Fitna means Ordeal or Strife in Arabic, and the film shows verses of the Koran interspersed with footage of atrocities such as the 9/11 attacks on the US and the London and Madrid bombings. So why did the Brno Islamic Foundation hold a public screening on Monday night? Munib Hassan Alrawi is the organisation’s head.

“First of all we wanted to show that Muslims are ready to accept criticism and they are open to any kind of discussion. Second, we wanted to point out the film is biased and challenge the arguments presented in the film. We also wanted to make it clear whether we agree with what some the Muslims in the film are saying.”

Around 30 people attended Monday’s screening of Fitna, which was followed by a debate. But the controversial Dutch picture was not the only film presented. The Islamic Foundation also decided to screen another documentary, which was made in response to Fitna:

“We also screened a film called Schism, which was made in reaction to this film. It was made by a Muslim and it is structured in the same way as Fitna: it takes extracts from the Bible and links them to the killings of Iraqi people by Western soldiers. The author of Schism openly admits at the end of his film that this is not the right thing to do. So we condemn Fitna and we also condemn any kind of links between Christianity and violence.”