It is little more than a makeshift collage, but it contains a horror show of images meant to distort Islam. Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders has launched his long-awaited video screed criticizing the Koran. Criticism is mounting. Geert Wilders chose the time to publish his anti-Koran film carefully. He picked a Thursday evening, shortly before the Dutch evening news and before Muslims in East Asian countries like Indonesia visit their mosques for Friday prayers. Until the very last minute, there was fierce speculation over whether and when the cinematic pamphlet would be broadcast. And until very recently, Wilders was offering only vague responses to these questions, especially after no television broadcaster was willing to show the film. Even a US Internet provider decided to take the Dutch right-wing populist’s Web site offline. “Fitna,” Arabic for “strife,” is now available online at Liveleak, a video platform similar to YouTube. It was viewed well over a million times within just one hour. Gerald Traufetter reports.
