Thanks to the intervention of the Dutch government, a second anti-Islam movie will not see the light, at least for now.

"I can confirm that Mr Ehsan Jami has decided not to broadcast his controversial film," Ayhan Tunja, a member of the Muslim Coordinating Council of the Netherlands, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, April 1, over the phone.

"He has announced his decision on Dutch television," he added.

Jami, a former Muslim of Iranian origin, told the Netwrek TV show he has decided not to release his cartoon film, The Life of Muhammad, as expected on April 20.

The film would have reportedly shows a sexually aroused prophet.

A clip from the film aired on a Dutch television channel last week showed a man said to be the prophet in the company of a 9-year-old wife on their way to a mosque to allegedly deflower his bride.

Jami said Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has talked to him about repercussions of the film release on social harmony and coexistence in the Netherlands as well as it national interests.

"The minister told Mr Jami he will be responsible for what happens," said Tunja.

The European country is already embroiled in a controversy regarding a documentary by far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders portraying the Qur'an as inciting violence.

Pleased Muslims


Muslims thanks Minister Ballin for his intervention. (Photo courtesy of ministry's website)

The leaders of the Muslim minority, estimated at nearly one million, welcomed the new development.

"I'm pleased that Mr Jami has decided to listen to the minister's advise. It is a wise decision," said Tunja.

He was particularly thankful for the government for its swift intervention in the issue.

"We were planning a meeting with the justice minister to make it clear that Mr Jami's film was totally unacceptable and would trigger violence across the world," the Muslim activists told IOL.

"We are very pleased that the minister acted fast even before our meeting."

Tunja noted that the government could not have done the same with MP Wilders.

"These are two different cases," he said.

"Nobody saw or knew the content of Mr Wilders documentary in advance and that's why the government could do nothing," explained the Muslim activist.

"But segments of Mr Jami's cartoon were shown on TV and that's why the government was able to complaint that its content was unacceptable," he added.

The government has reportedly distanced itself from Wilders and tried unsuccessfully to convince him not to broadcast the film.

The 15-minute documentary, entitled "Fitna," an Arabic word for sedition or strife, intersperses images of terror attacks with verses from the Qur'an.

It has being dawning condemnations from across the world since its release on Thursday.

Rallies have been staged in several Muslim capitals to protest the insult to the Muslims' holy book.

A leading Malaysian Muslim supermarket chain has called for a boycott of Dutch products in protest.

Dutch businesses have already threatened to sue Wilders if his film led to an economic boycott of their products.


Source: Islamonline