I have just watched Geert Wilders “Fitna” movie. I was able to do so thanks to the Internet. It was not shown on German TV, neither on Dutch TV, actually I do not know whether any European TV station has shown or will show the film.
I wonder why? You might not agree on everything Geert Wilders says, but I thought we still had freedom of speech in Europe. A fundamental right that Islamists are opposed to as one demonstrator shown in Wilder`s film sums up very clearly. He holds a sign saying: “Freedom go to hell!”
A shocking statement. But it seems to be shared by the United Nations, or how would you interpret the following excerpt:
On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon decried Fitna as hate speech.
“I condemn, in the strongest terms, the airing of Geert Wilders’ offensively anti-Islamic film,” said Ban in a statement. “There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free expression is not at stake here. I acknowledge the efforts of the Government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of this film, and appeal for calm to those understandably offended by it. Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility.”
What is the film about? The movie shows the 9/11 terror attacks, the Madrid bombings, homosexuals being hanged, and a lot more victims of Islamist violence including, of course, Muslim victims! As far as I can see - of course I cannot tell for sure - there are no fake pictures in this movie. Unless you believe that 9/11 was invented by the CIA. So why should this movie not be shown?
Or to put things differently: If this movie is hate speech, then showing the Abu Ghraib pictures e. g. would be hate speech as well. And believe me these pictures, we have seen them not for days, not for weeks, but for years. And every German TV station, every German newspaper has printed them and is still reprinting them. Of course, the journalists who did so were not being threatened. In contrast to the Danish cartoonists and in contrast to the employees of LiveLeak where Wilder`s film debuted, but was removed:
LiveLeak on Friday afternoon issued a statement explaining its decision: “Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill-informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, LiveLeak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.
“This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realized LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.
“Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one another’s culture. We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.”
The price was too high.
What a saddening statement.