Innocence of Muslims film

[Lewis]

Innocence of Muslims’: The film that sparked deadly U.S. Embassy attacks

A low-quality film mocking the Muslim Prophet Muhammad sparked some Libyan Islamist extremists to attack the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other diplomats. Earlier on Tuesday, a group of Egyptians scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the American flag, angry over the same movie.
So what is this film, and who made it?



Chris Stevens above, the U.S. ambassador to Libya killed along with three others in a rocket attack outside the American Consulate in Benghazi—ignited by protesters angry over a film they say insults Prophet Mohammad—was "a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States," President Obama said in a statement Wednesday condemning the attack.


The English-language film, portions of which have been online since July, attracted attention in Egypt only over the past few days when someone posted a segment of the movie that had been dubbed into Arabic, according to the New York Times. Some Egyptian TV hosts began airing clips of the film over and over, portraying it as a Coptic Christian and American plot to denigrate the prophet. (Morris Sadek, a Coptic Christian from Egypt and critic of Islam who now lives in the United States, told AP he recently began promoting the two-hour film, which might also explain its rise out of obscurity.) The amateur-seeming "Innocence of



Muslims" film shows the Prophet Muhammad as a homosexual who endorses extramarital sex and pedophilia, along with other slurs against Islam. (Many Muslims consider physical or visual representations of Muhammad to be blasphemous.)
Though at first it was unclear who made the movie, the Wall Street Journal tracked down and interviewed Israeli-American real estate developer Sam Bacile, who said he wrote, directed and produced the film. The 52-year-old Bacile told the Journal that he made the film to portray Islam as a hateful religion:

"Islam is a cancer," he said in a telephone interview from his home. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie."
Mr. Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors, whom he declined to identify. Working with about 60 actors and 45 crew members, he said he made the two-hour movie in three months last year in California.
​

Bacile told the AP that he is now in hiding, and that his full movie has only been shown once, to a nearly empty theater in Hollywood. The AP said Bacile was "apologetic" about the ambassador's death, but blamed lax security and the extremists who perpetrated the attack. "I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good," he said. "America should do something to change it."
The inflammatory Florida pastor Terry Jones, best known for burning a copy of Islam's holy book in 2011, has also been publicizing the film.



President Barack Obama condemned the attacks in a statement Wednesday, but also made an oblique reference to the "Innocence of Muslims" film. "While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants," Obama said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also referenced the movie. "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet," Clinton said. "America's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear. There is no justification for this. None."

 

[abide]

Innocence of Muslims’: The film that sparked deadly U.S. Embassy attacks

A low-quality film mocking the Muslim Prophet Muhammad sparked some Libyan Islamist extremists to attack the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other diplomats. Earlier on Tuesday, a group of Egyptians scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the American flag, angry over the same movie.
So what is this film, and who made it?


Chris Stevens above, the U.S. ambassador to Libya killed along with three others in a rocket attack outside the American Consulate in Benghazi—ignited by protesters angry over a film they say insults Prophet Mohammad—was "a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States," President Obama said in a statement Wednesday condemning the attack.


The English-language film, portions of which have been online since July, attracted attention in Egypt only over the past few days when someone posted a segment of the movie that had been dubbed into Arabic, according to the New York Times. Some Egyptian TV hosts began airing clips of the film over and over, portraying it as a Coptic Christian and American plot to denigrate the prophet. (Morris Sadek, a Coptic Christian from Egypt and critic of Islam who now lives in the United States, told AP he recently began promoting the two-hour film, which might also explain its rise out of obscurity.) The amateur-seeming "Innocence of



Muslims" film shows the Prophet Muhammad as a homosexual who endorses extramarital sex and pedophilia, along with other slurs against Islam. (Many Muslims consider physical or visual representations of Muhammad to be blasphemous.)
Though at first it was unclear who made the movie, the Wall Street Journal tracked down and interviewed Israeli-American real estate developer Sam Bacile, who said he wrote, directed and produced the film. The 52-year-old Bacile told the Journal that he made the film to portray Islam as a hateful religion:

"Islam is a cancer," he said in a telephone interview from his home. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie."
Mr. Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors, whom he declined to identify. Working with about 60 actors and 45 crew members, he said he made the two-hour movie in three months last year in California.
​

Bacile told the AP that he is now in hiding, and that his full movie has only been shown once, to a nearly empty theater in Hollywood. The AP said Bacile was "apologetic" about the ambassador's death, but blamed lax security and the extremists who perpetrated the attack. "I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good," he said. "America should do something to change it."
The inflammatory Florida pastor Terry Jones, best known for burning a copy of Islam's holy book in 2011, has also been publicizing the film.



President Barack Obama condemned the attacks in a statement Wednesday, but also made an oblique reference to the "Innocence of Muslims" film. "While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants," Obama said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also referenced the movie. "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet," Clinton said. "America's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear. There is no justification for this. None."

The Western world needs to let the Arab world handle their own affairs. These people are barbaric just like those of the Lords Resistant Army in Kenya and its leader Joseph Kony and as one BBC newscaster called him a dangerous madman.. The USA and all the other western countries try to do their best to help these countries but to no avail. The same thing goes for the Pakistan government they have refused to deal the Haqqani Network another terrorist organisation in their country. (Ironically they want the USA's aid but refuse to deal with these Muslims believe their Prophet is Mohammed and they have to defend a dead man.. Thank God Christ needs no defending. This shows that the demonic spirit in these people is coming to the fore. They kill and maim Christians, burn their bibles, burn houses of Christians and Christians do not retaliate. A young student here in this country said THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MODERATE MUSLIM....and I am sure he is right.

My prayers go out to the family of those who were killed.
I also believe that those who make films like these should realise the repercussions. These people do not use reason. In Syria Prsident Assad is not letting up, These people should be left alone and let them fight their own battles. They will not change until God removes the spiritual blindness from their eyes.

 

[Lewis]

I have a couple of Muslims in my family, and also there is a Mosque up the street from me and those people have another spirit especially the males. I don't trust them. And what gets me is that they can say anything about our christian faith, but they blow up if you say anything about their false prophet Mohammed. Muslims have not a clue, and if they don't turn from it, they are all going to hell.

 

[jasoncran]

well at least do a real critique of islam not something to incite them. sheesh. well its true that mohammed did marry a girl aged 9 and many muslims do that today.

 

[abide]

I have a couple of Muslims in my family, and also there is a Mosque up the street from me and those people have another spirit especially the males. I don't trust them. And what gets me is that they can say anything about our christian faith, but they blow up if you say anything about their false prophet Mohammed. Muslims have not a clue, and if they don't turn from it, they are all going to hell.

Trying to get this message across to them is almost impossible..but we must continue praying for them that one day they will see the lgiht.

 

[Lewis]

Al Qaeda calls death of U.S. ambassador a 'gift'



As the fallout from an online film that mocks Islam's holy prophet continued Tuesday, al Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa urged Muslims in the region to kill U.S. government representatives and called the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens a "gift." "We encourage all Muslims to continue to demonstrate and escalate their protests ... and to kill their (American) ambassadors and representatives or to expel them to cleanse our land from their wickedness," said the statement from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The group called last week's killing of Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, "the best gift you (can) give to his arrogant and unjust administration."
Elsewhere Tuesday, a Taliban-allied insurgent group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 12 people, including eight South Africans, in Afghanistan. The attack was a response to the film, the group said.
Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, a group allied with the Taliban, said a 22-year-old woman drove a car packed with 660 pounds (300 kilograms) of explosives into a van on a road leading to Kabul International Airport.

<cite class="expCaption">The man behind anti-Islamic film</cite>

<cite class="expCaption">Egypt cracks down on protesters</cite>

<cite class="expCaption">Peaceful protests in Pakistan</cite>

<cite class="expCaption">
Rice on the anti-American protests abroad</cite>
Eleven others were wounded in the attack, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.
The escalating tensions have spilled into NATO military operations in the central Asia nation, prompting the alliance to order its troops to adjust joint operations with Afghan security forces to minimize attacks on them by their local allies.


"Recent events outside of and inside Afghanistan related to the 'Innocence of Muslims' video plus the conduct of recent insider attacks have given cause for ISAF troops to exercise increased vigilance and carefully review all activities and interactions with the local population," said a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The operations with Afghan forces could increase as the "threat level" goes down, she said.
Here are the latest key developments:

Protests waning?
Tuesday began more quietly in parts of the world that had been rocked by protests in recent days.
A general strike flared in Indian-administered Kashmir, shutting down businesses, public transport and most government operations, with reports of sporadic violence.
A coalition of religious parties and separatist groups called the strike as a protest against the film.


The scene was much different a day earlier when demonstrators took to the streets in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
Answering a call from the leader of Hezbollah -- deemed a terrorist organization by the United States -- thousands packed the streets of Beirut's southern suburbs Monday and chanted, "Death to America!"


Monday's protests weren't on the scale of those last week, nor did they provoke the same level of international crisis by endangering U.S. diplomatic missions.
Still, the fact that the demonstrations are continuing -- and that they have occurred in more than 20 countries -- suggests the anti-American furor tied to the inflammatory film isn't going away.


Washington has made it clear that it did not sanction the low-budget, amateurish 14-minute movie trailer produced privately in the United States and posted on YouTube. The clip mocks the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester and killer.
Islam forbids any depictions of Mohammed, and blasphemy is taboo among many in the Muslim world.


The man behind the anti-Islam film
The film clip was relatively obscure until September 11 when rioters breached the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and upset protesters attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing Stevens and three other Americans.
Ambassador's last moments
A wave of protests since then has rippled from Morocco to Malaysia, spurring U.S. officials to increase security at diplomatic missions and demand other governments to take action.


Where Obama, Romney stand on foreign policy challenges
Investigation into ambassador's killing
Libya has taken steps to arrest those responsible for last week's deadly consulate attack, bringing in dozens for questioning over the weekend, Libyan officials said. The exact number of arrests was unclear. One Libyan official said those arrested included suspects from Mali and Algeria as well as al Qaeda sympathizers.


Wanes al-Sharif, a deputy interior minister whose jurisdiction included eastern Libya, was fired one day after the Benghazi attack, according to documents obtained Monday by CNN. No reason was given for al-Shari's dismissal. Notably, he told reporters after the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi assault that he'd ordered a security force mobilized during the unrest "to leave the area because of the large number of protesters."


The FBI also is investigating the Libya attack but has yet to enter the country because of volatility there. In the meantime, FBI agents are interviewing witnesses outside Libya, federal law enforcement officials said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters over the weekend that the worst of the violence appeared over, but the United States is maintaining tight security anyway.


Nonessential personnel have been ordered to leave American diplomatic missions in Sudan, Tunisia and Libya. In Yemen, consular services were suspended until the end of the month. And on Monday, the U.S. State Department -- citing "current safety and security concerns" -- urged U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon.


But the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the scene of five consecutive days of protests, returned to full staffing Sunday, the State Department said.
Filmmaker in hiding, video blocked
Federal officials say the man behind the film that sparked the worldwide protests is Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted felon with a history of using aliases to hide his actions. Nakoula is on probation for bank fraud.


Nakoula and his family have left their Cerritos, California, home for an unidentified location, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Monday.
Reports that Nakoula is a Coptic Christian have raised concern about a possible backlash against the minority religious group in Egypt, where tensions between Copts and Muslims have risen recently. He initially told The Wall Street Journal that he was an Israeli.


Nakoula denied he made the film, according to Bishop Serapion, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, citing a phone conversation with him last week. At a news conference Monday, the Coptic leader condemned violence by protesters which, he said, "only serves to continue the hate."
"There should have been no bloodshed," echoed local Muslim leader Maher Hathout, chairman of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, at the same Los Angeles event. "As a matter of fact, there should have been no reaction to such an insignificant production."

Washington's denouncement has no effect
Despite U.S. government officials' firm condemnation, some in the Muslim world -- especially those raised in regimes in which the government must authorize any film -- cannot accept that a movie such as "Innocence of Muslims" can be made without Washington's blessing, Council of Foreign Relations scholar Ed Husain said.


"They're projecting ... their experience, their understanding (that) somehow the U.S. government is responsible for the actions of a right-wing fellow," said Husain, a senior fellow at the New York think thank.
Meanwhile, efforts to block the film are spreading.
A day after the protests broke out, YouTube announced it was restricting access to the video, and since then, Google India has blocked access.(Google is YouTube's parent company.) Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh also have ordered an indefinite block of YouTube to prevent people there from watching the clip.


In Russia, the prosecutor general's office said Monday it will seek to block the movie, which it has labeled extremist, and Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov warned the country may block YouTube over the video, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.