By WIRED
Added: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:00:00 UTC

Thanks to Dutchie for the link.

Reposted from:
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/dutch-film-fitn.html

Video-hosting site LiveLeak pulled the controversial anti-Quran film Fitna Friday afternoon, citing a barrage of threats.

The 17-minute film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, posted Thursday, received more than 3 million views before being taken offline. Fitna juxtaposes passages from the Islamic holy book with graphic footage of terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe. In one scene,the sound of paper ripping can be seen as a reader pages through the Quran.

Put together as a warning that Islam poses a threat to the Netherlands, Fitna includes newspaper headlines about terror attacks, graphic images of beheadings at the hands of Islamic radicals, and a riot-provoking Danish cartoon from 2005 that depicts the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

In place of the video Friday afternoon, a brief and poignant message appears on-screen: "Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature.... LiveLeak has been left with no choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.

"This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net.... We would like to thank the thousands of people from all backgrounds and religions who gave us their support."

Wilders released the 17-minute film via LiveLeak despite concerns voiced by the Dutch government and international organizations.

UPDATE: A copy of Fitna can still be seen on Google Video.

TAGGED: MOVIES, TERRORISM