Iran to Show Response to Dutch anti-Islam Fil

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian authorities plan to post a film on the Internet on Thursday designed as a riposte to a controversial anti-Koran documentary by the far-right Dutch politician, Geert Wilders.

The new documentary, entitled 'Beyond Fitna', was directed by a group of Iranian filmmakers and produced by the Islam and Christianity Non-Governmental Organization.

'The film honors all monotheistic religions and gives a response to the anti-Islam propaganda of Western extremists,' the NGO's spokesman, Mohammad Karimi, told the Islamic Republic News Agency.

He said the documentary was produced under the supervision of a group of religious scholars and Iranian professional documentarians in the English, Persian, and Arabic languages.

The film will be available on the sites: www.ngoic.com, www.youtube.com, and www.videogoogle.com.

The organization, which is called 'NGO Islam and Christianity' had earlier told FNA that 'Beyond Fitna' deals with incitement of violence in the Bible. Muslims believe that the book deemed holy by Christians today is a distorted version of the original Bible.

'Beyond Fitna' focuses on the orders given to worldwide Christians in the (distorted version of) Bible for stoking violence, committing genocide, attacking others, beheading and burning women and children who have been taken into captivity.

The documentary recycles film clips from crimes committed by extremist Christians under the inspirations of the said Bible teachings, and aims to provide a response to the allegations made by Pope Benedict XVI, who called Islam a religion of violence after misunderstanding certain Organic verses.

'Beyond Fitna' is produced while an overwhelming wave of protest is shown by worldwide Muslim and Christian communities against Wilder's movie.

The 16-minute Dutch film 'Fitna' - an Arabic word meaning 'strife' or 'division among people' - was posted on the UK-based video website Liveleak on March 27, but it sparked worldwide protests even before hitting the Internet.

Wilders' movie is a documentary-style exposé of American trash-journalist Bill O'Reilly's militant calls for violent demonstrations and reprisals against 'unbelievers' who dare to oppose his dogma.

After it was posted on the Internet, Iran summoned Dutch Ambassador Radinck van Vollenhoven to protest at the film.

The envoy, for his part, voiced sorrow about the broadcast of the 'anti-Islamic' film and emphasized that it was condemned by the Dutch government.

The Dutch government distanced itself from Wilders and said the film in no way reflects the religious policy of the state, a move to prevent the kind of backlash Denmark suffered over Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) cartoons.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a televised speech he rejected Wilders' views and was pleased by the initial restrained reactions of Dutch Muslim organizations.

Thousands of Dutch people demonstrated in Amsterdam a few days later to show that Wilders does not represent the whole country.

Dutch exporters have expressed fears of a possible boycott.

Muslim nations, the European Union and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon all expressed outrage over the film, which sparked noisy street protests in many Islamic nations.

The European Union supports the Dutch government's approach and believes the film serves no purpose other than 'inflaming hatred,' the Slovenian EU presidency said in a statement.

'The European Union and its member states apply the principle of the freedom of speech which is part of our values and traditions. However, it should be exercised in a spirit of respect for religious and other beliefs and convictions.'

Australia condemned the Dutch lawmaker's anti-Quran film, with the foreign minister calling it 'highly offensive.'

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith rejected the film's premise of equating Islam with acts of terror and violence.

'It is an obvious attempt to generate discord between faith communities,' Smith said. 'I strongly reject the ideas contained in the film and deplore its release.'