mediawatchwatch.org.uk

The Danish boycott campaign gathers steam in Saudi, while the parliament in Bahrain claims that the Turbomb was reprinted with the express intention to “hurt the feelings and sentiments of the Muslims”. It wants the EU to “investigate the issue”.

An Afghanistan about 1,000 demonstated agaist Denmark and Holland. Geert Wilders’ upcoming Fitna is helping to stir up trouble there, even though nobody has seen it yet. The demonstrators are demanding the withdrawal of Dutch and Danish troops.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has warned Wilders af the risks to Dutch interests if he broadcasts his movie, apparently unwilling to concede that the responsibility for any criminal acts in reaction to its showing will rest entirely with the criminal. Wilders is standing firm, however:

Let me make one thing clear: The film will be released

Natos secretary general has also expressed his concerns.

He is getting support from fellow MP Alexander Pechtold, leader of the democrat party D66. Pechtold believes it is the duty of Europe to explain basic principles to the world:

The cabinet constantly warns Mr Wilders about the film’s consequences. We should address ourselves more to other countries. Here we are accustomed to democracy and freedom of expression but not everyone abroad is.

Elsewhere fundamentalists seize on these sort of films to preach hatred against the West. We have to explain what our fundamental rights represent. Maybe the prime minister should explain the matter on Al Jazeera. Or Mr Ahmed Aboutaleb [the deputy minister for social affairs], who speaks Arabic.

The protests sparked by the Danish cartoons, for example, show this can happen to any country. In fact, we should now form a common front at the EU Council of Ministers. Democracy and freedom of expression are European inventions. But it now looks like each country is left to fend for itself.

The idea that an entire country can be held accountable for the actions of one of its citizens does seem to be endemic in the Muslim world. In Egypt, the committee of a film festival decided to bar Dutch and Danish entries because of the controversies. The Dutch film was only reinstated after Balkenende’s warning to Wilders (see above), which was construed as an “apology”.