The anti-Islam film posted by a Dutch politician on the Internet has been met with heavy criticism from both the European Union and Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia, describing it as insulting, racist and heinous.

“Fitna,” the film made by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, whose title is an Arabic term sometimes translated as “strife” or “conflict,” has caused widespread discomfort and indignation. The short film, which Wilders launched on the Internet Thursday evening, presents images of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and Islamist bombings interspersed with quotations from the Koran, Islam’s holy book.

The self-proclaimed defender of free speech and critic of Islam urges Muslims to not give heed to “spiteful” verses from the Koran and to tear those pages out.

Reactions to the film have been very strong. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, condemned it. Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo said the film was “misleading and full of racism,” an irresponsible act “done under the blanket of freedom of the press.”

Iran officials called the film heinous, blasphemous and anti-Islamic and called on European governments to block any further showing.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office summoned the Dutch ambassador to lodge a protest, while the foreign ministry in Bangladesh issued a statement calling the film “unwarranted” and “mindless.”

Wilders’s film also opens an older wound, as it starts and finishes with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb under his turban. The cartoon was first published in Danish newspapers two years ago and incited violent reactions.

Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard told Denmark’s TV2 that the Danish journalists’ union would sue Wilders on his behalf for copyright violation, reports BBC News. Westergaard said his cartoon was a protest against terrorism, not Islam as a whole, and that Wilders used it without permission, in a completely different context.

The Dutch government has rejected Wilders’ views. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has said he is pleased by the initial restrained reactions of Dutch Muslim organizations, according to Reuters.

The European Union said the 15-minute film only inflamed hatred. The Slovenian EU presidency said Friday that it supported the Dutch government’s position and that “mutual tolerance and respect are universal values we should uphold.”

“The European Union and its member states apply the principle of the freedom of speech which is part of our values and traditions. However, it should be exercised in a spirit of respect for religious and other beliefs and convictions.”