murderer. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh. He holds both Dutch and Moroccan citizenship...
, in response to lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s. Kurt Westergaard
Kurt Westergaard
Kurt Westergaard is a Danish cartoonist who created the controversial cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb in his turban. This cartoon was the most contentious of the 12 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons, which met with strong and sometimes violent reactions from Muslims worldwide...
, the cartoonist, was pleased with the news and believed the lawsuit would be dropped. In September 2008, Wilders agreed to pay Westergaard 7500 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s for using his Jyllands-Posten cartoon without permission.
A revised edition, containing a new cartoon in place of the contentious one, and a corrected picture of Bouyeri, was released on Liveleak on 6 April.
Ruder Finn distributing the film
On 14 December 2008, a conference entitled "Facing JihadFacing Jihad Conference
The Facing Jihad conference was a two-day conference about the dangers of Jihad, held in Jerusalem on December 14, 2008. The speakers included Aryeh Eldad, Geert Wilders, Itamar Marcus, David Bukay and Daniel Pipes. Ayaan Hirsi Ali also received an invitation. During the conference Wilders showed...
" was organized at the Begin Center in Jerusalem. Those present included Geert Wilders, Arieh Eldad, Robert Spencer, Itamar Marcus
Itamar Marcus
Itamar Marcus is an Israeli political activist, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, which studies Palestinian society by monitoring and analyzing the Palestinian Authority through its media and schoolbooks....
, Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, Shlomo Sharan and John David Lewis. During the conference the film Fitna was shown, it was distributed to all conference participants, and it was announced that the film would be shown in several European parliaments. The Ruder Finn
Ruder Finn
Ruder Finn is an United States public relations firm founded in 1948 by David Finn and William Ruder.Ruder Finn is a privately held, family-owned company that employs more than 600 people...
PR company organized the conference and set up the group's website, and are also actively distributing the film. Ruder Finn has been distributing the film for free.
During February 2009, Geert Wilders visited (or planned to visit) several European capitals to present the Fitna. He was barred from entering the UK, but his film was nonetheless shown in the House of Lords. Wilders also presented Fitna in Rome on 13 February 2009. The press releases to promote the showing in both cases was done by Ruder Finn.
Plot
The film shows a selection of SuraSura
A sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
s from the Qur'an, interspersed with newspaper clippings and media clips with The Arabian Dance
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
and Åses død
Peer Gynt Suites
Peer Gynt, Op. 23 is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play of the same name, written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania ....
as an underscore.
Themes
Wilders said the 15-minute film shows how verses from the Qur'an are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically based on those verses. He later described the film as "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of IslamizationIslamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
," and a push for a Leidcultuur, a culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
that "draws on Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, humanistic
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
traditions and that poses a challenge to the Islamic problem."
The Qur'an and terrorism
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
of the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
with a bomb on his head is shown next to a timer
Timer
A timer is a specialized type of clock. A timer can be used to control the sequence of an event or process. Whereas a stopwatch counts upwards from zero for measuring elapsed time, a timer counts down from a specified time interval, like an hourglass.Timers can be mechanical, electromechanical,...
counting down from 15 minutes.
Sura
Sura
A sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
s are juxtaposed to video clips of Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
s stating Islamic teaching
Islamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
, and videos of violent atrocities committed in the name of Islam, including major terrorist attacks.
The first Sura of the film, Al-Anfal
Al-Anfal
Sura Al-Anfal is the eighth chapter of the Qur'an, with 75 verses. It is a Medinan sura, completed after theBattle of Badr. It forms a pair with the next sura, At-Tawba.-Badr:...
verse 60, is translated as: Footage
Footage
In filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...
of the September 11 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
is shown, followed by the Madrid train bombings
11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
The Madrid train bombings consisted of a series of coordinated bombings against the Cercanías system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 , killing 191 people and wounding 1,800...
. An unidentified Imam rises above the smoke and declares "Allah is happy when non-muslims get killed." Stills taken from the 7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
show an exploded bus and the underground train
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
.
The next Sura, An-Nisa
An-Nisa
Sura An-Nisa is the fourth chapter of the Qur'an, with 176 verses. It is a Medinan sura...
verse 56, is shown as a justification for Islamic antisemitism. Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
Bakr Al-Samarai is shown raising a sword while declaring: "If Allah permits us, oh nation of Mohammed, even the stone will say Oh Muslim. A Jew is hiding behind me, come and cut off his head. And we shall cut off his head! By Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
, we shall cut it off! Oh Jews! Allahu Akbar!
Takbir
The Takbīr or Tekbir is the Arabic term for the phrase ' . It is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression...
Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
for the sake of Allah!" An auditorium of several hundred people respond with approving chants and fist shaking.
Following this, a three year old Muslim girl, says that Jews are "apes and pigs" because "Allah" said so "in the Qur'an" in an interview on Iqraa TV
Iqraa TV
Iqraa TV is a satellite and internet television channel owned by Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel's Arab Media Corporation. It was founded in 1998. The channel promotes itself as a "Muslim family's safe haven", presenting religious and social programming...
. More antisemitism is shown by an unidentified Imam, who says: "The Jews are Jews. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed." Child soldiers
Military use of children
The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
in uniform
Uniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
are shown holding guns.
Sura 47
Muhammad (sura)
Surat Muhammad is the 47th sura of the Qur'an with 38 [[Sura]]t Muhammad is the 47th sura of the [[Qur'an]] with 38...
, verse 4 is shown in relation to the murder of Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh
Theo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
, committed by Mohammed Bouyeri
Mohammed Bouyeri
Mohammed Bouyeri is an Islamist Dutch–Moroccan and convicted murderer. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh. He holds both Dutch and Moroccan citizenship...
. Bouyeri is reported as saying: "If I had the opportunity to get out of prison, and I had the opportunity to do it again, what I did on November 2nd, Allah I would have done exactly the same." Protesters are shown supporting Van Gogh's murder, warning others to heed the lesson or "pay with your blood".
Dutch newspaper headlines are reproduced, outlining intimidating
Intimidation
Intimidation is intentional behavior "which would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of injury or harm. It's not necessary to prove that the behavior was so violent as to cause terror or that the victim was actually frightened.Criminal threatening is the crime of intentionally or...
threats of murder to prominent critics of Islam
Criticism of Islam
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
, followed by footage of Eugene Armstrong's beheading. Armstrong's disembodied head is shown held up by Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
terrorists.
The Qur'an as a means for Islamic universalism
Sura 4An-Nisa
Sura An-Nisa is the fourth chapter of the Qur'an, with 176 verses. It is a Medinan sura...
, verse 89 is heard, and translated here as: This is shown through a Vox populi
Vox populi
Vox populi , a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".-Vox pop, the man on the street:...
: "If someone converts to Christianity, he deserves the death penalty", which refers to the punishment of death for apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined in Islam as the rejection in word or deed of one's former religion by a person who was previously a follower of Islam...
. An unidentified Imam declares: "Islam is (more) superior than the Jews, than the Christians, than the Buddhists, than the Hindus. The only (law) Allah accepts is Islam." A short video clip
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
shows ethnic Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
attacking a Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
during the 2004 unrest
2004 unrest in Kosovo
Violent unrest in Kosovo, which at the time was under United Nations administration, broke out on 17 March 2004. Kosovo Albanians, numbering over 50,000, took part in widescale attacks on the Serbian people, compared by the then Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica to ethnic cleansing but not...
.
Headlines concerning assaults and death threats to former Muslims Ehsan Jami
Ehsan Jami
Ehsan Jami is a Dutch politician of Iranian origin. From March 7, 2006 until November 6, 2007 he was member of the city council of Leidschendam-Voorburg on behalf of the Dutch Labour Party . From that date until 2010 he continued to be a member of the city council as independent member 'fraction...
, Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Magan Ali is a Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer, politician who strongly opposes circumcision and female genital cutting. She is the daughter of the Somali politician and opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse and is a founder of the women's rights organisation the AHA...
are shown.
The final Sura used in the film is Sura 8, verse 39:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
is quoted as saying: