News and Analysis on Islam in Europe and North America
Wilders’ anticipated and controversial film ‘Fitna’ did not make as grand as an entry as expected, and hype assumed. While the film is dotted with Quranic verses and violent imagery of terrorist attacks in recent years, some cited the film’s content as highly predictable and nothing new. Maurits Berger, a professor of Islam at Leiden
On Friday, Muslim nations condemned the film ‘Fitna’ which accuses the Quran of inciting violence, and Dutch Muslim leaders urged restraint. Iran called the film heinous, blasphemous, and anti-Islamic. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation and former Dutch colony, said that the film was an insult to Islam, hidden under the cover of freedom
A Dutch lawmaker who produced a film criticizing Islam and the Quran, released the short film on Thursday by posting it on the internet. The film by Geert Wilders cites verses of the Quran interspersed with images of violence, and scenes from terrorist attacks in the United States and Spain, and the murder of Dutch
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon led a condemnation of the Internet broadcast of a video made by a Dutch parliament member, describing the film as offensively anti-Islamic and called on those upset by the film to remain calm. In a statement issued after the film’s airing, Mr. Ban said there is no justification for hate speech
Antwerp has 36 mosques, and according to Monica De Coninck, the alderman in charge of diversity, this is 75% too much. De Coninck would like to see up to nine medium sized, well equipped and safe mosques. Currently, many of the mosques in Antwerp are small, located in old buildings, and unsafe in emergency situations