AMSTERDAM (EJP)---The umbrella representative group of Jewish communities in Holland, called the newly-released anti-Islam film ‘Fitna’ by extreme-rightist Dutch MP Geert Wilders “counterproductive” and “generalizing”.
But the country’s "Centraal Joods Overleg" (Central Jewish Platform) drew the attention to the fact that the 15-minute film, entitled "Fitna" a Koranic term meaning ‘strife’, shows Muslim clerics calling to behead Jews, Koran passages equating Jews to "pigs and monkeys" and photos of demonstrators promising "another Holocaust" and praising Adolf Hitler.
The film, which shows footage of the New York 11 September terrorist attacks followed by the Madrid train bombings, was posted on the internet on Thursday.
Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) which holds nine of the Dutch parliament's 150 seats, said he wants to show that the Koran "is an inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror".
In a statement, the Dutch Jewish body said Wilders’s film "was guilty of serious generalizations." "Only the negative elements of the Koran are shown," it said, adding: "By presenting graphics on the explosive increase of the Muslim population in Holland and Europe in relation with pictures of terrorist attacks and with the slogan ‘stop Islamization, protect our freedom", Wilders suggests that all Muslims are potential terrorists."
While the anti-Jewish statements Wilders compiled "demonstrates some Muslim clerics have dreadful ideas about Jews and that even children are being brainwashed," the film only serves to "polarize Dutch society and is counterproductive to the fight against extremism,” the Jewish body said.
The Central Jewish Platform said it wants to work with the Muslims in Holland and the rest of the country in order to halt extremism and radicalization.
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who was worried about possible repercussions for Dutch citizens and economic interests, said he was "proud" of Dutch Muslims for their peaceful reaction to the film.
The umbrella group for Dutch Muslims said that the film does not insult their religion and the vast majority of Dutch viewers, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, appear not to have found the film particularly provocative towards Muslims.
Dutch Socialist newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’ stated that if Wilders had said the things he has said about Muslims, about Jews, "he would have been prosecuted for anti-Semitism."
Opposition to immigration
Wilders, 44, started his political career in the rightwing liberal VVD party. From 1998 onwards he was a member of the party's parliamentary group but in September 2004 he left because the VVD was not rightwing enough.
He stayed on as an independent and ahead of the 2006 elections he created his own extreme-right Freedom party.
The party's hardline position on immigration, calling for an immigration stop for inhabitants of Muslim countries, and vehement opposition to Turkish accession to the European Union, netted Wilders nine seats.
His critics call him a classic populist who incites people with "unworkable" plans. For disenchanted votes his party fills a gap for those who see the traditional rightwing parties as too soft. The collapse of the LPF party of murdered populist Pim Fortuyn, which also took a harsh stance on immigration, also boosted Wilders' popularity.
With his feisty tone in debates and his increasingly harsh comments about Islam, Wilders has kept himself firmly in the spotlight despite his party being only the third largest opposition party.
His blond mane with visible dark roots, which earned him nicknames like "Mozart" and "the lion of Venlo" (his home town), has a cult following and there is even a wig called the Geert popular with carnival revellers.
Wilders is married to a Bulgarian woman who he admits "sometimes does not agree with my ideas". He lists his hobbies on his website as reading and writing.
