Another Boycott of Dutch Products

I reported last week on the debut of Ehsan Jami’s movie, An Interview with Muhammed, in the Hague. The Muslim world has reacted with predictable outrage, and now there are reports that jihadist websites are calling for action against the Netherlands.

According to Elsevier, as translated by our Flemish correspondent VH:

Jihad-websites: Punish Jami, boycott the Netherlands!

There have been agitations at various jihadist websites against Ehsan Jami and his Islam-critical movie An Interview with Muhammed.

The “son of the Jews” should be condemned by the Dutch government, and until then, all Dutch products should be boycotted.

“Help the Prophet with a boycott,” can be read on the extremist website Hedayah, followed by a list of products to be boycotted by Muslims. The site also shows the Dutch flag and a picture of Jami.

Barbaric

On the website, Mulim.net, the former PvdA [Labour] member is being scoffed at and depicted as a “descendant of the Jews.”

The Palestinian website Alaqsa, — named after a mosque in Jerusalem — condemns Jami’s film. “Islam is not a terrorist-religion and also does is not known for barbaric ideas,” it reads. “Islam is a peaceful religion.”

Despite that message, Osama bin Laden is quoted on the website and at least one martyr can be seen.

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According to Jami, this response to his “human rights project” once again shows how necessary it is “to continue fighting for the rights of women, gays, and apostates.”

“These websites are disqualifying themselves,” Jami says to elsevier.nl. “According to them I am a dog and I must die like a dog. What then should I say to that?”

Good for one’s diet

“All that scoffing,” says the Arabist Professor Hans Jansen to elsevier.nl. “I myself also am a regular topic on these websites, it is difficult to take them seriously. Although with Theo van Gogh we were also thinking that it would come out all right.”

A boycott of Dutch products will, according to Jansen, have “some effect” on Dutch companies, but it will mostly to the disadvantage of the population. “Many countries already have a food problem. If they then also stop the import of products, then that will be surely good for their diet.”

Not offending

The Dutch government had already made a public statement that “the government regrets the fact that Mr Jami’s film deeply offends the feelings of many Muslims.”

“The Netherlands has a tradition of freedom of religion and belief as well as a tradition of freedom of expression,” the statement reads.. “We also have a tradition of respect, tolerance and responsibility. Offending other people is not in keeping with these traditions.”