Sun, 22 November 2009
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"Fitna was much better than I'd thought. In fact I found Geert Wilders' anti-Islam film wonderfully subtle, with a rich and unexpected sense of irony," says columnist Perro de Jong.Editor's note: this column was published just a few hours before Dutch MP Geert Wilders article released his anti-Islam film on the Internet.
This column refers to the film About Fitna, the Netherlands and Wilders, which was made by Radio Netherlands to inform Muslims in Arab countries about Fitna the Movie.
Take the idea of asking someone to play an angry Muslim, who comes to the Netherlands to find out what kind of people would insult Islam. Yet during his whole visit, the poor dear doesn't get to meet a single one of them. That's because he only talks to other Muslims. Immigrants, both first and second generation, who've lived in the Netherlands long enough to be academics, filmmakers and politicians. Yet whose view of Dutch culture hasn't developed beyond clogs, the Queen and the form of musical waterboarding known as 'Frans Bauer'.
Free speech
Oh, and this frustrating phenomenon called 'free speech'. For instance, when Islamic rage boy asks why Mr Wilders isn't simply arrested, the answer he gets is: "It's not that easy, it's complicated, it's the Netherlands." Right. Just imagine if the Netherlands were a decent, simple country. Like Zimbabwe.
Honestly, I couldn't think of a deadlier way to depict the Dutch Muslim community as a fifth column of Wilders-bashing, freedom-hating fundamentalists who sponge off the Dutch state without bothering to engage with Dutch society at large. After seeing this little masterpiece, I was almost ready to join Mr Wilders' party myself.
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