Sowing seeds of hatred

Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders has insulted the Muslim world with his anti-Islam film “Fitna”. The film, which can be seen on You Tube and other internet sites, clearly links images of extremist attacks to verses from the Al Qur’an and equates Islam with violence. Wilders, a far-right Freedom Party lawmaker, has also called for the Al Qur’an to be banned in the Netherlands. While most Muslims and the rest of the world are angry, Wilders is just as happy as he can get. He’s challenging the world to debate whether he’s wrong and he’s been invited to the US for a lecture (what will President Bush say?). The intense publicity of the broadcast has made many more people in the West to believe that Islam is violent and evil. Muslims reject that. Indonesia has condemned Wilders and banned him. The Dutch must be careful in regard to its ties with Indonesia. Malaysia’s former leader Mahathir Mohamad suggested a boycott on Dutch products (what if the world’s Muslims unite and boycott Dutch products and Dutch companies in the Muslim world such as Shell, Philips and Unilever). Although the Dutch government has already condemned Wilders, it’s not enough. Egypt, Jordan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Singapore, 27 European Union foreign ministers and the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have condemned the Dutch MP. Wilders wants to curb what he says is Islamization of Europe and the West (doesn’t he realize that there are many followers of different faiths as well living in the Muslim world?). At a time when the world is seeking peace and understanding among nations, cultures and religions, Wilders is disrupting the process. He is a modern day fascist and as crazy as Adolf Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan. He has incited racial and religious hatred. He is spreading the phobic that Islam is dangerous to a far wider extent. He is sowing seeds of hatred under the pretext of freedom of expression. Beware, the situation is dangerous and Wilders must be stopped!