By THREE ARTICLES - NY TIMES, RUSSELL BLACKFORD, JERRY COYNE
Added: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 UTC

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/20/world/international-uk-dutch-wilders.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Geert%20Wilders&st=cse

Dutch Far - Right MP on Trial Over Anti - Islam Remarks

Reuters - The New York Times

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders said Wednesday that freedom of speech in his country was threatened, as he went on trial in Amsterdam charged with inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

The Freedom Party leader, who has faced death threats over his political views, made the film "Fitna" in 2008 which accused the Koran of inciting violence and mixed images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book.

He was also charged because of his outspoken remarks in the media, such as an opinion piece in a Dutch daily in which he compared Islam to fascism and the Koran to Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf."

"I believe in my heart and soul that freedom in the Netherlands is being threatened," Wilders told the court. "It is not only our right, but our obligation as free people to speak out against every ideology that restricts freedom."
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/20/world/international-uk-dutch-wilders.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Geert%20Wilders&st=cse
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http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/geert-wilders-goes-on-trial/

Geert Wilders goes on trial

Jerry Coyne

As reported by today’s New York Times, Geert Wilders, Dutch politician and filmmaker, is going on trial for inciting hatred against Islam. He’s probably most famous for his 2008 movie Fitna, which calls attention to the violent excesses of Islam. (Do watch the 17-minute movie, which is here, and judge for yourself. Note that some of the scenes are not for the squeamish.) I’m not going to defend Wilders in general, because I haven’t followed all his doings, but it seems to me that the movie, at least, doesn’t incite hatred so much as call attention to Muslims who incite hatred. (There are a few dodgy right-wing bits that decry rising Islamic influence in the Netherlands.) Indeed, Wilders has lived under police protection ever since making Fitna, fearing that he’d meet the fate that befell Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by a radical Muslim after criticizing Islam. Who’s inciting the hatred?
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http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/geert-wilders-goes-on-trial/
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http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/01/geert-wilders-goes-on-trial.html

Geert Wilders Goes on Trial, and so does the Netherlands

Russell Blackford

Love Wilders or hate him - I have plenty of reservations about him and would certainly not vote for him - he should not be convicted of a criminal offence for making the short movie Fitna or for comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf. The latter is doubtless offensive to Muslims, but it's his opinion ... and no one should be given a right to go through life without being exposed to opinions and ideas that she finds offensive. Fitna is open to interpretation, of course. Perhaps it contains an unsavoury message, though the main message seems to be that the holy texts of Islam contain material that can inspire terrorism. I would have thought that was obvious.

The Koran itself is also open to interpretation. Its own most unsavoury passages may be exhortations by Muhammad that related only to specific times, places, and circumstances when his forces were at war. However, when the Koran is held out as a holy book of timeless application, it's not surprising that some Muslims, and of course some non-Muslims, interpret those passages as God-backed calls for ongoing violent struggle against Jews, Christians, pagans, and the non-Muslim world in general. Muslims have a responsibility to do something about this: at the very minimum they must ensure that all young people brought up in their faith are taught that the passages concerned do not apply today. That's a big challenge, so how about they get on with it?
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TAGGED: HUMAN RIGHTS, LAW, MOVIES

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