Arabs charged over Dutch cartoon

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

Arabs charged over Dutch cartoon
An Arab organisation is to be put on trial in the Netherlands over its publication of a cartoon deemed offensive to Jews, prosecutors say.

The cartoon, published by the Arab European League (AEL) on its website, questions the Holocaust.

It said the decision to prosecute illustrated bias against Muslims.

It said the same standards were not applied to the Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who made a film including cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Last month prosecutors said they would not put the far-right MP on trial for distributing the controversial Danish cartoons, which caused a storm of protest after their publication in 2005.

However, he is still being investigated separately for inciting hatred against Muslims by making statements comparing Islam to Nazism.

But Dutch prosecutors said the AEL cartoon was "discriminatory" and "offensive to Jews as a group... because it offends Jews on the basis of their race and/or religion".

The cartoon shows two men standing near a pile of bones at "Auswitch" (sic). One says "I don't think they're Jews".

The other replies: "We have to get to the six million somehow."

A spokeswoman for the prosecuting authority said the group could be fined up to 4,700 euros (£4,100), though in theory a prison sentence was also possible.

'Perverse'

AEL chairman Abdoulmouthalib Bouzerda said the charges proved "what Muslims have been saying for decades".

"Freedom of expression is only a pretext to make life bitter for Muslims... and if [they] try to bring this hypocrisy to light, that right is denied them."

The AEL says it does not deny the facts of the Holocaust but posted the cartoon as an "act of civil disobedience".

It said it had agreed to remove it from its site, but reversed that decision to protest over the failure to prosecute Geert Wilders.

"Double standards are being applied," it said in a statement.

But Jewish groups said it was not reasonable for the group to express its opposition to alleged bias against Muslims, by attacking Jews.

Ronny Naftaniel of the Center for Documentation on Israel, said: "Imagine if Dutch Jews insulted Muslims every time they heard an anti-Semitic remark. What kind of perverse world would we be living in?"

Tensions over the Netherlands' Muslim population have increased in recent years, notably since the killing of a controversial film-maker by a Muslim extremist in 2004.

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

No Charge for Dutch Anti-Quran MP
IslamOnline.net & News Agencies

Wilders has compared Qur'an to Mein Kampf, which outlines Hitler's racist ideology, and has also called for banning the Muslim holy book from the Netherlands.

AMSTERDAM — Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders will not be prosecuted for inciting hatred with his offensive anti-Qur'an film, the Dutch prosecution announced on Monday, June 30, triggering disappointment from Muslim and anti-discrimination groups in the European country.
"That comments are hurtful and offensive for a large number of Muslims does not mean that they are punishable," Dutch Chief Public Prosector Leo de Wit said in a statement, reported Reuters.

Wilders, a far-right lawmaker, has released a documentary entitled "Fitna," an Arabic word for sedition or strife, on the internet last March.

The 15-minute documentary accuses Qur'an of inciting violence and intersperses images of terror attacks with verses from the Noble Qur'an.

Following releasing the Film, which has sparked fury among Muslims worldwide, prosecutors, received dozens of requests for an investigation with Wilders.

They had also received complaints about comments Wilders made in newspaper interviews including one in which he called Islam's holy book "fascist."

But the prosecution, however, said that Wilders' actions were allowable under Dutch law and that there were no grounds for prosecuting him for inciting hatred.

"Freedom of expression fulfils an essential role in public debate in a democratic society. Than means that offensive comments can be made in a political debate," prosecutors said in their statement.

"Politicians need to have room to voice their opinions."

Wilders, the leader of the right-wing Freedom Party which has nine seats in the 150-member parliament, is infamous for his anti-Islam stances.

He has compared Qur'an to Mein Kampf, which outlines Hitler's racist ideology, and has also called for banning the Muslim holy book from the Netherlands.

Disappointed

The far-right politician welcomed the ruling.

"Insulting or not, in a political debate you have to be able to tell the truth. I have not crossed the line," Wilders told NOS public television shortly after the prosecution statement.

"I will continue doing what I have done."

But Muslim and anti-discrimination groups in the Netherlands were swift to condemn the prosecution's decision.

The anti-racism organization, The Netherlands Shows its Colors, opposed that prosecutors' assessment that Wilders did not violate the Dutch discrimination laws.

"Wilders and other party members are not only attacking Islam but also Muslims as a group and numerous other minorities," the group said in a statement.

The organization pledged to file an appeal against the prosecutors' decision.

Dutch Muslims also voiced disappointment in the prosecutors' decision.

"My reaction is one of disappointment and divergence with the point of view of the prosecutor," Mohamed Rabbae, chairman of the National Moroccan Council of the Netherlands (LBM), said.

Rabbae said his group will go to court to ask for prosecuting Wilders anyway.

LBM will now request the Dutch court go through a special legal procedure, called "Article 12," to force the justice department to prosecute the MP.

Wilders' film has triggered condemnation from several Muslim countries and has sparked calls for boycotts of Dutch products.

But Dutch Muslim leaders have vowed a calm and wise handling of the crisis.

They have called on Muslims in other countries not to over-react, and decided to open mosques to non-Muslims to wash away the misconceptions propagated by Wilders and his alike.