Report: Malaysia's Mahathir urges Muslims to boycott Dutch products

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad urged the world's 1.3 billion Muslims to boycott Dutch products following the release of an anti-Islam movie by a maverick anti-immigrant lawmaker, a news report said Sunday. His government, meanwhile, joined the international community in strongly condemning the 15-minute film, calling it disrespectful and insensitive. "If Muslims unite, it will be easy to take action," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the Malay-language Utusan Malaysia. "If we boycott Dutch products, they will have to close down their businesses." His office could not immediately be reached for comment. Geert Wilders' movie, titled "Fitna," or "ordeal" in Arabic, was posted online Thursday but removed from the site, LiveLeak.com, one day later. It has since been widely dispersed on other file-sharing sites. The film has sparked noisy street protests in many Islamic nations - but not in Malaysia, where 60 percent of the country's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims. Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said in a statement late Saturday that Wilders "must bear full responsibility over the release of the movie and the consequences of his action." "Portraying Islam as a religion advocating extremism is not only misleading and erroneous, but also blatant disregard and utter disrespect for Islam and the sensitiveness of the Muslim world," he said.