Anger Over a Film Fuels Anti-American Attacks in Egypt ,Libya

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Protesters angry over an amateurish American-made video denouncing Islam attacked the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday, killing a State Department officer, while Egyptian demonstrators stormed over the fortified walls of the United States Embassy here.

On the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the assaults were a violent reminder that the changes sweeping the region have hardly dispelled the rage against the United States that still smolders in pockets around the Arab world.

The mobs were set off by Egyptian media reports about a 14- minute trailer for the video, called the “Innocence of Muslims,” that was released on the Web. The trailer opens with scenes of Egyptian security forces standing idle as Muslims pillage and burn the homes of Egyptian Christians. Then it cuts to cartoonish scenes depicting the prophet Muhammad as a child of uncertain parentage, a buffoon, a womanizer, a homosexual, a child molester and a greedy, blood-thirsty thug.

The trailer was uploaded to YouTube by Sam Bacile, whom The Wall Street Journal Web site identified as a 52-year old Israeli-American real estate developer in California. He told the Web site he had raised $5 million from 100 Jewish donors to make the film. “Islam is a cancer,” Mr. Bacile was quoted as saying.

The video gained international attention when a Florida pastor began promoting it along with his own proclamation of Sept. 11 as “International Judge Muhammad Day.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the pastor, Terry Jones of Gainesville, Fla., called the film “an American production, not designed to attack Muslims but to show the destructive ideology of Islam” and said it “further reveals in a satirical fashion the life of Muhammad.”

He said the embassy attacks illustrated that Muslims “have no tolerance for anything outside of Muhammad” and called Islam “a total deception.”

Mr. Jones inspired deadly riots in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011 by threatening to burn copies of the Koran and then burning one in his church. He also once reportedly hanged President Obama in effigy.

In Benghazi on Tuesday, protesters armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the United States Consulate and set it on fire, Libyan officials said. Some news reports said American guards inside the consulate had fired their weapons, and a brigade of Libyan security forces arriving on the scene had battled the attackers in the streets as well.

Officials of Libya’s Interior Ministry told reporters that an American employee of the consulate was fatally shot and that at least one other American staff member had been hurt.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed late Tuesday that a State Department officer had been killed in the Benghazi attack, and she condemned the violence. “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” she said. “But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.” The death in Benghazi appears to be the first such fatality in a string of attacks and vandalism against foreign diplomatic missions in Libya in recent months. Since the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Libya’s transitional government has struggled to rebuild an effective police force and restore public security.

Local Islamist militant groups capitalizing on the security vacuum have claimed responsibility for some attacks, and some reports on Tuesday suggested that one such group, Ansar al-Sharia, had claimed responsibility for that day’s assault.

In Cairo, thousands of unarmed protesters had gathered outside the embassy during the day. By nightfall, some had climbed over the wall around the embassy compound and destroyed a flag hanging inside. The vandals replaced it with a black flag with an Islamic profession of faith — “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet” — favored by ultraconservatives and militants.

Embassy guards fired guns into the air, but a large contingent of Egyptian riot police officers on hand to protect the embassy evidently did not use their weapons against the crowd, and the protest continued, largely without violence, into the night.

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, the mainstream Islamist group and the sponsors of Egypt’s first elected president, Mohamed Morsi, urged the United States government on Tuesday to prosecute the “madmen” behind the video, according to the English-language Web site of the state newspaper, Al Ahram.

The spokesman asked for a formal apology from the United States government and warned that events like the video were damaging Washington’s relations with the Muslim world. There should be “civilized demonstrations of the Egyptian people’s displeasure with this film,” the Brotherhood spokesman said, according to the Web site. “Any nonpeaceful activity will be exploited by those who hate Islam to defame the image of Egypt and Muslims.”

The American Embassy had released a statement shortly after noon that appeared to refer to Mr. Jones: “The United States Embassy in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.”

Photo: People shout slogans and light flares in front of the U.S. embassy in Cairo Sept 11, 2012

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47 responses to “Anger Over a Film Fuels Anti-American Attacks in Egypt ,Libya”

  1. My point exactly… Religion always causes death and destruction… A Jew making a movie, A Christian priest adding fuel to the anger and a Moslem mob attacking and killing poor innocent people trying to make a living…
    Guys, have you seen the trailer? The guy who made it is an idiot and a zealot… A poor quality film, poor quality actors and acting, definitely a religious fanatic stirring the soup pot of other religions to cause trouble for all…

  2. My point exactly… Religion always causes death and destruction… A Jew making a movie, A Christian priest adding fuel to the anger and a Moslem mob attacking and killing poor innocent guards trying to make a living…

  3. It doesn’t matter. Whether I’m a zealot or an idiot or not, I should be able to make a movie saying and depicting whatever the hell it is that I want without Ambassadors getting killed!! These Neanderthals deserved no more than a Ghaddafi or Moubarak, not an “Arab Spring”.

    This is the same scene of the Denmark cartoons a few years ago. Was the artist a zealot or an idiot? That guy wasn’t even religious.

    Google “Piss Christ”. Yep, you probably never heard of that before—because nobody was killed over it. That’s an artist in New York who literally submerged a Christ figurine in a jar of urine, and had it exhibited somewhere. I didn’t see buildings burned or Ambassadors killed over that. And if you ask me, that is WAY more offensive than what this new movie or the Danish cartoons say about Islam and its prophet.

    1. I beg to differ… The artist got many too many threats and his work was vandalized… He lost grants because of it… Wiki his work and you will see the backlash.

      1. I did not say there was no backlash. But there were no RPGs and mobs and killings.

    2. Every Muslim strongly condemns the making of an extremely insulting and humiliating film about Islam and Prophet (PBUh) by an American based Isareli Jew, Israeli Sam Bacile. This is the worst form of terrorism, playing with Respect of Islam and sentiments its Followers. Any Muslim,whether a practicing one or Not, cannot Allow insult of islam in the name of freedom of expression and media. have u ever heard of a Muslim making vulgar pictures and cartoons and insulting movies about Jesus or Moses???

  4. It doesn’t matter. Whether I’m a zealot or an idiot or not, I should be able to make a movie saying and depicting whatever the hell it is that I want without Ambassadors getting killed!! These Neanderthals deserved no more than a Ghaddafi or Moubarak, not an “Arab Spring”.

    This is the same scene of the Denmark cartoons a few years ago. Was the artist a zealot or an idiot? That guy wasn’t even religious.

    Google “Piss Christ”. Yep, you probably never heard of that before—because nobody was killed over it. That’s an artist in New York who literally submerged a Christ figurine in a jar of urine, and had it exhibited somewhere. I didn’t see buildings burned or Ambassadors killed over that. And if you ask me, that is WAY more offensive than what this new movie or the Danish cartoons say about Islam and its prophet.

    1. I beg to differ… The artist got many too many threats and his work was vandalized… He lost grants because of it… Wiki his work and you will see the backlash.

      1. nayyashAl3arab Avatar
        nayyashAl3arab

        despite the fact i respect all religions & i respect freedom of belief, i strongly condemn anyone, in the name of any allah or god, who kills because his belief was insulted. This is something that israel implanted in the minds of people inspired or plagiarised by islam, not sure which is wich: revisionism is a crime in europe (not in USA). Of course the holocaust was bad but if a person is morally filthy, should we put him in jail just for filthy ideas not associated with action? modern islam or salafism is doing the same: in islam there is no concept of moral punishment (jail) but physical punishment: hence they chop off your hand or neck etc etc

      2. I did not say there was no backlash. But there were no RPGs and mobs and killings.

    2. Every Muslim strongly condemns the making of an extremely insulting and humiliating film about Islam and Prophet (PBUh) by an American based Isareli Jew, Israeli Sam Bacile. This is the worst form of terrorism, playing with Respect of Islam and sentiments its Followers. Any Muslim,whether a practicing one or Not, cannot Allow insult of islam in the name of freedom of expression and media. have u ever heard of a Muslim making vulgar pictures and cartoons and insulting movies about Jesus or Moses???

      1. Yes I have… In Damour the Palestinians desecrated the churches and crapped on the altars. Recently Islamists went inside the church in Ashrafiyeh and vandalized it. There are tons of such stories…

  5. 5thDrawer Avatar

    ‘The Slavering Mob’ proves a point …. and advertises the little short clip which sounds to be about as stupid as the people who gave the guy money to make it. Killing someone and attacking an embassy for what a few idiots do is just as idiotic.
    Is the real problem that there is something called ‘free speech’ in America??

  6. 5thDrawer Avatar

    ‘The Slavering Mob’ proves a point …. and advertises the little short clip which sounds to be about as stupid as the people who gave the guy money to make it. Killing someone and attacking an embassy for the what a few idiots do is just as idiotic.
    Is the real problem that there is something called ‘free speech’ in America??

    1. whats the movie actually called? i havent seen it yet

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar

        Don’t know, Dateam … I haven’t either … you and I are probably like most of that Mob.

      2. Innocence of Muslims

  7. Cathy8111 Avatar

    First of all its one of the worst movies EVER! it looks like someone made it in his garage….i cant even believe this movie is being taken seriously. Although I hate muslim extremists and I do not condone any killings, the ignorants who are talking about freedom of speech should look into the people that were jailed in Austria, Germany and France because they dared question the holocaust. so much for freedom of speech. WE NEED TO ERADICATE EXTREMIST MUSLIMS NOT ISLAM. and this is exactley what the zionist filmmaker wanted, this kjind of reaction that will show the world that muslims are animals who kill because of a movie (this is not what i think). they played right into his hands.

    1. nayyashAl3arab Avatar
      nayyashAl3arab

      you are right we do not need a movie to tell us how wild & savage salafis are & if you say it they will chop off your neck; long live salafi freedom oops condom of speeech

    2. Persistent Avatar

      I am not condoning the despicable and deplorable behavior of some extremists, but if you remember about a month ago, a clothing store in India was named “HITLER”, there was so much uproar about how offensive and insensitive the name was, the owner was pressured to change the name. When it comes to bashing islam it is a fair game and the majority invoke “freedom of speech” nonsense. There are 1.2 billion moslems and the great majority of them are good and decent people.

      1. nayyashAl3arab Avatar
        nayyashAl3arab

        even though i do support assad but by logic not by love, let me tell you this joke: a pastry shop opened in damascus at times of hafez; the shop keeper called it according his family name: “halawyyat al3arsa”. Moukhabarat came, did a fala’ i.e beating the shopkeeper & said:”wla, arent you ashamed in damascus with such a name”. the shopkeeper replied: “but this is my real name”. We dont care said the moukhabarat, you have to change it. Tomorrow we will come and you would have changed the name to “Halawyyat al assad”. The shopkeeper intrigued and wanting to keep his name changed the name and next day when the moukhabarat came saw: “HALAWYAT AL ASSAD, AL3ARSA SABIKAN”.
        I am telling you this joke in order not to believe all jokes you read on internet; israeli propaganda is widespread. In USA, unlike in Europe, antisemitism is not forbidden; hitler ‘s items and articles are widely available on the market including music videos and DVD’s. I am not saying what you said is not ture what i am saying is that the interpretation could be wrong and here is the role of propagandists. Let me give you another example:the swastica which is the nazi symbol is one of the old holy symbols of hindus and is still used by the terrorist party called hizb al kawmi ASSouri

  8. Cathy8111 Avatar

    First of all its one of the worst movies EVER! it looks like someone made it in his garage….i cant even believe this movie is being taken seriously. Although I hate muslim extremists and I do not condone any killings, the ignorants who are talking about freedom of speech should look into the people that were jailed in Austria, Germany and France because they dared question the holocaust. so much for freedom of speech. WE NEED TO ERADICATE EXTREMIST MUSLIMS NOT ISLAM. and this is exactley what the zionist filmmaker wanted, this kjind of reaction that will show the world that muslims are animals who kill because of a movie (this is not what i think). they played right into his hands.

    1. nayyashAl3arab Avatar
      nayyashAl3arab

      you are right we do not need a movie to tell us how wild & savage salafis are & if you say it they will chop off your neck; long live salafi freedom oops condom of speeech

    2. Persistent Avatar

      I am not condoning the despicable and deplorable behavior of some extremists, but if you remember about a month ago, a clothing store in India was named “HITLER”, there was so much uproar about how offensive and insensitive the name was, the owner was pressured to change the name. When it comes to bashing islam it is a fair game and the majority invoke “freedom of speech” nonsense. There are 1.2 billion moslems and the great majority of them are good and decent people.

      1. nayyashAl3arab Avatar
        nayyashAl3arab

        even though i do support assad but by logic not by love, let me tell you this joke: a pastry shop opened in damascus at times of hafez; the shop keeper called it according his family name: “halawyyat al3arsa”. Moukhabarat came, did a fala’ i.e beating the shopkeeper & said:”wla, arent you ashamed in damascus with such a name”. the shopkeeper replied: “but this is my real name”. We dont care said the moukhabarat, you have to change it. Tomorrow we will come and you would have changed the name to “Halawyyat al assad”. The shopkeeper intrigued and wanting to keep his name changed the name and next day when the moukhabarat came saw: “HALAWYAT AL ASSAD, AL3ARSA SABIKAN”.
        I am telling you this joke in order not to believe all jokes you read on internet; israeli propaganda is widespread. In USA, unlike in Europe, antisemitism is not forbidden; hitler ‘s items and articles are widely available on the market including music videos and DVD’s. I am not saying what you said is not ture what i am saying is that the interpretation could be wrong and here is the role of propagandists. Let me give you another example:the swastica which is the nazi symbol is one of the old holy symbols of hindus and is still used by the terrorist party called hizb al kawmi ASSouri

  9. Cathy8111 Avatar

    First of all its one of the worst movies EVER! it looks like someone made it in his garage….i cant even believe this movie is being taken seriously. Although I hate muslim extremists and I do not condone any killings, the ignorants who are talking about freedom of speech should look into the people that were jailed in Austria, Germany and France because they dared question the holocaust. so much for freedom of speech. WE NEED TO ERADICATE EXTREMIST MUSLIMS NOT ISLAM. and this is exactley what the zionist filmmaker wanted, this kjind of reaction that will show the world that muslims are animals who kill because of a movie (this is not what i think). they played right into his hands.

    1. nayyashAl3arab Avatar
      nayyashAl3arab

      you are right we do not need a movie to tell us how wild & savage salafis are & if you say it they will chop off your neck; long live salafi freedom oops condom of speeech

    2. Persistent Avatar

      I am not condoning the despicable and deplorable behavior of some extremists, but if you remember about a month ago, a clothing store in India was named “HITLER”, there was so much uproroar about how offensive and insensitive the name was, the owner was pressured to change the name. When it comes to bashing islam it is a fair game and the majority invoke “freedom of speech” nonsense. There are 1.2 billion moslems and the great majority of them are good and decent people.

      1. nayyashAl3arab Avatar
        nayyashAl3arab

        even though i do support assad but by logic not by love, let me tell you this joke: a pastry shop opened in damascus at times of hafez; the shop keeper called it according his family name: “halawyyat al3arsa”. Moukhabarat came, did a fala’ i.e beating the shopkeeper & said:”wla, arent you ashamed in damascus with such a name”. the shopkeeper replied: “but this is my real name”. We dont care said the moukhabarat, you have to change it. Tomorrow we will come and you would have changed the name to “Halawyyat al assad”. The shopkeeper intrigued and wanting to keep his name changed the name and next day when the moukhabarat came saw: “HALAWYAT AL ASSAD, AL3ARSA SABIKAN”.

  10.  Behind incidents of this kind are fanatical intolerant people who have specific objectives!They know beforehand what reactions a film or video or whatever of this kind will have on people s religious beliefs!!

  11.  Behind incidents of this kind are fanatical intolerant people who have specific objectives!They know beforehand what reactions a film or video or whatever of this kind will have on people s religious beliefs!!

  12.  Behind incidents of this kind are fanatical intolerant people who have specific objectives!They know beforehand what reactions a film or video or whatever of this kind will have on people s religious beliefs!!

  13. Shame on the mobs killing an innocent US Ambassador, the first missiles that destroyed most Khaddafi war machine were Amercians ,700 million dollars first night , Is the American ambassador the one who made the movie ? is a frigin Jew who made it and got 5 million dollars from Jewish who had interest in it, Can the moslem use their brain and not their emotions to analyze that it was released Sep 11 and the Jews owns the movie industry in US. US is the last country that can be considered a Chistian country as they celebrate thanksgiving more that Xmas and Easter holiday  doesn’t exist’ .The Cartoon in Denmark made the moslem mobs in Lebanon go toward Achrafieh with knives scream Khaibar or whatever f it is khaibar is . I have full respect for Hizbollah as they always fought army and they were never cowards like the Egyptian who just are good on fighting and killing coptics and runaway with war in Israel. When I saw today the picture in Annahar of the Americna US ambassador dragged with the moselm mobs and killed ,I came to the conclusion that the west by the end have to back off and Back Assad to finish this so called revolution as the replacement will be an ugly one especially when the Hypocrites Saudis who made Sep 11 and financed it are behind all the moslem fanaticism and terrorism in the world >let Assad squashed them the hell with them they don’t deserve to win after what we see that Egypt and Lybia are going to the dark ages time

  14. Shame on the mobs killing an innocent US Ambassador, the first missiles that destroyed most Khaddafi war machine were Amercians ,700 million dollars first night , Is the American ambassador the one who made the movie ? is a frigin Jew who made it and got 5 million dollars from Jewish who had interest in it, Can the moslem use their brain and not their emotions to analyze that it was released Sep 11 and the Jews owns the movie industry in US. US is the last country that can be considered a Chistian country as they celebrate thanksgiving more that Xmas and Easter holiday  doesn’t exist’ .The Cartoon in Denmark made the moslem mobs in Lebanon go toward Achrafieh with knives scream Khaibar or whatever f it is khaibar is . I have full respect for Hizbollah as they always fought army and they were never cowards like the Egyptian who just are good on fighting and killing coptics and runaway with war in Israel. When I saw today the picture in Annahar of the Americna US ambassador dragged with the moselm mobs and killed ,I came to the conclusion that the west by the end have to back off and Back Assad to finish this so called revolution as the replacement will be an ugly one especially when the Hypocrites Saudis who made Sep 11 and financed it are behind all the moslem fanaticism and terrorism in the world >let Assad squashed them the hell with them they don’t deserve to win after what we see that Egypt and Lybia are going to the dark ages time

  15. Guss Gibs Avatar

    Shame on the mobs killing an innocent US Ambassador, the first missiles that destroyed most Khaddafi war machine were Amercians ,700 million dollars first night , Is the American ambassador the one who made the movie ? is a frigin Jew who made it and got 5 million dollars from Jewish who had interest in it, Can the moslem use their brain and not their emotions to analyze that it was released Sep 11 and the Jews owns the movie industry in US. US is the last country that can be considered a Chistian country as they celebrate thanksgiving more that Xmas and Easter holiday  doesn’t exist’ .The Cartoon in Denmark made the moslem mobs in Lebanon go toward Achrafieh with knives scream Khaibar or whatever f it is khaibar is . I have full respect for Hizbollah as they always fought army and they are cowards like the Egyptian who just are good on coptics and runaway with war in Israel. When I saw today the picture in Annahar dragged with the moselm mobs and killed ,I came to the conclusion that the west by the end have to back off and Back Assad to finish this so called revolution as the replacement will be an ugly one especially when the Hypocrites Saudis who made Sep 11 and financed it are behind all the moslem fanaticism and terrorism in the world >let Assad squashed them the hell with them they don’t deserve to win after what we see that Egypt and Lybia are going to the dark ages time

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