Service interrupted
As of some hours ago, LiveLeak stopped hosting Fitna as a result of unspecified "serious threats" to their staff. So while a still from the film appears on my post from yesterday (Friday), if you try to play it all you get is a statement lamenting "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", it continues.
Particularly sad, seeing that the reaction throughout most of the Muslim world has been resigned rather than (as many anticipated) demented. It was beginning to look as though the principle of free expression had, for once, triumphed over the bullies and the appeasers, a result which, far from stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment, would undoubtedly have helped community relations no end. I dared to hope that some degree of maturity and a sense of proportion might have arrived. It's only a short film, after all, no more inflammatory than many others widely available via YouTube and intellectually rather weak.
At the moment, it can still be seen via Google Video here, and also, for your convenience, below. But for how much longer, I wouldn't like to speculate.
Obviously one can't criticise LiveLeak for taking threats seriously, and they showed more integrity than the official hosts at Network Solutions; or, for that matter, Geert Wilders himself, whose agenda has always been highly questionable. I hope that LiveLeak's suspension will be a temporary one. Whatever happens, Fitna is now all over the place.
Particularly sad, seeing that the reaction throughout most of the Muslim world has been resigned rather than (as many anticipated) demented. It was beginning to look as though the principle of free expression had, for once, triumphed over the bullies and the appeasers, a result which, far from stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment, would undoubtedly have helped community relations no end. I dared to hope that some degree of maturity and a sense of proportion might have arrived. It's only a short film, after all, no more inflammatory than many others widely available via YouTube and intellectually rather weak.
At the moment, it can still be seen via Google Video here, and also, for your convenience, below. But for how much longer, I wouldn't like to speculate.
Obviously one can't criticise LiveLeak for taking threats seriously, and they showed more integrity than the official hosts at Network Solutions; or, for that matter, Geert Wilders himself, whose agenda has always been highly questionable. I hope that LiveLeak's suspension will be a temporary one. Whatever happens, Fitna is now all over the place.
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