The anger felt by some people in the Muslim world has already reached such a level that a delegation from the Dutch Protestant church, the Dutch Council of Churches, the Muslims and government contact organisation (CMO) and the Islamic contact group is to go to Egypt in a joint effort by these organisations to ward off possible disaster.
One of the delegation leaders is the head of the Dutch Protestant church, Bas Plaisier. He and his fellow delegation members are intent on trying to limit the possible consequences of the film by explaining the religious and social make-up of the Netherlands:
"We're going to talk with Muslim leaders, with church leaders, we're going to speak with the collective press in Egypt, and perhaps also with some one from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo."
According to Bas Plaisier, the problems lies in the fact that the message emanating from the Dutch foreign ministry - about Geert Wilders being just one man who certainly doesn't represent the general option of political circles in The Hague - is simply not getting through to the Muslim world.
Wilders = the Netherlands
Radical groups in particular are equating ‘Wilders' with 'the Netherlands', hence "the Netherlands is insulting the Qur'an" can be the only conclusion in their eyes. The fact that freedom of speech and expression makes it impossible for the government in The Hague to gag Wilders, is simply not hitting home at all.
The Christian-Muslim delegation is, therefore, making it very clear that it is going to Egypt on its own initiative, not as an official representative of the Netherlands, or the Dutch government. By bringing their message to 'religious colleagues', the members of the delegation hope to demonstrate clearly that the Netherlands is not an anti-Islamic nation.
"We regard it as our responsibility as Christians and Muslims from the Netherlands to go and explain in Egypt, which is after all also part of Islam's heartland, how the situation in the Netherlands is precisely, and how we as Christians and Muslims have good relations, and what we think about this entire matter."
Fear
Bas Plaisier says it's extremely important that the message gets across clearly in the Muslim world. He's been receiving disturbing reports from Dutch nationals all over the world, including ones about fear of repercussions among Christians in Sudan, the Middle East and Indonesia, with churches being the target. In the case of Indonesia, the wave of church burning which took place only a few years ago is still fresh in people's memories. Bas Plaisier was in Jakarta fairly recently and found that it was in fact moderate Muslims who would ask him:
"What in heaven's name are you doing in the Netherlands, are you actually aware of what you are doing?"
If
Egypt is, of course, not the Muslim world in its entirety, even though it is a large and important Islamic nation. At the moment, the joint group of Dutch Christian and Muslim organisations has no plans to travel to other countries. However, if the situation should get totally out of hand after the release of 'Fitna, the movie', the delegation would certainly be willing to go travelling once again.
Source: By Radio Netherlands
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