I am writing to you after I saw your movie “Fitna”.

I will start by introducing my self, I am a moderate Muslem from Syria and I am speaking to you in the name of moderate Muslems around the world.

The purpose of this message is to clarify to you some of the misconceptions and inconsistencies in your film and return it to its correct historical context.

First I would say that I agree with you that there is a global need to identify and fight those extremists who continue to attack the peace of all nations around the world. It is a real pain in the heart of every human to see those hostilities taking place in our 21st century world. And it is more painful to see the ideology behind those actions spreading in several cultures. But … it is a historical mistake to condemn a whole nation with the actions of a small minority.

For the purpose of this letter, I expect you to be a bit far from perceptions and stereotyping which clearly marked your film.

Nations or cultures were never tagged by the actions of few people in a comparatively short period of history. The years of extremism (or the so called “terrorism”) are very short comparing to 1500 years in the long history of Islam.

Your movie is pouring oil on an already huge burning fire. And I have two reasons to say this.

Those radical movements and extremist people have became so hostile to the “other” whether it was the Americans or the Jews because of the hostilities they see in all sorts of media about killing and torturing of there fellow Muslems, especially in Israel and Iraq. Unfortunately, they will become more hostile and defiant in there attacks when they see works of people like you.

In turn, western people who will see your movie will be in the same position and there will be extremists between them to fight Muslems because of those scenes just like what happen to Muslems with the Media.

My first reason is that the extremist media in the Muslem world and the “other” world (hereby represented by your movie) is consistently widening the gap and enlarging the fire. They are playing with the fate of billions of people and this may lead to a worldwide destruction and war.

While your condemning violence by those people, you are in fact encouraging violence in your own country (and others) by telling people to kick out Muslems from the Netherlands. Linking those aggressive terrifying images to the images of peaceful Muslem people walking in the street or entering a mosque is so dangerous, and it purposely encourages hatred and promotes violence.

The inconsistency in your film lies in two things.

First of all you took verses from the Koran without referring to the context from which it was taken. If you go back to textual context and the historical context you will find that none may be interpreted as a call for violence toward non-Muslems.

Furthermore, if we go back to history; the crusades occupied the world under the flag of the cross. They convinced people with a guarantee to go to heaven if they died for the political cause of the crusades. Nobody described them as terrorists. The law in several areas in Europe didn’t recognize any right for a married woman in what may be called today as basic human rights. And the English common law called execution for crimes like the theft of 5 shillings. All this was in a time when Muslem societies lived in integrity and guaranteed human rights to its people from all religions.

I would advice you to read the Koran. And if you already did, I advice you to read it again without being biased and without a preset mind to find hostilities in the verses. The Koran, contrary to your depiction, has a lot of verses which call for social unity and human respect.

Secondly, the actions of those radical extremists do not by all means reflect the core of the Islamic religion. And if in fact the billion Muslems in the world were terrorists, the world would have ended long ago.

Wise men do not launch war on the result of a problem. They try to extinguish the reason of it. You know as well as I do that those terrorists were brought to life by many political and social reasons apart from the orders of the Koran. In fact those people, just like you did, take those verses from the Koran to justify there actions to themselves and to their followers.

At last I would say that the only good that your movie will make is for some Muslem communities to denounce the culture of violence. It may give a wake-up shake for some followers of those radical murderers. Some Muslem communities needed an extremist from the other side (like you) to think again.

Unless we find some way to embrace our differences and spread human communication and love, our world is heading towards a real disaster and the history will take long time before registering a peaceful world again.

I am calling upon the human inside you, be a responsible man and wipe this historical mistake off the human race.


Majd
Ezi Go’s Weblog