Associated Press, March 22, 2008
NETHERLANDS: THOUSANDS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST ANTI-ISLAMIST FILM

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Demonstrators of all races and colors crowded Amsterdam’s central square Saturday, braving wind and sleet to show their opposition to anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders.The protest, called "Netherlands Shows Its Colors," is primarily a reaction in advance to the short film Wilders says he will release later this month criticizing the Quran as a "fascist" book.

One protester carried a sign saying "standing together against the right wing populist witch-hunt." "I’m very much against Geert Wilders and racism in general, but I think it’s really important to show not only Holland but the rest of the world that there’s a lot of people who do not agree with his ideas," said Elisa Trepp.

Wilders, who says he is not racist, heads a reactionary party with nine seats in the 150-member Dutch
parliament, elected on an anti-immigration platform.

While the exact contents of his 15-minute movie, due to be released by March 31, are unknown, Wilders has said it will underscore his view that Islam’s holy book is fascist. Dutch officials fear the movie could spark violent protests in Muslim countries, similar to those two years ago after the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.

But no prominent politicians were among the 2,000-3,000 people who police estimated turned up for the demonstration, to the frustration of some attendees. "The government could really do something. That’s in the interest of the country — stop him, just stop him," said Hassan Iaeti, who traveled hours from the far south of the country to attend. He said he believed Wilders is abusing the right of freedom of speech, which he said has limits. "You can criticize Muslims themselves, but not their religion and not our prophet — that’s our belief." (emphasis Mac)

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has said that while he rejects Wilders’ views, he supports his freedom of speech — but warns him the film may put Dutch national interests at risk. Protesters in Afghanistan burnt Wilders in effigy on Friday and demanded Dutch troops withdraw from the NATO mission there.

Wilders has said he will release his movie on the Internet after television stations refused to air it and plans for a press screening were canceled due to high security costs.

For more. . . .

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Wilders announced publically on Tuesday March 18 that the film would be on the net by April 1. Rumors yesterday were flying around the net that it would be Easter Sunday. . . . however, it was discovered today that the film's website, which was up and operating normally yesterday, is no longer. The story is that Wilders, fearing that Dutch internet servers would censor it, found a North American server (we stand for freedom of speech, remember?) whom presumably he thought would respect and protect his right to express himself. Imagine his surprise to find this today on the site, which has been removed:

This site has been suspended while Network Solutions is investigating whether the site's content is in violation of the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy. Network Solutions has received a number of complaints regarding this site that are under investigation. For more information about Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy visit the following URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/legal/aup.jsp (See the Fitna website.)

I'd say Network Solutions has some serious choosing to do regarding its priorities . . . . protect freedom of information on the internet, or cave to Muslim extremist bullying? The Dutch government has some thinking to do too. . . .how much of the Dutch soul are they going to sacrifice on the alter of extremist Islam? I'm sure their neighbors the Danish would have some strong advise for them (see the Danish Cartoon Controversy).

The link to Network Solutions leads to the "Legal" section of their use policies in the contract for users. I read it all, and the lines that would be meaningful for the current situation must be these, which speak about specific site content considered unsuitable by NS: "and material that is obscene, defamatory, libelous, unlawful, harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, constitutes an illegal threat, violates export control laws, hate propaganda, fraudulent material or fraudulent activity, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature." So. . . .I suppose they could whine that the film is "obscene" in its depiction of Islamic violence, or "defamatory" in its explanation of the most uncomfortable passages of the Koran, or "hate propoganda" in the event they are just plain scared to let it air.

I clicked into one of my own favorite sites today, FaithFreedom.org to find that they have recently been victimized by Muslim hackers. They are only one of the latest in a list of sites that have been attacked by Islamists, bent on controlling what YOU read, especially a hard truth or two about the Religion of Peace. Ironic, Faith Freedom is a site maintained by ex-Muslims, the mission of which is to assist Muslims in safely leaving Islam by their choice. A site by Muslims, for Muslims, attacked by Muslims.

Geert Wilders fascinates me. He is indeed extreme in his positions and rhetoric. He has reacted to seeing enormous changes in Europe in the last two or three decades, which he believes are imminently dangerous. He has challenged the government and people of the Netherlands to think about issues of freedom as they haven't since perhaps the second world war. Maybe the trouble is that many of the young demonstrators have no memory of, and little education about, that time in their history. Much of the Nazi rise parallels the rise and popular sentiment of the left - they are mistaken to think that what they consider Wilder's "fascist" ideas are a threat to their way of life. . . . real fascism is quiet and creeps up on you, like the type of politically correct, oversentimental nonsense that causes them to believe Muslim fanatics are unfairly put upon, and are friends to their country.

People who - like Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, dying in the street beside his bycicle, shot, stabbed and throat slit by a Muslim extremist who left a note on his chest - make big statements are the people who change societies. Their messages aren't always perfect, but the core of the message is. . . and it lasts and resounds. Seems that this time once again the Islamists are terribly afraid of the message about to be unleashed.

Wilders advocates banning the Koran, amongst other things which liberals in his country find most offensive. And as an American, the thought of banning any philosophical "holy" book gives me chills, partly because I wouldn't want it to pave the way for the banning of other books. On the other hand, as they say, freedom of expression must come with responsiblility - even in America it isn't, nor should it be, absolute. But it can be argued, that even next to the Bible, the Koran is a particularly brutal, often hate-filled book.

Still, I think it is important that anyone who cares to be able to read the Koran. Read it and feel your stomach turning as I did. Feel the hair stand up on the back of your neck, as you put two and two together and realize what these people - these Islamists - are truly embracing, and the horror it could bring on us all. It's also important that Wilder's film be aired.

The misguided Muslim demonstrator in the AP article above says, ""You can criticize Muslims themselves, but not their religion and not our prophet — that’s our belief." I have to laugh out loud. . . it never occurs to these people that they are not IN a country that supports their beliefs, and they are in the Netherlands by their own choice! Why do Muslims the world over absolutely refuse to adapt to the cultures they willingly inherit? And when will western governments stand up and say "No!" to this attitude, which only serves to delay the day when all immigrant Muslims can truly be welcome, productive members in host societies?

Last November, when Wilders announced his film, he released a trailer to YouTube to advertise. Pakistan immediately ordered the shutdown of several IP servers - several dozen in fact. When they were shut down, YouTube itself was accidently interfered with and went down too, for several hours. Think of it. . . Pakistan didn't like an ad, and so YouTube - a bastion of western free expression at its best and worst - went down! This was way too easy. . . think of the ramifications. We have got to protect the net against this kind of action, and we have got to learn to protect it against intentional sabotage of undesirable material.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a believer in absolute freedom of information - I "know obscene when I see it" too. I am not advocating absolute freedom of the press to the detriment of the protection of citizens. I don't advocate that freedom of speech ever be absolute. But good grief, we are not talking pornography here, or something else that like it gives nothing good to the advancement of society. We are talking about a message that many people believe is politically important and necessarily for our safety and the very survival of our civilizations! That political discussion is being silenced by cyber terrorists, and the western-educated servers are stunned and struggling with how to deal with it.

We all deserve the respect from our governments and our internet servers, to see the film and decide for ourselves what it means. Network Solutions, and the Dutch government needs to get out of the way. . .of Freedom. And we who write political blogs and articles, deserve all the support and protection we can get to keep political information free on the internet.