http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3327
By Daniel Blake
Christian Post Correspondent
The World Council of http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3223 has condemned a Dutch parliamentarian’s provocative new film which accuses the Quran of inciting violence.
The director of the global http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3429” as “a clear case of Islamophobia.” The word ”fitna” is an Arabic term that is sometimes translated as “strife.”
“Through graphic images, the filmmaker depicts violent extremism without any attempt to distinguish it from mainstream Islam,” Premawardhana said. “Extremism is a problem for most religions and needs to be countered through interreligious dialogue.”Wilders, who is leader of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, launched his short video on the Internet last Thursday to the outcry of Muslims around the world. In the film, images of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and bombings by Islamic extremists appear alongside quotations from the Quran.
European Union foreign ministers, in a statement, condemned the film and expressed their support for the Dutch Government, which has distanced itself from Wilders’ film.
“The film equates Islam with violence and this view is sharply rejected,” the 27 ministers stated.
The EU also said, however, that the film did not surpass the boundaries of freedom of expression and that those offended by its content should not react violently.
“Feeling offended is no excuse for aggression or threats,” the ministers said.
“Muslims, Christians and people of all convictions and beliefs must live together in peace and mutual respect.”
The film has caused offence in a number of majority-Muslim countries including Iran, which called the film heinous, blasphemous and anti-Islamic.
A delegation of Dutch Christians and Muslims traveled to Egypt last week in an effort to limit the possible damage caused by the film. According to Ecumenical News International, they went with the message that the large majority of the population, the churches and Muslim communities in the Netherlands are opposed to the film, but that free speech means that the Dutch Government is powerless to block its release.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080331/31746_Global_Church_Body_Denounces_Anti-Quran_Film.htm
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