Release
The exact nature of Fitna's 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.[2][3]
Having failed to successfully negotiate a transmission of the film with any Dutch television station[4][5][6], Wilders created a website, www.fitnathemovie.com, on March 5, 2008 with the intention of releasing the film.[7][8][9] However, this was subsequently suspended.
On March 22, 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.[10][11] Wilders declined, quoted as saying "No way, NMO."[12]
Wilders released the film on March 27, 2008 at 7 p.m. CET on the video website Liveleak.[13] The following day, Liveleak removed the film from their servers after receiving threats which they described as being "of a very serious nature".[14][15][16] Liveleak reinstated the film on March 30, after security upgrades offering increased protection to its staff had been implemented.[17]
Soon after the film was restored, Wilders withdrew the film[18] to make some minor edits, such as removing the copyrighted Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons[19] and the photograph of Salah Edin, a rapper wrongly identified as Mohammed Bouyeri, in response to lawsuits.[20] Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist, was pleased with the news and believed the lawsuit would be dropped.[19]
Plot
The movie shows a selection of Suras from the Qur'an, interspersed with newspaper clippings and media clips[21] with The Arabian Dance[22] and Åses død[23] as an underscore.
Themes
Wilders has said the 15-minute film will show how verses from the Qur'an are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically based on those verses.[24][25][26] He later described the film as “a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization,”[27] and a push for a Leitkultur, a culture that draws on "Christian, Jewish, humanistic traditions and that poses a challenge to the Islamic problem.”[28]
The Qur'an and Terror
Wilders holds Qur'anic inspiration responsible for modern terror attacks, most notably the attacks of September 11 and the July 7 London bombings.
Wilders holds Qur'anic inspiration responsible for modern terror attacks, most notably the attacks of September 11 and the July 7 London bombings.[29]
The movie starts with a warning to the viewer that the movie contains "very shocking images".[30] The opening contains a cartoon from the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, showing the Islamic Prophet Muhammad with a bomb on his head. Next to it, a timer starts counting down from 15 minutes.[31]
Suras are juxtaposed to video clips of Imams stating Islamic teaching, and videos of violent atrocities committed in the name of Islam, including major terrorist attacks.[32]
The first Sura of the film, Al-Anfal verse 60[8:60], is translated as:
"Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able of gathering, to strike terror, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies, of Allah and your enemies."
Footage of the September 11 attacks are 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[4:56], is shown as a justification for Islamic antisemitism. Sheikh Bakr Al-Samarai is shown raising a sword while declaring: "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!"[33] 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"[34] because "Allah" said so "in the Qur'an"[35] in an interview on Iqraa TV.[36] More antisemitism is shown by an unidentified Imam, who says: "The Jews are Jews. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed."[37] [CENSORED] soldiers are shown holding guns in uniform.
Sura 47, verse 4[47:4] 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."[38] 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 questioners of Islam, followed by footage of Eugene Armstrong's beheading. Armstrong's decapitated head is shown held up by Al-Qaeda terrorists.[39][40][41]
The Qur'an as a Means for Islamic Universalism
Ayatollah 'Ali Meshkini speaks at a Jumu'ah, declaring "Islam is a religion that wants to rule the world. It has done so before and eventually, will rule it again".
Ayatollah 'Ali Meshkini speaks at a Jumu'ah, declaring "Islam is a religion that wants to rule the world. It has done so before and eventually, will rule it again".[42]
Sura 4, verse 89[4:89] is heard, and translated here as:
"They but wish that ye should reject faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing as they, so take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah. But if they turn renegades, seize them and kill them wherever ye find them, and take no friends or helpers from their ranks."
This is shown through a Vox pop: "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.[citation needed]" A short video clip shows ethnic Albanians attacking a Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo during the 2004 unrest.[43]
Headlines concerning assaults and death threats to former Muslims Ehsan Jami, Salman Rushdie and Hirsi Ali are shown.
The final Sura used in the film is Sura 8, verse 39[8:39]:
"Fight them until there is no dissension, and the religion is entirely Allah's."[44]
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is quoted as saying:
“ The message of the Revolution is global, and is not restricted to a specific place or time. Have no doubt... Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world.[45] ”
Ibrahim Mudeiris is seen speaking to a congregation. He says: "We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again! The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we rule Britain and the entire world!"[46] Abdul Rahman Saleem speaks in English: "You will take over the USA! You will take over the UK! You will take over Europe! You will defeat them all! You will get victory! You will take over Egypt! We trust in Allah!"[47] Demonstrators outside the Danish embassy to Britain are shown holding signs that read: "Islam will dominate the world" and "Freedom go to hell".[48][49]
Islam and the Netherlands
Wilders uses footage of Islamist atrocities to depict a dystopian Netherlands ceded to Sharia Law and unable to prevent capital punishment for gay men or adulterous women, female genital mutilation, and [CENSORED] abuse.
Wilders uses footage of Islamist atrocities to depict a dystopian Netherlands ceded to Sharia Law and unable to prevent capital punishment for gay men or adulterous women, female genital mutilation, and [CENSORED] abuse.[50]
The final segment of the film deals with issues related to Islam in the Netherlands, under the heading: "The Netherlands under the spell of Islam".[51] These issues include Islamist opposition to democracy, Islamic views on homosexuality and women's treatment in Islam.[52]
An unidentified person claims that "The mosque will be part of the system of the government of Holland", in an apparent refusal to accept liberal democracy. Wilders' political ambitions may be found more readily here, as shown through his use of juxtaposing a newspaper headline "Cabinet: no ban on burqa" against a Muslim woman fully covered up. A graph illustrating the number of Muslims in Holland since 1909 is shown against a background of Muslim women.[53] Dutch police are shown removing their shoes before entering a mosque. A Dutch Muslim expresses his desire to enact an honor killing if his mother or sister commits zina, the Islamic concept of extramarital sex. Another condemns homosexuality, saying "Islam considers something like that a crime."
A postcard is shown, ostensibly from Holland, with pictures of mosques in place of visitor attractions, with the words "Groeten uit Nederland" (Greetings from The Netherlands) superimposed.[54]
Audio recordings that are said to have been taken from mosques in Holland show Imams denouncing political parties, "worldly concepts like liberalism [and] democracy." Another states that adulterers must be "stoned" to death. A graphic image of gays being hanged, under Sharia law[55] is a depiction of a possible future dystopian Holland. [CENSORED]ren of Shia muslims are shown with blood covering their faces,[53][56][57] having been cut with knives by older people as per the tradition of the Day of Ashura. A series of clips show female circumcision,[58] a decapitated woman's head lying on a floor,[59] and a woman dressed in a burqa being shot through the head by a man.[60]
Finally, a succession of newspaper headlines are shown, containing stories related to Islam in the Netherlands, their views, actions, ambitions and politics.[61] Some verified headlines are:
* "Sudanese demand execution of British 'miss teddy bear'" (see Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case)
* "Almost half of young Moroccans anti-western"[62]
* "Moroccans throw gay in water"[63]
* "Throw gays from tall buildings"[64]
* "Al-Qaeda proclaims death penalty Jihad against Wilders"[65]
The movie ends with a hand seen gripping a page of the Qur'an and a call to action from Wilders to defeat “Islamist idealogy”, likening it to Communism and Nazism.[66][61]
Suras
An-Nisa 56 translated here as: "Those who have disbelieved our signs, we shall roast them in fire. Whenever their skins are cooked to a turn, we shall substitute new skins for them, that they may feel the punishment; Verily Allah is sublime and wise."
An-Nisa 56 translated here as: "Those who have disbelieved our signs, we shall roast them in fire. Whenever their skins are cooked to a turn, we shall substitute new skins for them, that they may feel the punishment; Verily Allah is sublime and wise."
Parts of the following Suras are mentioned in Fitna, in order of appearance[67]
Sura Title Verse
8 Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War) 60 [8:60]
4 An-Nisa (The Women) 56 [4:56]
47 Muhammad (Muhammad) 4 [47:4]
4 An-Nisa (The Women) 89 [4:89]
8 Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War) 39 [8:39]
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