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Theo
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CAIRO,
May 11, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Despite protests from Muslims,
Italy’s state broadcaster, RAI, will screen Thursday, May 12, the
controversial Dutch film Submission.
The
controversial film was directed by Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh,
known for his criticism of Islam, who was killed last November,
allegedly by a Muslim extremist angered by the anti-Islam script.
The Guardian said Wednesday, May
11, that by showing the film, RAI will be defying “protests from
Muslims and reported threats to one of its executives when it becomes
the first leading foreign TV network to show the controversial
film”.
The
decision to screen substantial extracts from the film followed a plea
last week from Italian MPs from all leading parties, who said
broadcasting the film would contribute “to artistic freedom and
freedom of expression”, the paper said.
Critics
of RAI's decision, on the other hand, argued it is bowing to pressure
from the anti-imam grant Northern League, which had earlier tried and
failed to get the film shown at the European parliament, according to
the daily.
The
47-year-old filmmaker, who sometimes claimed to be a distant relative
of the late 19th-century artist Vincent van Gogh, caused an uproar
this summer among the Dutch Muslim community with his
short film “Submission” about Islam and women.
Van
Gogh made his film with a controversial politician of Somali descent, Ayaan
Hirsi Ali, who is a vocal critic of women’s treatment
in Islamic countries and who was also under police protection after
receiving death threats.
After
the film was shown on Dutch television in August, Van Gogh received
death threats and police stepped up measures to protect him, much
against his will. Dutch authorities, however, stressed that Van Gogh
had not contacted them about any threats made against him.
The
trial of Mohammed B., the man accused of killing Theo van Gogh
last November, will take place on July 11.
Van
Gogh’s murder was followed by dozens of arson attacks on mosques and
other Islamic targets, which in turn led to counter-attacks on
churches, The Guardian said.
Petition
The
Islamic Council of Turin, for its part, sent a letter to President
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, calling for the broadcast to be cancelled,
according to the British daily.
The
letter, signed by two imams, said the content of the film was
“detrimental to Islamic traditions and customs”.
The
imams warned showing the film could create “new and drastic tensions
that could induce the most fanatical to commit high-profile actions
endangering public security”.
Copies
of their letter were sent to, among others, the prime minister, Silvio
Berlusconi, and the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo
Sodano, the daily said.
On
April 20, The Locarno International Film Festival organizers excluded
the controversial anti-Islam film from the race for "security
reasons", a move widely criticized by the Muslim minority in
Switzerland for further associating Islam and Muslims with terrorism.
The
Guardian said that some Dutch Muslim
women who were victims of male violence reacted angrily when
Submission was shown on television in the Netherlands last August,
arguing that it cheapened their suffering.
The
decision to screen the film in Italy was reported by the Northern
League’s daily, Padania, Sunday but the news was not carried in the
national press, apparently for fear of stirring protests.
The
Guardian quoted the Italian news
agency Adnkronos as reporting that the RAI executive supervising the
broadcast has already received anonymous threats.
Last
month, the European parliament scrapped a screening of the film
because of legal concerns and security fears.
