March 28, 2008: After months of nearly daily reports in Dutch newspapers on its "progress", Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders' anti-Islam film "Fitna" (which translates roughly as "ordeal") was released yesterday for online viewing. Wilders made his 17 minute movie available on Thursday afternoon European time, and in the first 24 hours "Fitna" was viewed over four million times.

According to Wilders, the film exposes the Koran as a "faschist book." Viewers see quotes from the Koran exhorting believers to kill infidels, followed by video clips of the 9-11 attacks in the United States and the murder of Dutch movie producer Theo van Gogh in November 2004. Among the film's offerings are speeches by radical Islamic preachers, including one who draws a sword in dramatic fashion. A woman's execution is shown, along with the bloodied faces of children.

"The future of the Netherlands?" is flashed on the screen. At the end of the film a piece of paper is torn up. Subtitles proclaim that the page is from a telephone book, not from the Koran itself. "It's not my job to tear those pages inciting hate out of the Koran – Muslims should do it," viewers are told. The film begins and ends with one of the controversial Danish Mohammed caricatures.

With 800,000 Muslims living in the Netherlands, the Dutch government was quick to reject Wilders' film. "The movie equates Islam with violence. We reject that notion. We regret that Mr. Wilders has released this movie. We believe that it serves no other purpose than to insult," was Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende's assessment.

The reaction of the Dutch Islamic community was markedly reserved. A Muslim spokesman said that Wilders was testing the limits of tolerance without exceeding them. For Islamic expert Maurits Bergers from the University of Leiden the film wasn't as bad as expected, since it only shows images "that we are all familiar with anyway." According to Bergers, the movie says more about Wilders than about Muslims, which Wilders himself would not dispute. The prime minister had called on him repeatedly not only to defend his right to freedom of expression, but also to be mindful of his social responsibility. Wilders said Balkenende was just cowardly and was taking sides with the Taliban.

Elsewhere in Europe, EU officials criticized the film but defended Wilders' right to express his opinion. That takes courage on more than just Wilders' part, though. After about 36 hours online, the internet provider hosting the Wilders website pulled the film, citing unspecified threats against its personnel.