Wilders' 'Fitna' Condemned By UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

Asides from condemnation from the Muslim community, Geert Wilders’ film “Fitna” has also brought forth condemnation from Ban Ki-moon, the current Secretary General of the United Nations.

Various Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, and Bangladesh have protested against and condemned the film called “Fitna” by Geert Wilders, a far-wright Dutch MP. Fitna is deemed to be very anti-Islamic. Many have perceived Fitna to be nothing but a tool of propaganda of hate and intolerance directed towards the Muslim community world wide. I myself have watched half of the film and turned it off in disgust. Even I have found the film to be very one-sided. In the wake of the release of Fitna, there have been no reported outbreaks of violence. However, there are several lawsuits filed against Geert Wilders. The first lawsuit will be by Kurt Westergaard, who is the cartoonist behind the notorious Muhammad cartoon with a bomb in his turban. Back in 2006, the cartoon’s publication had brought forth much backlash from the Muslim community. It is revealed that Wilders had used the cartoon in Fitna. But, he had used the cartoon without Westergaard’s permission. On a side note, Westergaard’s cartoon is up for auctioning. Rapper Salah Edin has also filed a lawsuit against Wilders. In a grotesque scene of the murder of Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, Wilders had placed a photo of Salah Edin instead of Muhammad Bouyeri. Bouyeri is the one responsible for van Gogh’s murder. Now, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has too brought forth condemnation towards Fitna. “I condemn, in the strongest terms, the airing of Geert Wilders’ offensively anti-Islamic film,” he said in a statement. He also attacked Wilders’ argument of free expression. Ban gave the implication that Wilders should have exercised social responsibility. The president of the European Union (EU) said that Fitna was pointless. In addition, the current EU president said that the only good that the film does is incite further hatred and intolerance. This is a sign that many outside of the Muslim community have given forth condemnation of Wilders’ film.