Debating Fitna

H/T Klein Verzet


Yesterday Dutch parliament debated Fitna (NL). They of course did not debate the fact that Al’Qaeda together with many other Muslims wanted to kill Geert Wilders for making the film. Neither they talked about how terror states like Iran joined the other Dutch elites in support of condemning the film. They did not even mention the fact that The Netherlands had never before seen so many foreign interventions in its internal affairs since WWII. Nor did anybody mention in the debate how strange a phenomenon it was that Muslim go riot for cartoons and movies but never against terrorism it self.

The initiative for this long-winded debate came from the Christian Democrats. They are the largest party in the current coalition government and have delivered the prime minister. It’s was damage control, their Prime Minister was under attack for declaring a crisis even before the film was released.

As expected the debate showed that Dutch political elites oppose the idea that Islam is in it self a totalitarian movement that should be opposed. Dutch elites think that facts as presented in a film like Fitna should always serve a higher purpose. To them, truth is not a lofty goal in itself. Truth is something utilitarian to them. Thus they rejected Fitna’s facts and just blamed Geert Wilders for not contributing to a peaceful resolution.

But even in their opposition to the movie, they reveal their fear of Islam. Leader of the ruling Christian Democrats (CDA) in parliament, van Geel, declared Fitna: “vicious, needlessly offensive, not helping in the fight against terrorism, nor the integration of Muslims [in Dutch society]”. To add not much later by saying to Wilders: “you don’t have any solutions. That’s the problem. You invoke forces that are uncontrollable.”

Uncontrollable forces? That’s an interesting line of argumentation. According to van Geel: making a film that shows the link between terror and Islam, is not factual, but creates it self an uncontrollable force? What kind of force might that be? Let me guess: an Islamic terrorist force?

It becomes even stranger if his Christian Democratic colleague, current Prime Minister Balkenende in the same debate criticizes Fitna by praising the film Obsession. Really!

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