Update: Here is a new version.

Update: The movie has been removed from LiveLeaks - you can still click the player above - but you only get an official statement. I will try to download the movie from another source and repost it here. What a shame!

Since all the world is going bonkers about this movie - watch it yourself and judge it for yourself. (Warning: LiveLeaks stream is currently overwhelmed by demand - so the video could be jerky.)

Let me know what you think?

I am pretty sure it appeals to some of my new conservative American friends.

This video is certainly made to provoke and wake up the world / Europe / the Dutch to the “dangers of Islam”. For me Islam is as dangerous as any religion when it is commanded by Fundamentalists and Terrorists as an excuse to kill or suppress others, because they can’t cope with diversity.

Should the video be censored or forbidden? Of course not. It may be not the best video ever made - but it expresses valid concerns and simply states a political opinion (doesn’t matter if you agree or not). Religions and violence are not beyond criticism.

Plus I like to point out that some stuff that is broadcast by some official Arab TV stations is much harsher than this. And al-Quaeda and Jihadist recruiting videos are pure hate and blood. So in terms of propaganda this Dutch video is rather lame.

But this video is also not beyond criticism: the associations and connections this video sometimes makes are wrong at best and stupid in some cases.

Stupid rhetoric’s from both sides are not helping.

Muslims have to ask themselves if they want to tolerate or maybe combat those fundamentalists who have hijacked their religion and commit murders in their names. And they have to accept that many place in the world don’t care about religious piety and will continue to allow attacks, ridicule and humor against Islam.

And the West has to learn that Islam is not simply bad - and that not every bearded Muslim is a terrorist.

More? Wikipedia entry

Some reactions:

BBC: Dutch MP posts Islam film on web with comments

Graphic images from the bomb attacks on London in July 2005 and Madrid in March 2004 are shown.

Pictures of a woman being stoned, scenes from a beheading and images of the Dutch director Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by a radical Islamist in 2004, are also included.

And pictures appearing to show Muslim demonstrators holding up placards saying “God bless Hitler” and “Freedom go to hell” also feature.

The film shows a young girl in a headscarf making derogatory comments about Jewish people.

Economist: Flat-earth fears

The leaders of both countries have tried to discourage these ventures. They are doing their utmost to soothe bruised sensibilities abroad. The Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, has had several talks with his Danish counterpart, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, about how to cope with the incipient crisis.

One sign that events are escalating came this week, when Mr Wilders secretly visited Copenhagen in an attempt to persuade Danish television to broadcast his movie. As in the Netherlands, the argument against doing so is to avoid provoking retaliation. Already Danish goods are being widely boycotted in Muslim countries.

The Danes seem to have had their fill of the controversy. An opinion poll in Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first published Mr Westergaard’s cartoon, showed that almost 60% of Danes thought republication was ill-advised—whereas a majority supported publication the first time round. On the other hand, the Danes (and Dutch) are staunch believers in free speech. A Danish minister has talked of offering a Dutch-Somali politician, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a safe bolt-hole. Two Danish television stations also aired clips of “Submission”, the film made by Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by an Islamic fanatic in 2004, for which Ms Hirsi Ali wrote the script.

There is also a natural unwillingness to bow to bullies. In the Netherlands, Mr Wilders is admired for his free-speech stance even by those who hate his politics. When two Danish soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, Mr Fogh Rasmussen rejected calls to bring the troops home. “Violent groups are trying to halt progress. They must not succeed,” he said. Many Europeans apply the same logic to free speech and Islamists.