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- 18 aug 2012
Ex-Fundraiser for US Rep. Grimm Arrested in NYC
Photograph from 2007 shows Ofer Biton, left, conferring with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto.
By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press
Israeli businessman, ex-fundraiser for US Rep. Grimm, arrested in NYC on immigration charges.
An Israeli who helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm during his 2010 campaign has been arrested in New York on immigration fraud charges.
Businessman Ofer Biton was arraigned Friday at a federal court in Brooklyn on charges that he lied about his finances when he applied two years ago for a special visa available to foreigners who invest $500,000 or more in a U.S. business.
His lawyer, Jeffrey Udell, declined to comment.
The arrest comes amid an ongoing FBI probe of money donated to Grimm's campaign by followers of an Israeli rabbi, Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto.
Biton was formerly a top aide to Pinto, who also has headquarters and a residence in New York. During Grimm's 2010 run, Biton acted as the chief liaison between the Staten Island Republican and potential donors in Pinto's congregation.
Some donors have since said that they broke campaign finance law by donating more money than allowed, or by funneling donations from foreigners who aren't legally allowed to give to U.S. candidates.
The criminal complaint against Biton, which was unsealed Friday, doesn't mention his campaign activities.
An FBI agent accused Biton in the complaint of lying on his immigration application about the source of money he was investing in an attempt to get a U.S. visa for foreign entrepreneurs.
The application said the bulk of the money, $400,000, was a personal loan from a family friend. But the FBI said it had witnesses and bank records showing that the money actually came from a "coconspirator," not named in the complaint, who funneled the money through an accomplice to hide where it came from.
By concealing the true source of the money, the FBI said, Biton had violated a part of the visa process requiring honest disclosure of the origins of the investment money.
Grimm has acknowledged working with Biton to collect money from American members of Pinto's congregation, but he has repeatedly denied knowledge of any improper donations, or any other illegal activity involving Biton or other members of Pinto's congregation.
Grimm's lawyer, William McGinley, did not immediately respond to inquiries about Biton's arrest on Saturday. He has told reporters previously that he is confident the Justice Department's investigation into the campaign's activities would uncover no wrongdoing.
Pinto and top people in his organization have also publicly accused Biton of embezzling money from the congregation. He has denied those allegations, and there was no mention of them in the criminal complaint unsealed Friday
http://fwd4.me/17u8 28 aug 2012, 08:02 , Respect -
Maria 28 aug 2012
U.S. tripled weapons sales in 2011 to counter Iran's threats, study shows
An F-15 fighter aircraft flies over the Grand Canyon en route to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, February 7, 2008.
Study says U.S. worked out policy goal with Arab allies in the Gulf to build a regional missile defense system to protect cities, oil refineries, pipelines and military bases from possible Iranian military attack.
The United States tripled weapons exports last year, mostly to allies in the Middle East in a major drive to counter Iran's ambitions in the region, a new study for the U.S. Congress said Monday.
The study by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, said U.S. weapons exports totaled $66.3 billion in 2011, out of a global weapons market of $85.3 billion.
By contrast, Russia's arms exports stood at a distant second at $4.8 billion in the same year.
The study said the 2011 figures for U.S. arms exports constituted an "extraordinary increase" in just one year over the $21.4 billion in 2010 sales. The U.S. exported weapons worth $31 billion in 2009.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman were major buyers of U.S. weapons at record levels last year, the study said.
Four United States Army Chinook helicopters are parked on the tarmac at Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan May 28, 2012.
In addition, the U.S. had worked out a policy goal with Arab allies in the Gulf to build a regional missile defense system to protect cities, oil refineries, pipelines and military bases from possible Iranian military attack.
In agreements with the U.S. worth 33.4 billion dollars last year, Saudi Arabia agreed to buy 84 advanced F-15 fighters, ammunition, missiles and logistics support and pay for upgrading 70 of the F-15s. The U.S. also sold military equipment that included dozens of Apache and Black Hawk helicopters to the Saudis.
The UAE purchased a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and an advanced antimissile shield, which includes radars, which were valued at $3.49 billion, as well as 16 Chinook helicopters for $939 million.
Oman bought 18 F-16 fighters for $1.4 billion, the study said.
http://fwd4.me/18K9...Read more 6 sep 2012, 11:38 , Respect -
Maria 6 sept 2012
PFLP condemns US parties for stance on Jerusalem
US President Barack Obama embraces former President Bill Clinton onstage after Clinton nominated Obama for re-election during the second session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 5, 2012
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned on Thursday the use of Jerusalem "in competition for the Jewish vote" between the two main sides of the American election.
The leftist faction said Barack Obama and Mitt Romney confirmed their agreement that Jerusalem "is the capital of an occupying country."
In a statement, the PFLP said the United States held positions out of line with international law and UN resolutions, and sought to "judge and decide other people's rights, belongings and holy sites."
"International law and UN resolutions reject settlements" and consider Jerusalem occupied, the faction said.
The reaction came a day after Democrats reinstated language in their party platform declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel after Republicans accused them of showing weak support for the US ally.
A Democratic official said the language was being reinstated to reflect the personal view of President Barack Obama. The platform wording was changed in a voice vote among Democratic delegates on the floor of their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
There were a number of "no" votes recorded, and it took convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles mayor, several attempts to get the "yes" vote recorded.
Four years ago, during the last presidential campaign, the Democratic Party's platform had said "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel."
But this year that language was dropped, drawing criticism from presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans.
The status of Jerusalem is fiercely contested between the Palestinians and Israel, which seized eastern Jerusalem during a 1967 war, and is among the thorny "final status" issues to be determined in any peace negotiations.
Most countries, including the United States, have not recognized Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as its capital and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Previous US presidential candidates, including then Senator Barack Obama in June 2008, have referred to Jerusalem as Israel's capital before elections. But as president they have always left the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.
US Democrats reinstate platform language on Jerusalem
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) -- Democrats reinstated language in the party platform on Wednesday declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel after Republicans accused them of showing weak support for the longtime US ally.
A Democratic official said the language was being reinstated to reflect the personal view of President Barack Obama. The platform wording was changed in a voice vote among Democratic delegates on the floor of their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
There were a number of "no" votes recorded, and it took convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles mayor, several attempts to get the "yes" vote recorded.
Four years ago, during the last presidential campaign, the Democratic Party's platform had said "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel."
But this year that language was dropped, drawing criticism from presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans.
The status of Jerusalem is fiercely contested between the Palestinians and Israel, which seized eastern Jerusalem during a 1967 war, and is among the thorny "final status" issues to be determined in any peace negotiations.
Most countries, including the United States, have not recognized Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as its capital and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Previous US presidential candidates, including then Senator Barack Obama in June 2008, have referred to Jerusalem as Israel's capital before elections. But as president they have always left the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.
...Read more 7 sep 2012, 20:39 , Respect -
Maria 6 sept 2012
PFLP condemns US parties for stance on Jerusalem
US President Barack Obama embraces former President Bill Clinton onstage after Clinton nominated Obama for re-election during the second session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 5, 2012
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned on Thursday the use of Jerusalem "in competition for the Jewish vote" between the two main sides of the American election.
The leftist faction said Barack Obama and Mitt Romney confirmed their agreement that Jerusalem "is the capital of an occupying country."
In a statement, the PFLP said the United States held positions out of line with international law and UN resolutions, and sought to "judge and decide other people's rights, belongings and holy sites."
"International law and UN resolutions reject settlements" and consider Jerusalem occupied, the faction said.
The reaction came a day after Democrats reinstated language in their party platform declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel after Republicans accused them of showing weak support for the US ally.
A Democratic official said the language was being reinstated to reflect the personal view of President Barack Obama. The platform wording was changed in a voice vote among Democratic delegates on the floor of their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
There were a number of "no" votes recorded, and it took convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles mayor, several attempts to get the "yes" vote recorded.
Four years ago, during the last presidential campaign, the Democratic Party's platform had said "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel."
But this year that language was dropped, drawing criticism from presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans.
The status of Jerusalem is fiercely contested between the Palestinians and Israel, which seized eastern Jerusalem during a 1967 war, and is among the thorny "final status" issues to be determined in any peace negotiations.
Most countries, including the United States, have not recognized Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as its capital and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Previous US presidential candidates, including then Senator Barack Obama in June 2008, have referred to Jerusalem as Israel's capital before elections. But as president they have always left the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Foundation: Rightists visit Aqsa Mosque
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Thirty Israeli officers and a group of right-wing Israeli Jews entered the premises of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem Old City on Thursday, a religious authority said.
The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Islamic Heritage said in a statement that former Likud party candidate Moshe Feiglin entered the mosque area accompanied by a group of "settlers."
The group performed Jewish prayers amid tight security, the authority said.
The foundation called on the international community to prevent the visits to the compound.
Occupation to close Ibrahimi Mosque five days
AL-KHALIL,(PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) decided to close the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil city and prevent Muslim worshipers from entering it for five days this months, the Directorate of Endowments in Al-Khalil confirmed.
The Director of Endowments in al-Khalil, Zaid Al-Jabari affirmed that the IOA told the Islamic Waqf authority in Al-Khalil city that only the Jewish settlers would be allowed during the five days to enter the Ibrahimi Mosque to celebrate the Jewish New Year and Days of Atonement and Repentance.
He pointed out that the occupation usually closes the Ibrahimi mosque for ten days per year, under the resolutions of the "Shamgar" commission, which was formed after the massacre committed by the vindictive settler " Baruch Guldstein" against Palestinian worshipers in February 1994, which divided the mosque and prevented Muslims to enter it on Jewish holidays.
Jabari stressed that the Ibrahimi mosque and all its parts are an Islamic place, confirming that Jews have nothing to do with it.
The Ibrahimi Mosque's closure is a part of a series of ongoing attacks against Palestinian Muslim and Christian holy places.
He also called on the international community to intervene to stop the Israeli violations and attacks against the holy Islamic sites in Palestine.
Quiet Judaization steps in Aqsa Mosque
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Al-Aqsa Foundation for the Waqf and heritage called on the Arab and Islamic countries to organize as much events as possible to support Al-Aqsa mosque and to address the occupation attacks against the mosque and the entire city of Jerusalem.
The Foundation called, in a statement on Wednesday, on all the Arab and Islamic Nation to show their support for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa through continuous activities that keep the Aqsa and Jerusalem present in conscience of the Ummah.
Al-Aqsa Foundation also called on Jerusalemites to intensify their presence permanently in Al-Aqsa mosque to protect it from the Israeli violations and settlers' attacks.
The Foundation noted that the Israeli occupation adopts quiet Judaization steps in the Aqsa Mosque and seeks to make Al-Aqsa mosque plazas public.
The Foundation confirmed that the Foundation for the Architecture of Al-Aqsa and Holy Places documented Israeli settlers and tourists' violations against the holy Aqsa mosque.
The Foundation pointed out that 80 Israeli soldiers have broken into the mosque on Tuesday, in addition to Israeli intelligence elements.
The settler groups’ daily storming of the mosque, where they practice biblical and Talmudic rituals, came in light of a serious Israeli scheme to consider Al-Aqsa mosque's yards as public yards.
Al-Aqsa Foundation's statement stressed that Al-Aqsa mosque and all its parts are only an Islamic sacred place of worship.
US Democrats reinstate platform language on Jerusalem
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) -- Democrats reinstated language in the party platform on Wednesday declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel after Republicans accused them of showing weak support for the longtime US ally.
A Democratic official said the language was being reinstated to reflect the personal view of President Barack Obama. The platform wording was changed in a voice vote among Democratic delegates on the floor of their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
There were a number of "no" votes recorded, and it took convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles mayor, several attempts to get the "yes" vote recorded.
Four years ago, during the last presidential campaign, the Democratic Party's platform had said "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel."
But this year that language was dropped, drawing criticism from presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans.
The status of Jerusalem is fiercely contested between the Palestinians and Israel, which seized eastern Jerusalem during a 1967 war, and is among the thorny "final status" issues to be determined in any peace negotiations.
Most countries, including the United States, have not recognized Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as its capital and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Previous US presidential candidates, including then Senator Barack Obama in June 2008, have referred to Jerusalem as Israel's capital before elections. But as president they have always left the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Jewish settlers drink wine and revel in Beersheba Mosque
BEERSHEBA, (PIC)-- Dozens of fanatic Jewish settlers on Wednesday evening drank wine and partied in the courtyard of Beersheba Mosque in the city in violation of an Israeli official pledge to refrain from holding a wine festival in the Mosque.
The settlers deliberately breached the agreement that was reached between the organizers of Karama (dignity) protest and the Israeli municipal council in Beersheba city.
They were seen drinking wine and reveling in the Mosque's courtyard.
The higher guidance committee for the Negev Arabs had to cancel Karama rally which it was intending to stage in Beersheba Mosque to protest the Israeli intention to hold a wine party in the Mosque after the city municipal council promised not to bring in alcoholic drinks and called off its intended party.
...Read more 7 sep 2012, 20:40 , Respect -
Maria 7 sept 2012
Hamas: The Democratic Party's position on Jerusalem is a scandal
BEIRUT, (PIC)-- The Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" has considered the U.S. Democratic Party's position on Jerusalem as a "scandal that reveals full bias to the Israeli occupation."
Following the US party's position that claimed "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel", Hamas issued a statement denouncing the Democratic Party’s new platform language.
The movement stated that this position is a scandal for the U.S. administration and confirms US full bias to the Israeli occupation and its double standards on the Palestinian issue.
The movement insisted that Jerusalem is and will remain the capital city of Palestine, stressing on the Palestinian national constants.
Hamas added that this American biased position to the Israeli occupation represents a blow to those who still wager on the so called “peace negotiations”.
An Obama campaign official said late Wednesday that the change in platform was made to reflect the personal views of Obama, who believes that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and who "personally intervened" to ask for the platform change.
11 sep 2012, 20:08 , Respect -
Maria 11 sept 2012
White House declines Netanyahu request to meet with Obama
The White House's response marks a new low in relations between Netanyahu and Obama, underscored by the fact that this is the first time Netanyahu will visit the U.S. as prime minister without meeting Obama.
The White House declined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request on Tuesday to meet U.S. President Barack Obama during a UN conference in New York at the end of the month.
An official in Jerusalem said that the prime minister's office sent the White House a message stating that although Netanyahu will spend only two and a half days on U.S. soil, he is interested in meeting Obama and is willing to travel to the U.S. capital specifically for that purpose. The official added that the White House rejected the request and said that at this time Obama's schedule does not allow for a meeting.
The White House's response marks a new low in relations between Netanyahu and Obama, underscored by the fact that this is the first time Netanyahu will visit the U.S. as prime minister without meeting the president.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak tried to ease the tension on Tuesday, saying that the differences between the U.S. and Israel should be ironed out "but behind closed doors."
"We must not forget that the U.S. is Israel's most important source of support in terms of security," he said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu launched an unprecedented verbal attack on the U.S. government over its stance on the Iranian nuclear program.
"The world tells Israel 'wait, there's still time'. And I say, 'Wait for what? Wait until when?' Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel," Netanyahu told reporters on Tuesday.
"Now if Iran knows that there is no red line. If Iran knows that there is no deadline, what will it do? Exactly what it's doing. It's continuing, without any interference, towards obtaining nuclear weapons capability and from there, nuclear bombs," he said.
Also on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that if Iran decides to make a nuclear weapon, the United States would have a little more than a year to act to stop it."
13 sep 2012, 11:26 , Respect -
Maria 12 sept 2012
Report: Israeli filmmaker says 'Islam is a cancer'
Damage at the US Consulate in Benghazi is seen during a protest by an armed group said to have been protesting a film being produced in the United States September 11, 2012
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- An Israeli filmmaker whose depiction of the Prophet Muhammad led to deadly protests in Libya and Egypt called Islam 'a cancer' on Wednesday, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
Sam Bacile went into hiding on Tuesday after demonstrators denouncing the film attacked the US consulate in Libya, leaving the US ambassador and three embassy staff members dead.
"Islam is a cancer, period," Haaretz quoted the self-identified Israeli-Jew as saying, adding that he intended his film to be a provocative statement condemning the religion.
Responding to reports that an American was killed as a result of the outrage provoked by his portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad, Bacile responded that the security system at the US embassy is no good and America "should do something to change it."
The film portrayed Muhammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake and many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
Around 2,000 protesters gathered in Cairo to denounce the film and gunmen in Libya attacked and burned the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Ma'an's editor-in-chief Nasser Lahham said the film, entitled 'Innocence of Muslims', has "no artistic or cultural value and is a deliberate assault on the Islamic culture and religion."
Cairo, Libya missions attacked, US official reported dead
(13:51) Muhammad Movie Trailer 6 x viewed
By Tamim Elyan and Omar al-Mosmari
CAIRO/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) -- Protesters in Egypt and Libya attacked US diplomatic missions on Tuesday in a spasm of violence that led to the death of a State Department officer at the consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi after fierce clashes at the compound.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a statement late on Tuesday, confirmed the death of the US diplomat, who was not identified, and condemned the attack on the Benghazi consulate, after a day of mayhem in two countries that raised fresh questions about Washington's relations with the Arab world.
The violence in Benghazi followed protests in neighboring Egypt where protesters scaled the walls of the Cairo embassy and tore down the American flag and burned it during protests over what demonstrators said was a US film that insulted the Prophet Mohammed.
On Tuesday, Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and seat of Sunni learning condemned a symbolic "trial" of the Prophet organized by a US group including Terry Jones, a Christian pastor who triggered riots in Afghanistan in 2010 by threatening to burn the Koran.
But it was not immediately clear whether it was the event sponsored by Jones, or another, possibly related, anti-Islam production, that prompted the melee at the US Embassy in Egypt, and possibly the violence in Libya.
Whatever the cause, the events appeared to underscore how much the ground in the Middle East has shifted for Washington, which for decades had close ties with Arab dictators who could be counted on to muzzle dissent.
US President Barack Obama's administration in recent weeks had appeared to overcome some of its initial caution following the election of an Islamist Egyptian president, Muhammad Mursi, offering his government desperately needed debt relief and backing for international loans.
In Libya, gunmen in Benghazi attacked the US diplomatic compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, officials said.
Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya's Supreme Security Committee, said, "There is a connection between this attack and the protests that have been happening in Cairo."
But a US official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had no reason to believe the two incidents were linked.
Jones, the Christian pastor in Florida, said that on Tuesday's anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he had released a video promoting a film that portrayed the Prophet in a "satirical" manner. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
US media, including The Wall Street Journal, reported that the film at issue, entitled "Innocence of Muslims," was produced by an Israeli-American real estate developer, but had been promoted by Jones.
In Cairo, among about 2,000 protesters gathered in the Egyptian capital was Ismail Mahmoud, who, like others, did not name the film that angered him, but called on Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president, to take action.
"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made," said the 19-year-old Mahmoud, a member of the "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.
Once the US flag was hauled down in Cairo, some protesters tore it up and displayed bits to television cameras. Others burned the remnants outside the fortress-like embassy building in central Cairo. But some protesters objected to the flag burning.
Benghazi clashes
Ambassador Christopher Stevens
In Benghazi, Reuters reporters on the scene could see looters raiding the empty US consulate's compound, walking off with desks, chairs and washing machines.
Unknown gunmen were shooting at the buildings, while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions. Small fires were burning around the compound.
Passersby entered the unsecured compound to take pictures with their mobile phones and watch the looting.
No security forces could be seen around the consulate and a previous blockade of the road leading to it had been dismantled.
"The Libyan security forces came under heavy fire and we were not prepared for the intensity of the attack," Hurr said.
Libya's interim government has struggled to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups that have refused to lay down their weapons and often take the law into their own hands.
A number of security violations have rocked Benghazi, Libya's second biggest city and the cradle of last year's revolt that toppled Moammar Gadhafi.
The breaching of the US Embassy walls in Cairo comes at a delicate time in US-Egyptian relations, and as the United States appeared to be trying an intensified engagement with Mursi's government.
Last week, US officials said they were close to a deal with Egypt's government for $1 billion in debt relief. Washington had also signaled its backing for a badly needed $4.8 billion loan that Egypt is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.
"I would urge you not to draw too many conclusions because we've also had some very positive developments in our relationship with Egypt," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
"One of the things about the new Egypt is that protest is possible," she said. "Obviously we all want to see peaceful protest, which is not what happened outside the US mission, so we're trying to restore calm now."
Washington has a large mission in Egypt, partly because of a huge aid program that followed Egypt's signing of a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. The United States gives $1.3 billion to Egypt's military each year and offers the nation other aid.
Following the protest, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it was committed to giving all embassies the protection they needed.
US ambassador to Libya, 3 staff killed in rocket attack
Ambassador Christopher Stevens
Libyan official confirms that four embassy staff were killed in Tuesday rocket attack in Benghazi after protesters angered by anti-Islam film attacked US consulate. Obama condemns 'outrageous attack'
President Barack Obama on Wednesday strongly condemned the killing of the US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff as an "outrageous attack" and ordered increased security at US diplomatic posts worldwide.
"I have directed my administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe," Obama said in a statement after the US diplomats were killed in a rocket attack on their car in Benghazi.
"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," he said.
US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on Tuesday night that targeted his car in Benghazi, a Libyan official said on Wednesday.
"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them," the official in Benghazi told Reuters. Asked about the deaths, a US Embassy employee in Tripoli said: "We have no information regarding this." The employee said the embassy could confirm the death of one person.
The Libyan official said the US ambassador had been on his way to a safer venue after protesters attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi and opened fire, killing a staff member, in protest at a US film that they deemed blasphemous to the Prophet Mohammad.
The official said the ambassador and three other staff were killed when gunmen fired rockets at his car.
He said the US Embassy had sent a military plane to transport the bodies to Tripoli to fly them to the United States.
Gunmen assaulted the Benghazi compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, who withdrew under heavy fire. The attackers fired at the buildings while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions. Small fires were burning around the compound.
The assault followed a protest in neighboring Egypt where demonstrators scaled the walls of the US embassy, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over the same film which they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Following the spasm of attacks, the filmmaker, who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, has gone into hiding.
Writer and director Sam Bacile spoke on the phone Tuesday from an unidentified location. He remained defiant, saying Islam is "a cancer" and he wanted his film to make a political statement.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed the death of a US diplomat, who was not identified at the time, and condemned the attack on the Benghazi consulate.
Clinton further expressed concern that the protests might spread to other countries. She said the US is working with "partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide."
...Read more 18 sep 2012, 20:06 , Respect -
Maria 12 sept 2012
Netanyahu trying to overthrow Obama: Israeli opposition leader
Israeli opposition leader, Shaul Mofaz
Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz has accused the regime’s premier of trying to overthrow the government of US President Barack Obama because of a dispute over Iran's nuclear energy program.
"Please explain to us: who is Israel's greatest enemy -- the US or Iran? Who do you fear more -- (Iran’s President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad or Obama? Which regime is more important to overthrow -- the one in Washington, or in Tehran?" Mofaz said at the Israeli parliament, Knesset, The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
"Israeli meddling in internal US affairs and turning the US administration from an ally to 'an enemy' has caused us severe damage," he added.
Mofaz also accused Benjamin Netanyahu of “seeding fear and panic” among Israeli people over Iran's issue, saying that, “Wars should only be waged when there is no choice,” he said. “We know how they will start, but [we do] not [know] how they will end. Where is your judgment? You are scaring the public.”
Relations between Israel and the US have deteriorated over the past few weeks after Netanyahu publicly criticized Obama’s policies about Iran's nuclear energy issue.
On September 2, Netanyahu called on the international community to set a "clear red line" for Iran over its nuclear energy program.
The US snubbed the call. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that Washington is “not setting deadlines” for a diplomatic resolution of the Western dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program.
Enraged by Washington’s refusal, Netanyahu said on September 12 that the United States has no “moral right” to stop Israel from launching a military strike against Iran.
Meanwhile, Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported that Netanyahu had made a request to meet Obama during his upcoming visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, but the White House snubbed the Israeli premier’s request by saying, "The [US] president's schedule will not permit that."
18 sep 2012, 20:06 , Respect -
Maria 13 sept 2012
Coptic Christian leader of organization that produced anti-Muslim film spoke at Pamela Geller’s anti-mosque rally
Joseph Nasralla Abdelmasih, on the far right, is the head of Media Christ, the organization behind the anti-Muslim film that sparked protests in the Middle East. To his left is Morris Sadek, an Egyptian-American anti-Muslim activist.
This post has been updated to include a response from Pamela Geller. Scroll to the bottom to see the response.
The leader of the organization reportedly behind the anti-Muslim film sparking angry protests in the Middle East spoke at a rally opposing the Park 51 Islamic center in lower Manhattan last year. That rally, on September 11, 2010, was organized by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, two leading Islamophobic activists and bloggers in the U.S.
The California-based Press Telegram reports today that an organization called Media for Christ produced the Islamophobic film at the center of the controversy that has sparked widespread protests in the Middle East. The film, "Innocence of Muslims," portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, a gay man and a child abuser. Depictions of the Prophet are considered blasphemous to Muslims.
The head of Media for Christ is Joseph Abdelmasih, the Press Telegram reports. On California's Secretary of State page, Media for Christ is registered as a business entity with Joseph Nasralla Abdelmasih listed as the "agent for service of process." Here's a screenshot of the Secretary of State page:
Nasralla Abdelmasih is an Egyptian Coptic Christian. Some members of that community, which have experienced tensions with Muslims in Egypt, have thrown their lot in with virulent Islamophobes in the U.S.
The Associated Press revealed more details of who was behind the film yesterday, after a day-long scramble. The AP originally reported that it was an Israeli Jewish person who made the film, but that was a false claim. Last night, the news service reported that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Christian living in California, helped with the film.
It appears that Nakoula now had help from Abdelmasih.
Abdelmasih spoke at Geller's and Spencer's anti-mosque rally in Manhattan in 2010. The rally was organized to oppose the construction of the Park 51 Islamic center in lower Manhattan, a cause that attracted widespread media attention and led to other high-profile battles against the construction of mosques in the U.S.
"Wake up America!" said Abdelmasih, to a crowd of flag-waving Americans. He said the mosque will be built "over my dead body." Here's video of his address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEJMRDqsMCE
Ironically, the crowd at the anti-mosque rally first thought that Abdelmasih and his partner were Muslim "infiltrators trying to disrupt the event," as a letter Abdelmasih sent to Geller and Spencer read. The letter was published on Spencer's Jihad Watch website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1EYa88w32Q
Nasralla Abdelmasih has also worked with Steve Klein, the right-wing Christian extremist who was a consultant on the film. Yesterday, Max Blumenthal reported that "in July 2011, Spencer’s website, Jihad Watch, promoted a rally Klein organized alongside the anti-Muslim Coptic extremist Joseph Nasrallah to demand the firing of LA County Sheriff Lee Baca, whom they painted as a dupe for Hamas."
Pictured above with Nasralla Abdelmasih is Morris Sadek. Sadek, as Chris Toensing of Middle East Report notes, is "well known for risible exaggeration about the proportion of Copts in the Egyptian population and clumsy attempts to exploit Islamophobia in the West to 'help' his co-religionists in Egypt."
Right Wing Watch has more on Sadek:
Sadek, who has worked with Jones in the past, says he is fighting for the rights of his fellow Coptic Christians in Egypt. Unfortunately he seems much more focused on attacking Muslims than helping the Copts. Sadek pulled his Facebook profile around 1 pm today, but we were able to take a look beforehand. Here’s what we found.
Sadek is a supporter of ACT! for America, which believes that President Obama has embraced the Muslim Brotherhood. The group rallied its supporters last month behind Michelle Bachmann’s anti-Muslim witch hunt against Huma Abedin and others. Here’s Sadek with ACT! For America president Brigitte Gabriel at one of the group’s 2010 events.
UPDATE: I e-mailed Pamela Geller to get her response to the fact that the leader of Media for Christ spoke at her anti-mosque rally in 2010. Here's her response:
This story identifies someone else, Nakoula Nakoula, as the person behind the film:
link to news.yahoo.com
So are you really sure of your assertions here? Facts matter. Is it your intention to put innocent human rights activists in the cross-hairs of savage jihadists?
In any case, whether or not Joseph Nassralla was involved in this film, it doesn't matter, because the film itself doesn't matter. It was not the cause of these riots and murders. The film was on YouTube for months before the Muslim rage over it began, and that rage was clearly carefully planned and orchestrated.
The film is just a pretext to justify the violence and intimidate the West into adopting Sharia restrictions on the freedom of speech, so that jihad can advance unimpeded and unopposed in the West. And you, by focusing on the film and demonizing the filmmakers, are abetting that.
Protesters burn US flags in Qalqiliya
QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- Dozens of protesters took to the streets after prayers on Thursday evening to condemn a film they said insulted Prophet Muhammad.
Demonstrators chanted slogans against the US, where the film was apparently produced, and burned American flags. They said the film was a direct act of provocation by the US against Muslims.
Protests against the film were also held in Gaza on Wednesday and Thursday, and in Cairo and Sanaa.
The film sparked an attack on a US mission in Libya on Tuesday that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. Clips posted on the Internet show an amateurish production portraying the Prophet Mohammad as a womanizer, a homosexual and a child abuser.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned the film as "disgusting and reprehensible," adding that the US government had "absolutely nothing to do with (it)."
But, the US tradition of free expression, enshrined in the American constitution and law, prevented it from stopping individual citizens expressing their views "no matter how distasteful they may be," Clinton said.
"There are of course different views around the world about the outer limits of free speech and free expression. But there should be no debate about the simple proposition that violence in response to speech is not acceptable," she added.
Slain US envoy 'understood Palestinian situation'
A demonstrator holds a placard during a rally to condemn the killers of the US envoy to Libya and the attack on a consulate, in Benghazi on Sept. 12, 2012
By George Hale
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian negotiators on Thursday remembered US ambassador Christopher Stevens as fair-minded and described his death in Libya as a major loss for American foreign policy.
Stevens, who was killed with three colleagues late Tuesday in an attack on US institutions in Benghazi, served a decade earlier as a political officer at the US consulate in Jerusalem.
"It's just tragic," said Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO leader and veteran negotiator with Israel. "It's very sad. I thought he was a person who was not just intelligent but also caring."
As a mediator, the Arabic-speaking envoy "understood the Palestinian situation well. He was very understanding and he listened; he didn't repeat talking points," Ashrawi said in an interview. "He could have made a big difference in peoples' lives and, really, to America's standing and credibility. His loss is a loss not only to US foreign policy but also to its standing with other states."
Stevens and three other Americans died after gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house refuge in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday night. The attackers were part of a mob blaming America for a film they said insulted the prophet Mohammad.
Demonstrators later attacked the US embassies in Yemen and Egypt in protests against the film, and American warships were moved closer to Libya.
Senior PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat blasted Stevens' murder as an "ugly act of terror."
"He was a really close friend of the family, and I am really shocked," Erekat told Ma'an. "He was murdered in a very ugly act of terror, and it's so despicable."
Erekat said he had personally communicated to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the Palestinian people's condolences.
"Such a good man, such a great loss. His heart was in the peace process, and I'm sure his heart was also in the building of Libya," Erekat said.
"Of course no one tolerates the discrediting of our prophet Mohammad, but what did Stevens have to do with it? That's really unacceptable," he said of the alleged motive.
Earlier Clinton said Washington had nothing to do with the video, which she called "disgusting and reprehensible".
In Ramallah, President Mahmoud Abbas offered his condolences to the White House upon learning of the killing, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency reported.
"On behalf of myself, personally, and all Palestinian people, we offer sincere condolences to the US president after the US ambassador in Libya was killed in a criminal attack," Abbas said.
Israeli officials also condemned the string of attacks against US diplomatic missions and said they were "evil terrorist attacks" against the West, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
In Tripoli late Thursday, Libyan deputy interior minister Wanis Sharif said authorities had made four arrests in the investigation so far.
"Four men are in custody and we are interrogating them because they are suspected of helping instigate the events at the US consulate," Sharif said.
He gave no more details.
President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the Benghazi attack, which US officials said may have been planned in advance.
Who is Sam Bacile? Questions Swirl About Anti-Muslim Film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKC_dzl3ksA
A man who identified himself as Sam Bacile says he is responsible for the movie.
LOS ANGELES -- The murky account of a man who says he is responsible for a film that ridiculed the Prophet Mohammed is raising questions about everything -- from his identity to the production.
In telephone calls with news agencies, a man identifying himself as Sam Bacile said he was the man who made the movie that roiled the Islamic world.
In Egypt and Libya, mobs targeted U.S. missions and blamed America for the film.
In the end, U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans in the Libyan city of Benghazi were dead, though it is not clear whether the attack was solely incited by the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv8Du2Qqi_A
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Bacile identified himself as a 52-year-old Israeli-American real estate developer from California.
He characterized the movie, "Innocence of Muslims," as "a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam," the newspaper reported.
"Islam is a cancer," he said. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie."
He said he was backed by Jewish donors, who contributed $5 million to make the film. Based on the trailer, however, the movie, crude and cartoonish, appears to have been produced on a low budget.
Other questions surfaced about Bacile's claims.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said there was no record of a Sam Bacile with Israeli citizenship.
"This guy is totally anonymous. At this point, no one can confirm he holds Israeli citizenship, and even if he did we are not involved," ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
CNN has been unable to contact Bacile and cannot verify his claims. A search by CNN of public records related to Bacile came up empty.
Steve Klein, an anti-Muslim activist who said he was a script consultant for the movie, said Bacile had gone into hiding.
"He's very depressed, and he's upset," Klein said Wednesday. "I talked to him this morning, and he said that he was very concerned for what happened to the ambassador."
Casting further doubt on the filmmaker's identity, The Atlantic later quoted Klein as saying Sam Bacile was a pseudonym.
He told The Atlantic he did not know Bacile's real name.
Klein is known in Southern California for his vocal opposition to the construction of a mosque in Temecula, southeast of Los Angeles, in 2010. He heads up Concerned Citizens for the First Amendment, a group that contends Islam is a threat to American freedom.
A search of entertainment records turned up no previous mention of a Sam Bacile, and the directors and writers guilds had no listing for him.
A casting call published in July 2011 in Backstage magazine and in other publications for actors identifies the working title of the movie as "Desert Warrior" and describes it as a "historical Arabian Desert adventure film."
Actress says was duped, as anti-Islam film details emerge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmodVun16Q4&bpctr=1385928814
By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- The origins of a crudely made anti-Muslim movie that sparked violent protests in Egypt and Libya began to slowly emerge on Wednesday, with an actress in the California production saying she was duped and was unaware it was about the Prophet Mohammad.
Cindy Lee Garcia of Bakersfield, California, who appears briefly in clips of the film posted online, said she answered a casting call last year to appear in a movie titled "Desert Warrior."
"It looks so unreal to me, it's like nothing that we even filmed was there. There was all this weird stuff there," Garcia told Reuters in a phone interview.
Clips of the movie, posted on YouTube under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims," portrayed the Muslim prophet engaged in crude and offensive behavior. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the prophet as blasphemous.
Clips had been posted online for weeks before apparently triggering violent demonstrations on Tuesday at the US embassy in Cairo and consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
The Americans died after gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house refuge in Benghazi in an attack US government officials said on Wednesday may have been planned in advance. The attackers were part of a crowd blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Garcia said the film was shot in the summer of 2011 inside a church near Los Angeles, with actors standing in front of a "green screen," used to depict background images. About 50 actors were involved, she said.
An expired casting notice at Backstage.com listed a film named "Desert Warrior" that it described as a low-budget "historical Arabian Desert adventure film." None of the characters were identified in the casting call as Mohammad.
"They told me it was based on what it was like 2,000 years ago at the time of the Lord," Garcia said. "Like the time Christ was here."
Filmmaker
Several US news organizations on Tuesday night had reported that the film was produced by a man who identified himself as an Israeli-American property developer, Sam Bacile. He had told the media organizations that the film cost $5 million, some of which was paid by around 100 Jewish donors.
Reuters could not independently confirm his responsibility for the film, or even that Bacile was his real name, nor could he be located for comment.
The Backstage.com casting call listed a man of a similar name, Sam Bassiel, as the producer, while the director was named as Alan Roberts. Roberts could not be immediately located by Reuters.
Steven Klein, a southern California man in the insurance business who described himself as a consultant and a spokesman for the project -- but not the filmaker -- said he believed the name was a pseudonym.
"I've met him twice, I don't know what country he's from. I do know he's not an Israeli Jew and I can only guess he threw that out to protect his family, which I do know is back in the Middle East," Klein told Reuters in an interview in front of his home in Hemet, California, as he sipped a beer.
Klein, who described himself as a former US Marine, said he advised the filmmaker to go into hiding.
Hate-group tracker the Southern Poverty Law Center has described Klein as a Christian with ties to right-wing extremists, which he denies. He said he did not see the film being made, and it could not be independently confirmed that Klein was involved with the project.
Voice over
The largely obscure English-language film's low production values were evident in its stilted dialogue and wooden acting. Klein said there was an attempt to screen the full movie at a theater in southern California under a slightly different title, but after 30 minutes into the film no tickets had been sold.
Garcia, who appeared in online clips from the film, said her character was forced to give away her child to a character named "Master George" in one scene. The casting call describes a character named George as a "strong leader" and a "tyrant."
But in a 13-minute trailer posted at YouTube.com, Garcia's character appears to be dubbed over in that scene, with a voice-over for her character referring to Mohammad instead of George.
YouTube, the video website owned by Google Inc, has restricted access to the film clips in Egypt and Libya, according to Google.
Garcia said she remembered the film's producer as a man named Sam Bassil, whom she described as an older man with graying hair and an accent. She said he paid her with a check. She said she called him on Wednesday after the protests.
"I asked him why did he do that and put me in a bad position to where all these people get killed for a movie I was in?" Garcia said, adding that the man she knew as Bassil told her it was not her fault.
Meanwhile, Morris Sadek, a US-based Egyptian Coptic Christian activist who said he promoted the film, told Reuters he was sorry US diplomats had been killed and that his objective had been to highlight discrimination against Copts in Egypt.
Coptic Christians, who form Egypt's biggest minority group and constitute most of Egypt's Christian population, have had a difficult relationship with the country's overwhelmingly Muslim majority.
Conflicts over conversions, cross-faith romances and church-building have flared in Egyptian towns where turf wars or family rivalries often loom as large as sectarian loyalties.
Since former President Hosni Mubarak's removal, Christians have become increasingly worried after a surge in attacks on churches, which they blame on hardline Islamists, though experts say local disputes are often also behind them.
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church has condemned some Copts living abroad who it said had financed "the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad."
Representatives from the Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America did not immediately respond to phone calls requesting comment.
Klein blamed the violence in North Africa on Muslim extremists.
"Do I have blood on my hands? No," said Klein, who the SPLC said has worked with a militia at the California-based Church at Kaweah and conducts drills with a San Francisco-based group named Christian Guardians.
"Those people are screwballs," Klein said of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He added he is not "what these people say."
US judge: Hamas financing case can proceed against Arab Bank
Mati Gill
By Jessica Dye
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A US man can proceed with a lawsuit seeking to hold Arab Bank liable for providing material support to Hamas, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
US District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn, New York, denied Jordan-based Arab Bank's motion to dismiss the entire 2011 lawsuit filed by Mati Gill, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel who was wounded in 2008 by gunshots fired from Gaza into Israel.
According to the ruling, a speaker purporting to represent Hamas claimed credit for the shooting that injured Gill. Gill is seeking monetary damages from Arab Bank under the US Anti-Terrorism Act, charging that the bank violated the law by providing financial support to Hamas.
Hamas, along with its leaders and affiliates, is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.
Arab Bank denied the claims, saying Gill was caught in the crossfire between two military forces and that he had failed to show Arab Bank's liability for the shooting.
Weinstein dismissed one of Gill's claims, which sought to hold Arab Bank responsible for aiding and abetting Hamas's shooting, finding that the act did not provide for secondary liability.
He said that Arab Bank could be held liable for Gill's remaining claims, which include allegations that the bank conspired with Hamas to commit acts of violence and provided material support to the group.
The case will now proceed with Arab Bank's motion for summary judgment, which is due in the coming weeks. If the case survives that hurdle, it will go to trial on Nov. 19.
Avi Dichter
In his ruling, Weinstein laid out a number of factors that Gill will have to establish to advance his case. They include proving the bank acted with knowledge that funds it made available to Hamas's political branch had made their way to its military operations; that Hamas used the money to fund the attack; that the bank had been aware that the funds could be used to harm US citizens.
An attorney for Gill, Gary Osen, said he was heartened by Weinstein's ruling, which brings the case one step closer to trial.
"If we get through the next few hurdles that have been laid out on the schedule, the judge has indicated that he recognizes the public policy importance and significance of this case," Osen said.
Arab Bank said in a statement the ruling "clearly outlined the proof that will be required for the plaintiff to survive a summary judgment motion, which the bank plans to file next month."
The case is one of several filed in federal court in Brooklyn against banks on behalf of US citizens who were harmed or killed in attacks by Hamas-affiliated groups. It could be among the first of those to go to trial.
The case is Gill v. Arab Bank, US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 11-3706.
...Read more 18 sep 2012, 20:06 , Respect -
Maria 14 sept 2012
Director, Lead Producer and Screenwriter of the Controversial Film “Innocence of Muslims,” Speaks Out
In an exclusive interview with RadioSawa.com, reporter Fadoua Massat conducted an interview by telephone with a man who claimed that he is the director, lead producer and screenwriter of the controversial film "Innocence of Muslims," which has caused violent protests across the Arab World. RadioSawa conducted two interviews with this man in Arabic; one was recorded.
In the interview, the man did not confirm or deny that his name was Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. His location could not be confirmed. However, the source that provided the contact number confirmed that he has a long-standing relationship with the man and his identity is indeed that of Mr. Nakoula.
The AP has reported that U.S. law enforcement authorities have identified a Coptic Christian by the name of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula as the man responsible for producing the film. The AP reports he pleaded no contest in 2010 to federal bank fraud charges in California.
The man told RadioSawa.com that he is an Egyptian and got a degree at the Faculty of Literature at Cairo University and is also a self-proclaimed researcher in Islamic studies. He doesn't claim to hold a degree in that subject. He claims he wrote a book in 1994 after being disturbed by the treatment of Jews in Iran and the fatwa against author Salman Rushdie.
Below is an English transcript of the interview conducted in Arabic.
Q: Are you the producer behind the movie "Innocence of Muslims?"
A: I am the screenwriter of this film but I am not the producer. I only uploaded 14 minutes of the movie on the Internet. I still have the full movie but if I put the entire movie online there will be a great fuss because of the parties that produced it. [Nakoula later confirmed he was the main producer.]
Q: Who are these parties?
A: I am not able to reveal them.
Q: Some are saying that the United States was involved...
A: This is funny and ridiculous. America has nothing to do with the film.
Q: Who produced this movie then?
A: I will not disclose the producers' names.
Q: How did you decide to write the script for this film?
A: I had published a book in 1994 [on Islam] and it impressed certain parties who asked me if I could turn this book into a movie and this is what I did.
Q: What is the title of the book?
A: I refuse to disclose the title of the book for security reasons because the title of the book will reveal my true identity. This book later became the script now directed by a famous European director whose name is jumbled on the film and one day he will reveal his true identity.
Q: Some actors who participated in the film told U.S. media that you had misled them and believed they were acting in a movie about Egypt 2000 years ago.
A: The actors who participated in the film do not belong to an actors union and therefore do not have the right to contest the final form of the film. The producer retains full right to change the details of the film as he pleases.
Q: Are you admitting that you misled the actors?
A: This is a producer's right. He can put what he wants in the film without consulting the actors and what happened was that the actors performed roles under pseudonyms. I understand that they now fear for their lives, but my answer to them is that they do not belong to a professional association.
Q: Did you expect that the film would cause such strong reactions in the Arab and Muslim worlds?
A: Some people advised me – the other producers – but they put my mind at ease believing nothing would happen. The advisers were foreigners who do not know anything about Arabs and have never visited Arab countries. The producers were European and do business with the United States and Australia.
Q: How do you feel about the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and the three other members of the embassy who died because of the angry reactions to the film?
A: First, the U.S. ambassador's death has nothing to do with the film. The people who did this are thugs and thieves. I have a question for those people: If you are defending the Prophet, why do you steal from embassies? President Sadat said in the past: "Such is an uprising of thugs."
Q: But the film touched the feelings of Muslims strongly and they expressed outrage about it. You say that you are a researcher in Islamic Studies and know the stature of the Holy Prophet to Muslims and the film used [by Muslims] as a pretext to kill the U.S. ambassador.
A: America is a victim of injustice in this case.
Q: How is the American government a victim?
A: What does the U.S. government have to with these subjects? If a person anywhere in the world does something, should a government be held responsible? Of course not. We have to learn demonstrate peacefully against the issues on which we disagree, but it seems that Omar Suleiman was right when he said, "We are not yet ready for democracy."
Q: Do you regret the production of the film?
A: No, I do not regret it. I am saddened for the killing of ambassador, but I do not regret making it.
Q: If you had the chance again you will produce the same film?
A: I am no longer a young man. I've decided to retire. Enough.
Q: Do you have any kind of official protection by a government?
A: Absolutely not. I never enjoyed any kind of protection and why would I need protection while living a normal life?
Q: If you are living a normal life why not reveal your true identity?
A: For personal reasons.
Q: Many Egyptian Coptic organizations have condemned your film and rejected it completely. What is your comment on that?
A: They are free to do this and this is their right. These people have nothing to do with the subject of the film. The film was my idea alone and it only concerns me. I did not fabricate anything and everything in the film exists in Islamic books and heritage.
Q: Have you read the Koran?
A: Of course I read the Koran and more than 3,000 books on Islam and put these ideas in my film.
Q: You say you read about Islamic heritage and read the Koran, have you read about other religions? Why are you associating only negative things about Islam? Did you not find any negative things in other religions?
A: I'm familiar with other religions but I am interested in Islam in particular.
Q: You have defended America often in this conversation. Do you feel guilty after it happened?
A: Yes, I feel guilty. America has nothing to do with this subject and endured the results of film it has nothing to do with it.
Q: Do you have a message to Muslims?
A: Yes, I have a message for the whole world and not for Muslims. I hope that you watch the movie in full before you judge it.
Q: Are you saying the excerpts were manipulated to show negative scenes?
A: No, I am the one who leaked the 14 minutes and put it on the Internet and I am thinking about releasing the full film. Nobody manipulated my film.
Q: President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced the film strongly and absolutely...
A. By God, the U.S. President is responsible for his people, as well as U.S. Secretary of State and every one has the right to say what he wants.
Q: How do you describe yourself?
A: An Arab thinker interested in Islamic affairs who refuses to disclose details such as my name or where I am or the name of the producers... I want to offer my condolences to the people of the United States.
In his second interview, the man also said that he was approached by anonymous people in recent days to write a "blank check" so they could buy the rights to the master copy of his entire two-hour film and destroy it.
The Prophet: The Ultimate red line
By Khalid Amayreh* in Occupied Jerusalem
"You shall certainly be tried and tested in your wealth and in your persons, and you shall certainly hear much abuse from those who received the Scripture before you (Jews and Christians) , and from the idolaters but if you persevere patiently, and observe the commandments of thy Lord, then verily, that will be an affair of great resolution." V. 186-SuraIII
By now it is still unclear who exactly produced the despicable and malicious film "the Innocence of Muslims," which defames and abuses the Prophet of Islam. The alleged producer has given many pseudonyms for himself, apparently to elude the public and escape possible retribution by angry Muslims.
However, by connecting the dots and in light of information provided so far, it is highly likely that the author of the disgusting feat is a Coptic Christian who harbors a pathological hatred of Islam. Earlier reports suggested that the hate-filled bastard was an Israeli Jew by the name of Same Baceil, but these reports have been discounted.
The author of the film seems to have received assistance and encouragement from some evangelical and Zionist circles, probably including Terry Johns, the Nazi-like Evangelical preacher who had threatened to burn the Quran, as if doing so would remove the Holy Book from the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.
Other possible accomplices are Daniel Pipes, another notorious hater of Islam, and David Horowitz, an Israeli basher of Islam who spreads his anti-Muslim venom on American campuses. Both Pipes and Horowitz reportedly provided assistance to Geert Wilders, the extreme Dutch politician who has been disseminating his hateful anti-Islam propaganda throughout Europe.
The producer of the rubbish film was quoted as saying that his goal behind the film was to provoke and hurt Muslim feelings. If so, he seems to have succeeded to a large extent in realizing his goal.
Millions of Muslims, especially those who watched the preview of the promiscuous film, have been grieved, seeing the holiest and most saintly man ever to walk on earth, portrayed in such a bad light, to put it extremely mildly.
In several Muslim countries, angry Muslims have protested the sacrilegious feat. In Cairo, thousands surrounded the U.S. embassy, demanding the U.S. authorities to take action against those who abuse the religious symbols of Islam. Hundreds were reportedly injured from tear gas inhalation and flying stones
In Sana, the capital of Yemen, a close ally of the U.S. in the war against al-Qaida, at least four people have been killed so far as security forces tried to disperse protesters outside the American embassy.
In Libya, the American Ambassador and a number of the embassy staff suffocated to death following the torching of a nearby building to which the diplomats were previously withdrawn for their safety.
These are some of the provisional tragic consequences of the despicable act which infuriated Muslims around the world.
It is probably useless to express one's sorrow for the death of these innocent Americans and Yemenis. However, we should have the moral courage to proclaim the truth and say what much of the Jewish-controlled American media wouldn't say, namely that the blood of these victims is decidedly though vicariously on the hands of the fanatical criminal or criminals who concocted that piece of garbage about the Prophet of Islam who commands the veneration of over 1.6 billion human beings.
Some people might sharply disagree with me by arguing that nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies the killing of an innocent human being, especially when the victim or victims have personally nothing to do with the original provocation.
This is perfectly true and valid. However, things are not as simple as that. In the final analysis, it should have been known that vilifying and ridiculing the Prophet of Islam would provoke Muslims and lead to tragic consequences.
In other words, the killing of the American diplomats was almost inevitable, regardless of it being wrong and unjust. The American government and its various intelligence arms should have foreseen these developments before it was too late. Failing to anticipate these tragic reactions is an intelligence fiasco.
More to the point, enhanced security at US embassies throughout the Muslim world may help provide some security for the foreseeable future. However, it should be clearly understood by the wise men in Washington that a determined fanatic who feels deeply offended and hurt by this virulent act of blasphemy against the Prophet of God could elude all security precautions around American diplomatic missions. Muslims wouldn't flinch from sacrificing their own souls in defense of their Prophet.
As Americans have their own idiots and fanatics, we, too, have our idiots and fanatics. And as Americans are utterly unable, probably unwilling as well, to stop their idiots, we, too, are even less able to rein in ours.
Yes, we understand the First Amendment and all of this stuff. But you must also understand that the Prophet is a million times more sacred than the American constitution.
You may argue that Freedom of speech and Expression is sacred in your country. Well, likewise, you ought to understand that for us Muslims the sanctity of our Quran and our Prophet is absolutely more paramount than the views and opinions of the founding fathers of the American constitution.
Now a word to Muslims. It is perfectly legitimate to be angry and furious about what happened. After all, Muhammed is the final and greatest messenger of God to humanity. And any Muslim that reacts with indifference to the sleazy film must check his faith.
However, our reactions must never exceed the bounds of what is acceptable from the Islamic perspective. We must not hurt innocent people under any circumstances; we must not target churches or institutions belonging to Christians.
Doing so would achieve the morbid goal of the author of that piece of hatred.
Similarly, we must not hold all Christians responsible for the disgusting behavior of one idiot who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. After all, there are thousands of sincere Christians who have voiced their indignation and outrage at this outrageous act. We salute these courageous Christians for their solidarity and decency. They are our natural partners in the long and difficult battle for inter-religious fraternity and universal brotherhood.
--------------------------------------------------
* Khalid Amayreh is an American-educated journalist living in the southern West Bank town of Dura near Hebron. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in Norman in 1981. He also, received a Master degree in Journalism from the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale in 1983.
Protests in Gaza, Jerusalem against anti-Islam video
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hundreds of protesters gathered in Jerusalem's Old City and the Gaza Strip on Friday, as regional protests continued against an anti-Islam video produced in the US.
Around 400 protesters left Friday prayers in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and tried to march towards the US consulate, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.
Israeli forces prevented protesters reaching the consulate, blocking the rally at Damascus Gate using stun grenades. Four people were detained, Rosenfeld told Ma'an.
Hundreds gathered in cities across the Gaza Strip on Friday, after Hamas and Islamic Jihad called for demonstrations against the video for its insult to the prophet.
Jihad leader Abu Tariq al-Mdalal said the protests "send a message to the whole world condemning this attack against our prophet... we call on the Arab world to use all its abilities to respond to this attack, and to close the (Israeli) and US embassies."
Hamas Minister of Religious Affairs Ismail Radwan called on the Arab and Islamic world "to continue peaceful protest and rejection (of the video)."
"We should boycott all US products as the US was involved in this attack," he added.
Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for the US administration to apologize to the Arab and Muslim world in his Friday sermon.
US-based Egyptian Coptic activists and American evangelical Christians have been linked to production and promotion of the film, which portrays the Prophet as a womanizer, a homosexual and a child abuser.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned the film as "disgusting and reprehensible," adding that the US government had "absolutely nothing to do with (it)."
Apparently produced in California, the video sparked an attack on a US mission in Libya on Tuesday that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.
One demonstrator was killed and two others were wounded in clashes with security forces in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday in protests over the production and against the pope's visit to Lebanon.
Protesters also clashed with police near the US embassy in Cairo on Friday before a nationwide protest called by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Marches sparked clashes with police in Yemen, where one person died and 15 were injured on Thursday when the US embassy compound was stormed, and crowds gathered against video in Malaysia, Bangladesh and Iraq.
California bank fraud convict linked to anti-Muslim video
An Muslim protester holds a placard during a demonstration against a film produced in the US, which the protesters say insults Prophet Muhammad, outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv Sept. 13, 2012
By Dan Whitcomb
CERRITOS, Calif., (Reuters) -- Evidence mounted on Thursday that a Los Angeles-area man who served time in prison for bank fraud may have been involved in an anti-Muslim video that stoked violent protests in the Islamic world against the United States.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, has been linked by news organizations to production of the low-budget film clip, which has been circulated under several titles, including "Innocence of Muslims."
The 13-minute English-language video, which was filmed in California, portrays Islam's Prophet Muhammad engaged in crude and offensive behavior. Many of the Islamic faith regard any depiction of the prophet as blasphemous.
The US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday in an attack on the US consulate and a safe house in Benghazi that US officials have said may have been planned. The attackers were part of a crowd blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
Demonstrations against the film have also flared in Egypt, Yemen and other Muslim countries, with US embassies again the targets of popular anger among Muslims questioning why the United States has failed to take action against the makers of the film.
Adding to the incendiary nature of the film was the fact that it had been promoted by a US-based Egyptian Coptic Christian activist who said his intention was to highlight discrimination against Egypt's Coptic Christian minority. Copts have expressed fear the film could lead to retaliation.
The Coptic Bishop for Los Angeles, who said he feared the impact of the film on the Coptic community if Copts are linked to it, told Reuters that Nakoula called him on Thursday denying any link to the film.
"He told me that he was not involved in this movie in any way, and I asked him, 'Why did they put your name'" on it? Bishop Serapion told Reuters. The bishop said Nakoula replied that he was essentially the victim of mistaken identity by the media.
Another Coptic clergyman in California, Father Mauritius of St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Bellflower, described Nakoula as a former parishioner who had been an infrequent worshiper before he quit attending three years ago. He said he had no reason to believe Nakoula harbored any extremist views.
The Los Angeles Coptic diocese issued a statement condemning and disavowing any Coptic association with the film.
"The producers of this movie should be responsible for their actions," the diocese said. "The name of our blessed parishioners should not be associated with the efforts of individuals who have ulterior motives."
Compelling connections
Attempts by Reuters to contact Nakoula directly were unsuccessful. But it appeared that at least one scene in the video may have been filmed at Nakoula's home.
A distinctive interior front door shown in one scene was nearly indistinguishable from the exterior door at Nakoula's house. Both have frosted-glass, half-moon-shaped cutouts with stenciled rose designs in the wood double-door entrance.
The house was besieged on Thursday by throngs of reporters and camera crews, who saw residents inside paper over at least one half-moon window for privacy. Police maintained a light presence near the home after they were called to the scene on Wednesday night over concerns about Nakoula's safety. The officers declined to elaborate.
The Coptic activist from Virginia, Morris Sadek, who said he played a role in promoting the video, gave Reuters a telephone number for a man he described as the filmmaker. That number later traced back to the Nakoula residence.
That number turned up in a public-records search as a pay-as-you-go cell phone registered to a user who shares a residence with Nakoula. The number initially went unanswered and later seemed to have been disconnected.
Sadek had attributed the video to a man he named as Sam Bacile, which was also the name used by an individual who posted a copy of the video in July on YouTube. But at least two other people linked to the film have said that name was likely a pseudonym.
Known to federal law enforcement
Federal authorities investigating the slayings in Libya declined to comment on whether Nakoula was linked to the movie. He has been known to federal law enforcement for other reasons long before the anti-Muslim video emerged.
He pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2010 and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, to be followed by five years on supervised probation, court documents showed. He was released from prison in June 2011, shortly before production began on the video, prison records show.
Nakoula was accused of fraudulently opening bank and credit card accounts using Social Security numbers that did not match the names given on applications, according to a criminal complaint.
Under the written terms of release from prison, Nakoula was forbidden from using the Internet or assuming any aliases without approval of his probation officer. He also was ordered to make restitution for more than $790,000 from the scam.
Nakoula also pleaded guilty in 1997 to possession with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and was sentenced to a year in jail, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.
Non-profit with religious ties
Meanwhile, details of the film's production remained murky.
A group called Media for Christ, which maintains an Arabic-language Christian website, obtained a permit to shoot the film on Aug. 8, 2011, at a studio in the Santa Clarita Valley, north of Los Angeles, said Paul Audley, president of FilmL.A., the agency that processes regional on-location film permits.
The area is home to a Middle East-style village stage set commonly used for Hollywood productions, Audley added.
The actual permit for the shoot was withheld from the public on Thursday. Los Angeles County assistant CEO Ryan Alsop said in a statement that the permit was removed due to "public safety concerns" raised by the US State Department and the FBI.
Media for Christ is a nonprofit organization based in Duarte, California, which describes itself as an evangelical Christian group, according to federal tax documents. A 2011 tax filing listed revenue of just over $1 million but did not disclose its main donors.
Officials from the group could not immediately be reached, and the front door to the organization's office in Duarte was locked.
18 sep 2012, 20:06 , Respect -
Maria 15 sept 2012
Confirmed: The Director of ‘Innocence of Muslims’ Is a Schlocky Softcore Porn Director Named Alan Roberts
The anti-Islam film that's set off a firestorm in the Middle East was directed by a 65-year-old schlock director named Alan Roberts, we've confirmed. He's the creative vision behind softcore porn classics like The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood.
An Alan Roberts is listed as director on the film's casting calls and call sheets from the summer of 2011, back when it was innocuously called Desert Warriors.. Castmembers and crew told us yesterday that Roberts was brought on by producer "Sam Bacile" aka Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, and he muddled his way through a disorganized three-month shoot.
This is the same Alan Roberts listed in IMDB as the director of a handful of softcore porn movies and other low-budget films, according to acquaintances we spoke to today.
"I am sure it was the same Alan Roberts, as I remember him speaking about this project," said filmmaker David A. Prior, a longtime acquaintance of Roberts, in an email. Roberts is listed as a producer on two of Prior's films, 2008's Zombie Wars and 2007's Lost at War.
"He did work on [Innocence of Muslims]," confirmed a man who was Roberts' business partner in a post-production facility he ran, who asked not to be named.
The backstory behind how Roberts became director of Innocence of Muslims is still unclear, like so many things about the film. We've tried to reach Roberts, but his business associate told us he "turned off his phone" soon after protests broke out over the film and is laying low. But he said Roberts was "non-political" and did not have any apparent anti-Islam feelings. Roberts may have been duped by the film's producer in much the same way as the rest of the cast and crew. They believed they were participating in a period piece about ancient Egypt and had no idea the movie would be edited and dubbed into a piece of Islamophobic propaganda..
"They redubbed it, they brought in the actors, put in new sounds, changed the names," said the business partner. "And this was done later, before it was initially released. Of course Alan had nothing to do with it."
An actress who worked with Roberts on Innocence of Muslims agreed that he had nothing to do with the political bent of the film.
"My gut tells me he was just a has-been director who was trying to prove he could still be Hollywood," she wrote in an email.
Alan Roberts' real name is Robert Brownell. Vice obtained documents showing a person from Santa Montica named Robert Brownell had paid for some pre-production services for the film that would eventually become Innocence of Muslims, and Roberts' business partner confirmed that Robert Brownell was Alan Roberts' real name.
Until the release of Innocence of Muslims, the 65-year-old Roberts has had an unremarkable career as a small-time director and editor. His directing credits include some softcore porn from the 70s and 80s like 1977's Young Lady Chatterly, The Sexpert and The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood, third of the Happy Hooker trilogy. (It's probably no coincidence that the cast included at least two porn stars, or that Innocence of Muslims contains a graphic scene of Muhammed performing oral sex on a woman.) Roberts tried to break into action in 1991 with Karate Cop: "John Travis is the last honest cop in a future dominated by terroristic martial-arts gangs who fight gladiator-style in arenas."
Roberts is more accomplished as a film editor, with 28 editing credits, including the 2003 Johnny Knoxville/Christina Applegate vehicle Grand Theft Parsons. In the mid-2000s, he ran a digital post-production facility called Genesis Post-Production according to a press release for a documentary about Burning Man where he's credited as producer.
"At one time he edited some fairly large films but he really never got a break to the really big ones for whatever reasons," said the business partner. "But for the work I've seen, the editing he's done, he's actually very creative."
Anyone who's seen the embarrassing 14-minute trailer for Innocence of Muslims, which he helped edit as well as direct, might disagree. But then sloppy editing is far from the worst thing about the film.
Who Is Alan Roberts, the Director of 'Innocence of Muslims'? We Think His Real Name Is Robert Brownell
Early yesterday morning VICE was anonymously furnished with documents that link a California man named Robert Brownell (aka Robert Brown) to the pre-production of Innocence of Muslims, the F-grade anti-Islamic film that has resulted in violent protests at and around US embassies in Sanaa, Yemen; Cairo; Tripoli; and Doha, Qatar. He is a man who has, as of yet, not been named in association with the film.
The documents clearly state that in 2009 and 2011 Robert Brownell purchased pre-production services related to Desert Warrior, which has been widely reported as the working title of the film that the world now knows as Innocence of Muslims.
The documents also include Robert Brownell’s address in Tarzana, California (or at least his address when the purchases were made in 2009; the property is now up for sale), phone number, and “contact information,” which lists yet a different name—Alan Roberts.
Click to enlarge
If you’ve been following this story closely, you know that Alan Roberts was listed as the film’s original director alongside a man who produced—and some reports suggest ended up directing—the film: Sam Bacile, aka Sam Basselley, aka Nakoula Bassely Nakoula.
Peoplefinders.com lists a 65-year-old man named Robert Alan Brown in North Hollywood, California, as having the aliases Roboert [sic] Brownell and Alan B. Roberts. His “business associations” include Alan Roberts Entertainment. A cross-search on Nexis’s public records database seems to corroborate that Robert Brownell, Robert Brown, and Alan Roberts are all the same person.
Digging around on the person—or persons—named Robert Brownell, you’ll find myriad accounts for him on places like YouTube, GodTube, Jokeroo, and many other religious-themed video-streaming sites.
(This video is particularly… interesting.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6OC9y05KVE
There’s also divinerevelations.info, a terribly designed website that on first glance appears to be an ode to a funny-looking Chinese Christian pastor named Yong Doo Kim, but if you keep digging you’ll discover that divinerevelations.info corresponds almost identically with a spiritlessons.com, “The Testimony of Robert Brownell,” a goofball account of some guy who was obsessed with porn but eventually found the lord.
After reaching out to crew members who worked on Desert Warrior/Innocence of Muslims, a few agreed to speak to me on background and confirmed that the Robert Brownell responsible for posting all of the pro-Christian videos I linked to above WAS NOT the Robert Brownell associated with the film, but they did confirm that the Robert Brownell in question is in his mid-50s to late-60s with gray hair and glasses.
So for now, exactly who directed this scourge of humanity—and whether or not it had multiple directors and producers—is still unclear, but I have a feeling it won’t be that way for long.
As I see it (and to make things streak-free clear, this is only my personal theory), there are two ways this can go: 1) Robert Brownell/Robert A. Brown is an unlucky guy who had his identity stolen by the person who paid for aspects of the film's pre-production (which isn’t out of the question considering that Nakoula Bassely Nakoula has gone to prison for identity theft, among other things), or 2) Robert Brownell/Brown and Alan Roberts are the same person. Multiple calls to and voicemails left on the number listed for Alan Roberts in the documents were not returned.
And to my ears, the voicemail greeting states, "Hi, thanks for calling. I'm sorry I'm not in to take your call but if at the sound of the tone you leave me your name and telephone number, I'll be happy to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for calling and have a great day," spoken in the even-cadenced voice of a middle-age man. Is this Alan Roberts? Robert Brownell? Robert Brown? Will we ever know?
The documents also list a purchase made by a second (or possibly third) party: Jimmy Israel, who says he had minimal involvement in the film, the script of which he says was drastically different from the YouTube clips that have been denounced by members of the cast and crew and sparked widespread outrage in the Middle East. The accounts through which this information was obtained are registered to two users: Jimmy Israeal—and wouldn’t you know it—Adenob Basseley (whose address is listed as being in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, which would match up with the AP story that listed Nakoula Bassely Nakoula’s approximate location).
After innumerable dead-end calls and emails to Steve Klein, various cast and crew members, and completely unrelated people who happened to have the same names as people associated with the film, I attempted to contact Terry Jones (whom Motherboard interviewed yesterday) whose associate told me he was too busy to answer one follow-up question. When asked to relay the question she said, “No, nu-uh, we have never heard of a Robert Brownell or Robert Brown.” I pressed her: “Are you sure Terry has never heard of this name?” She said no. It seemed to me that if Robert Brownell played more than a cursory and unmemorable role in the film’s production, no one was going to own up to it.
The only other people to speak to me on the record were model and Desert Warrior/Innocence of Muslims cast member Tim Dax (who respectfully declined an interview with a “ : )” and “Way too much!”) and, completely unexpectedly, Jimmy Israel—the only name without “Brown” in it that appeared in the leaked documents mentioned above.
Judging from our conversation, Jimmy seems like a very nice man. But if he does know Alan Roberts, or is friendly with someone named Robert Brownell, he did not spill the beans. (But if you have any information about this person or persons and are willing to share it with us, please email [email protected].)
VICE: I was sent information that suggests you purchased pre-production services for Desert Warrior/Innocence of Muslims.
Jimmy Israel: I don’t deny that, but I will only speak for myself. No one else.
Yeah.
Then the original person came back. I worked two days on this job and that was it.
What was your official position on the production? Do you know if you’re credited in the film?
No. When Sam Bacile came to me he wanted me to produce the film, and I said OK. I am not a director; I am a producer. But I was going to—I wanted to direct the film. The original person who introduced me to Sam came back and said he would do it, so Sam went with him. So I worked two days and that was it.
What other movies have you produced?
I haven’t. I’ve written screenplays. I have worked at the very highest levels of European filmmaking, but they were not produced. I have only worked on very fine literary-type feature films. This was something that came out of left field. And when I read the screenplay I was really sick. Not so much because of the blasphemy of Mohammed, but how in the original screenplay his name isn’t Mohammed, it’s George.
Yeah, it seems like whoever was responsible for the final product majorly misled the cast and crew.
Yeah, and I mean it’s not—if you read the whole screenplay, you know, it’s very thinly veiled that [the main character is] Mohammed. You can tell that it is Mohammed, at least for me. It’s all of his characteristics. So that’s all I did, and then I was replaced. I think it wasn’t right that Sam changed the whole thing to include the blood, torture, and all of this horrible crap.
How did you meet Sam Bacile?
I met him through the other fellow, the fellow that originally took over to back the production.
And you’re saying that Sam Bacile is absolutely not Nakoula Basseley?
He’s not, he’s not—I’m sorry, what?
Sam Bacile and Nakoula Basseley are not--
I don’t know, I really don’t know. I heard Nakoula Basseley was the name of his son.
I see, but you’re saying that, as far as you know, they’re not the same person.
Well, he told me it was his son.
Do you know Robert Brownell, aka Robert Brown?
I have no comment on—it’s not my place to comment. I don’t know anybody else.
As far as I know, his name has not been associated with this film thus far. I do have his number and I do have other information about him, but you’re saying you don’t know this man?
No. I’m certain that I have no comment on this person at all. Like I said, I’m only here to comment on my own about myself.
Has there been any fallout from the film’s release? Have you had any death threats or anything?
No, no, no.
Seeing as you got out of it early--
I’ll probably be the first one to have [threats] because my name was found out. If you can find out and other people can… all the other news agencies are calling me. So…
And I know that must not be great, but I appreciate you talking to me.
I don’t have time, I’m not a wealthy man and I need work. As I said, I worked on this two days. That’s it.
It’s been reported that the original director, who you will not name, is in hiding.
Yes, he is. He is very frightened.
I would imagine. And did the original director know going in that perhaps Bacile had ulterior motives for the final product?
The film is about the persecution of Coptic Christians through Egypt. That’s what it’s about. The references to the pre-contemporary times where, you know, George appears are integrated into the story, the contemporary story. And so, what was the question again?
There have been allegations that it has been redubbed. I know you don’t have knowledge of this specifically because you weren’t--
No, I don’t have knowledge of that. What I think is that Sam Bacile went to Egypt. He told me he was trying to raise money. I don’t know why, how, and so forth, but he might have shown this picture and some people in Egypt might’ve said they wouldn’t give money out but they took a copy of it and dubbed it, that’s my guess. But did Bacile himself do this? I don’t know. Because, as I said, the name of the character [in the original script] was not Mohammed, it was George.
Do you have a copy of the original script?
I do somewhere, and I haven’t found it yet. I just got the calls yesterday. And I haven’t looked. I also have thrown out a lot, just recently, so I don’t know if I threw it out or whatever but I have my notes on the screenplay, which are pretty intensive. That’s what I’ve got.
You haven’t seen the full film, correct?
I have not seen the full film. I didn’t see anything from Sam because he still owes me money. He does to everybody on the film, I think. He was, he was still… he was kind. He’s not a vicious person but he’s kind of sly, you know, and what was the--
It’s OK, it’s very confusing, all of this. I guess I’ll ask you, have you ever known Sam Bacile to be anti-Islamic or extreme in any way in terms of ideology?
You know, he’s just… he was very concerned about the Coptic Christian problem. He is a Coptic Christian. That’s what he told me, and that’s what the story is about. It’s not about the hatred of Mohammed or the hatred of Muslims, but if you’re a Coptic Christian, when you’re being persecuted it’s kind of like being Jewish and having fear and hatred of the Nazis. I myself am a pacifist and don’t hate anybody.
Do you have any religious affiliation?
I’m mostly Buddhist but I was raised Jewish.
What do you think about the initial rumors that said the film was financed by wealthy Jewish backers?
That’s ridiculous. That’s totally, totally ridiculous. Sam himself was the person who put up the money, maybe $90,000, maybe 100, but you know, I don’t really know, something like that. And that’s all that was spent on the film. It’s a terrible film. I saw the clip on YouTube.
You haven’t seen the full film though, right?
No, no. I don’t even know if there is a full film. He was continuing to edit, and that’s all I know.
Do you know anything about how it ended up on YouTube? What I don’t understand is--
No. No, I don’t, I don’t. I was just… I guided myself there yesterday and took a look yesterday.
Something I don’t quite understand is that you said there’s a possibility that some extremists got ahold of the film when he was trying to get financing and dubbed it. Is that hearsay? Is it just a hunch you have?
That’s just my, you know, story of, you know, my fiction. I created that. I don’t know anything about that. He didn’t tell me that. He just told me he was in Egypt trying to raise money. So if you’re trying to raise money, you usually show part of the picture and then people say, “Oh yeah, we’ll give you what you want.” So I guess that’s—my guess is, that’s just a guess, that’s all it is.
Freedom of speech is no excuse for insulting religious symbols
By Khalid Amayreh* in occupied Jerusalem
The tragic consequences triggered by the recent sleazy anti-Islam film "innocence of Muslims" have presented several challenges to political and religious leaders in the West as well as the Muslim world.
They have also shown how an utterly insignificant act by a little known, though malicious individual, could reverberate fast throughout the globe, causing lethal and fatal repercussions and destroying and ending the lives of innocent people.
The modern media, in its numerous forms, have certainly played a role in spreading the sleazy film and also in provoking and infuriating Muslims. None the less, the media's role hasn't exceeded that of the proverbial messenger.
In the final analysis, the media didn't make the news, it just reported it.
The anti-Islam film is undoubtedly a malicious and wicked act meant to insult and provoke. This is what the producer of the film himself said of his intent behind embarking on the cheap feat.
But Muslims have not acted ideally, too. They seem to have overreacted to the original calculated provocation by attacking embassies and indulging in violence, which led to the spilling of innocent blood.
I believe all sides, those who made, financed and promoted the film, as well as those mobs that overreacted to it, are wrong.
But saying so is not enough, if only to prevent the recurrence of similar events.
I urge responsible political and religious leaders in the West and Muslim world to make every possible effort to strike a delicate balance between freedom of speech and misusing or abusing that freedom, e.g. by insulting religious symbols and offending religious faith.
I am not talking about legitimate freedom of speech and expression and other civil liberties which we all value and respect. What I have in mind is deliberately offending religious sensibilities with malice aforethought.
This is more than just an academic matter since ignoring it does obviously cause the shedding of innocent blood.
Having studied at and graduated from a number of American colleges, I realize how most Americans are jealously fanatical about preserving and clinging to their constitution, especially the First Amendment.
However, Americans and others westerners ought to understand that the religious and cultural traditions of other people, e.g. Muslims, ought to be respected as well. The First Amendment must not be used as an excuse to offend Muslims and their faith, as well as other religious traditions.
There are many wise people in America who could find the perfect formula to resolve this problem once and for all. In the final analysis, the American constitution was founded and shaped in a way that would protect religion from the interference, hegemony and encroachment of the state, not the other way around.
And it is not impossible to strike the right balance between freedom of speech and the right of adherents of various religious groups not to be offended. After all, one's freedom ends where another person's freedom begins.
In some western countries, laws have been enacted against those who deny the holocaust. And in America itself, the country of the First Amendment, politicians and journalist think ten times before thinking of criticizing Israel and Jews.
Hence, the visibly malicious discourse against Islam and its symbols in the US and some other Western countries has more to do with a morbid and hateful proclivity to malign, smear and besmirch and less with the legitimate practice of freedom of speech and expression.
In the final analysis, my right not to be offended and insulted overrides a scoundrel's right to malign the Prophet of Islam in order to satisfy his sick Islamophobia.
The American Civil Liberty Union is likely to vociferously object to this argument. And they would probably make many counter arguments which may sound valid.
But the ACLU, which has done many good things and defended many good causes, can not guarantee that insulting religious symbols will not lead to further bloodshed. Which brings us to the ultimate argument that in such circumstances when one is faced with conflicting rights and conflicting freedoms, it is never enough to be right; one has to be wise as well? Hence, the need for the delicate, fine balances between freedom of expression and the right not to be offended.
I also hope that the tragic events of the past few days will prompt a genuine religious dialogue between Muslim and Christian leaders. The task of maintaining the peace, let alone building stable and friendly relations between the followers of the great religions is too paramount a task to be left for pyromaniacs on both sides.
We must start this dialogue right away. We owe it to the victims of the latest madness to see to it that fanatics and ignoramuses on both sides of the isle are not allowed to savage our faces and burn our hearts with the fire of their ignorance and fanaticism.
* Khalid Amayreh is an American-educated journalist living in the southern West Bank town of Dura near Hebron. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in Norman in 1981. He also, received a Master degree in Journalism from the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale in 1983.
Mass rallies in Gaza against the film that insults the Prophet of Islam
GAZA, (PIC)-- Tens of thousands of citizens participated, Friday afternoon in Gaza, in marches called for by "Hamas" movement protesting an American film that mocks the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH).
The protesters launched the march from all Gaza’s mosques and headed to the Legislative Council Square chanting "Except the Messenger of Allah" and other slogans condemning the abuse on the Prophet.
The demonstration was organized jointly by "Hamas" and "Islamic Jihad", reported PIC's correspondent.
Dr. Ismail Radwan, Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, considered in a speech he gave during the march, that producing a film satirizing the Prophet Muhammad demonstrates American-Zionist hatred against humanity and against Islam and Muslims in particular.
He stressed that: "this anger that erupted in all the Arab countries will not stop until the defamation against the prophet stops", and called the Arab and Islamic nation to continue peaceful activities against this abuse.
In turn, a member of the politburo of the Islamic Jihad Mohammed al-Hindi said that U.S. administration is the one which allowed provocation of one and a half billion Muslims, stressing that abusing the Prophet Muhammad and Muslims is a red line that cannot be tolerated.
A similar march was also launched from Kholafaa mosque in Jabaliya as protesters gathered in front of the police station in Jabaliya refugee camp while angry youths set fire to American and Israeli flags and raised anti-US banners.
The cities of Central Khan Younis and Rafah have also witnessed similar mass rallies, during which demonstrators raised banners denouncing the abuses on the Prophet and demanded a U.S. apology.
Hamas prisoners call for boycotting US products
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Hamas-affiliated prisoners in Israeli jails strongly denounced the blasphemous US movie against the prophet of Islam "Muhammad" and demanded all Arab and Muslim official and popular parties to resist such profanity against Islam.
In a statement, the prisoners condemned this movie as an affront to all Muslims around the world and called for stopping all kinds of attack against Islam and Prophet Muhammad.
The prisoner also urged all Muslims to boycott the American products in order to pressure the US government not to repeat such reprehensible acts and to officially apologize to the Muslim nation for the anti-Islam movie.
Marches engulf West Bank against film satirizing Prophet Muhammad
OCCUPIED WEST BANK, (PIC)-- The occupation forces quelled the peaceful marches that engulfed in the West Bank's cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Friday, in protest against a film satirizing the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Clashes erupted, Friday afternoon, between Israeli occupation forces and the masses of Palestinians participating in the peaceful march, launched from the courtyards of al-Aqsa Mosque to condemn the American film abusing the Prophet of Islam
The Hebrew radio reported that hundreds of Jerusalemites headed towards the former headquarters of the American Consulate, but were repressed by forces of the Israeli army and police that prevented them from reaching their destination.
It pointed that the police forces, using stun grenades and tear gas, tried to disperse the crowds of Palestinian demonstrators and arrested a number of them.
The radio also reported that a number of Israeli policemen were slightly injured after being hit by stones hurled by Palestinian protesters in the vicinity of the U.S. Consulate.
Jerusalemites marched against the offending film, in Damascus Gate in occupied Jerusalem where the occupation forces dispersed using force the demonstrators and arrested three of them.
Thousands of Palestinians also protested in Al-Aqsa Mosque yards chanting slogans condemning the film, but were prevented by large forces of occupation police from leaving al-Aqsa mosque.
In Bethlehem, a number of Palestinian civilians suffered from suffocation after the Israeli occupation army suppressed the participants in al-Maasara weekly march while they were heading towards confiscated lands, chanting slogans condemning the defamation of the Messenger Muhammad
Meanwhile, hundreds of angry citizens from the city of Nablus marched also after Friday prayers, protesting at the American film; and burned an American flag.
Participants called on the Arab and Islamic governments to support their voices and their protests and demanded U.S. government to apologize for the film it had published.
18 sep 2012, 20:06 , Respect -
Maria 16 sept 2012
CIA Mormons, Zionists behind anti-Islam film: Analyst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scJeNXJ0tOE
A prominent political analyst says that several groups including American Mormons in the CIA and Zionists are behind the controversial recent anti-Islam film made in the US, Press TV reports.
“I would identify two or perhaps three components, the first is a Mormon mafia inside the CIA, the group of Mormon high officials of the CIA who want Romney to become president and they think that by having the kinds of events that we are seeing, they can make Obama look bad in front of the American public,” Dr. Webster Griffin Tarpley told Press TV during an interview on Saturday.
According to Tarpley, the group follows Brent Scowcroft, who used to be “the right hand man of Henry Kissinger”.
The analyst said that the second component consists of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud party and "a group of neocons who have attached themselves to the Romney campaign”.
“I would add probably the Saudis, probably the Saudi religious and monarchy, hierarchy,” he added.
He further pointed to ties between “Sam Bacil or Nakula Basseley Nakula”, the man claiming responsibility for the blasphemous movie and Media for Christ's Joseph Nasrallah, a Coptic Christian from Egypt.
Dr. Tarpley also mentioned a series of figures including anti-Islam movie promoter Steve Klein, "Terry Jones, the infamous Qur'an burner", Pamela Geller, and Daniel Pipes, accusing them of promoting Islamophobia and unrest in the world by supporting such films.
"Pamela Geller, I think may be the key to this entire thing; she is a professional Islamophobe very close to the Israelis and probably somewhere in the background we might have somebody like Daniel Pipes, a professor who basically has made a career out of harassing four Palestinian professors at American universities."
Anti-Islam movie criminal filmmaker misled cast: Pastor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znyqD4KzlPA
A political analyst says that the controversial anti-Islam film was made by a man with a criminal record who “grossly” deceived the blasphemous movie’s cast, Press TV reports.
“The entire cast and crew who made the film have repudiated it. They have said that they were grossly misled by its intent and purpose. Their words in the film were overdubbed with new statements.” Pastor Stephen Sizer told Press TV during an interview on Sunday.
The pastor condemned the film’s intent saying it aimed at inciting violence.
“First of all let me say that the Christian community completely denounces the practice of insulting and slandering adherence of other religions or their founders.”
Sizer said that Nakula Basseley Nakula or Sam Bacile, already “a convicted felon” faces “further convictions in the United States” for the way he made the film.
According to Sizer, before making headlines in the media, the controversial clip went on YouTube instead of being shown on the television or in the cinemas. It was then “exploited by eccentric extremist religious leader Terry Jones”.
The analyst went on to say that the film was then “picked up by a religious leader in Egypt who showed samples of the video on his program and clearly upset people in Egypt who had never even heard of the film.”
He added that the violence, misunderstanding, and hatred resulting from the film is repudiated in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
The film's supposed writer and director, a man calling himself Sam Bacile, has said the movie was meant to be a provocative political statement in condemnation of Islam.
The movie’s trailer has caused outrage in many countries across the world.
Resheq: Clinton's disapproval of the movie is not enough
BEIRUT, (PIC)-- Member of Hamas's political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq said the condemnation remarks made by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton against the anti-Islam movie were not enough.
In a press release, Resheq denounced the US attempts to use freedom of opinion to justify such blasphemy against the most sacred figure in Islam and to enable the perpetrator to go unpunished and without accountability.
He stressed that the movie was aimed at provoking and incurring the wrath of Muslims.
"It is not something strange that this movie was released concurrently with the anniversary of September 11th events in order to increase the ignorance of the American people about the truth of Islam and its noble message," the Hamas official underlined.
The official called on the organization of Islamic cooperation and the Arab League to take firm positions in defense of the Prophet of Islam and against this blasphemy.
19 sep 2012, 09:50 , Respect -
Maria 17 sept 2012
Hezbollah warns US of consequences for Prophet film
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a public appearance at an anti-US protest in Beirut's southern suburbs September 17, 2012
By Laila Bassam and Erika Solomon
BEIRUT (Reuters) -- Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made a rare public appearance on Monday to tell the United States it would face more anger and grave repercussions across the Muslim world unless it suppressed a film that demeans the Prophet Muhammad.
Arguing that the world had not yet grasped the depth of hurt felt by Muslims, Nasrallah called on governments to block access to websites showing the film, which was made in California and depicts Muhammad as a womaniser, homosexual and child abuser.
"They slandered the purity of his birth, slandered his faith and his morals, slandered his Quran," Nasrallah told tens of thousands of cheering supporters, who had marched through southern Beirut's Shiite suburbs to protest against the film.
"The distribution of this entire film must be banned by the Americans," he said, to roars of applause.
The influential leader, surrounded by armed bodyguards, spoke to tens of thousands of Lebanese protesters waving Lebanese flags and yellow Hezbollah banners. "America, hear us - don't insult our prophet!" they shouted. "Enough humiliation!"
Nasrallah's emergence from hiding lent more drama to his warnings. Fearing assassination, the Hezbollah leader has seldom appeared in public since 2006, when the powerful Shiite group's militant wing fought a month-long war with Israel.
"The world should know our anger would not be a passing outburst but it would be the start of a serious movement that would continue on the level of the Muslim nation to defend the Prophet of God," Nasrallah said.
He called for websites to stop publishing clips said to be a trailer for the amateurishly made movie called "Innocence of Muslims," although no full length film has materialised.
The greater goal, Nasrallah said, would be for the international community to agree to criminalise insults to any religion and its prophets.
Nasrallah warned of the danger of unleashing further rage if the full-length film emerged.
"America, which uses the pretext of freedom of expression..., needs to understand that putting out the whole film will have very grave consequences around the world."
The Hezbollah-led protests came after a week of violent demonstrations across Arab capitals, in which several US embassies were attacked, but they stayed well away from the US mission in Beirut and the entire procession finished peacefully.
Some protesters said the US refusal to censor the Internet clips was provocative for Muslims, who feel they are often subject to prejudices and aggression by US forces.
"Is it really possible that America can fight wars all over the country and it can't remove one film? America wants to sew strife for sure," said Ahmed Afif, 30, as his small son sitting on his shoulders waved a Hezbollah flag.
US President Barack Obama's administration has condemned the film as "reprehensible" but said it cannot curb the constitutional right to free speech in America.
More protests called
The clips circulating on the Internet from "Innocence of Muslims", shows the Prophet in a sexual act with a woman. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed in Benghazi, Libya, last Tuesday in an attack on the US consulate that coincided with an upsurge of anger about the film.
After Stevens' death, Hezbollah sent out a statement condemning the film as immoral, but it also denounced the violent attack in Benghazi.
On Friday, one person was killed when protests spread to Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, where thousands of hardline Sunni Muslim protesters torched a fast food restaurant.
The violence erupted on the same day Pope Benedict began his three-day visit to Beirut. The trip was supported by Nasrallah. During his trip, the pope urged Arab leaders to serve justice and peace.
Some Christians on Monday also joined the rally, where protesters chanted "Death to America, Death to Israel".
"We came here to share with our Muslim brothers in a protest against this insult to the prophet," said Antoine Dau, 60. "This is an assault on Muslim and Christian co-existence."
Nasrallah, a powerful figure whose group has the backing of Shiite Iran and embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, has also called for protests in the southern coastal town of Tyre on Wednesday and the northern town of Hermel on Sunday.
He said the protests against the film were a chance for Muslims to unite - an apparent reference to divisions emerging between Sunni and Shiite sects. The move could also serve to evade criticisms his group has faced for supporting Assad, whose crackdown on an 18-month-old uprising has killed thousands.
"They must cooperate and unite to serve their shared goals, even if there some are some differences between them. What has happened stresses ... that we must direct anger toward the real enemy and not be dragged into discord."
Syria's mostly Sunni-led uprising has proved particularly divisive in Lebanon, and sometimes led to Sunni-Shiite clashes.
New protests erupt over Prophet Muhammad film
An Indonesian Muslim protester carries a placard during a protest in front of the US embassy in Jakarta September 17, 2012
By Mirwais Harooni
KABUL (Reuters) -- Protesters in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Indonesia burnt US flags and chanted "Death to America" on Monday in renewed demonstrations over a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad that has unleashed a wave of anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim and Arab world.
Thousands of Lebanese protesters chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel" marched through Beirut's Shiiite southern suburbs in protest against the film.
"America, hear us - don't insult our Prophet," chanted the marchers at the demonstration, called for by the leader of the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Indonesian police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who massed outside the US Embassy in Jakarta, capital of the most populous Muslim nation.
In Karachi, Pakistan's commercial hub, protesters on motorcycles and in cars headed towards the US consulate, prompting police to shoot in the air and fire teargas.
Protesters threw rocks at the police and damaged one of their vehicles. Around 100 people roamed roads and alleys near the sprawling consulate.
In the city of Lahore, protesters threw rocks at police and burned an American flag near the US consulate. Police official Rai Tahir said six policemen and some protesters were hurt.
In Kabul, thousands of protesters took to the streets, setting fire to cars and shops and throwing stones at police.
"We will defend our prophet until we have blood across our bodies. We will not let anyone insult him," said one protester in the Afghan capital. "Americans will pay for their dishonor."
The demonstrations were the latest across the world provoked by a short film made with private funds in the United States that depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a fool and womanizer.
In a torrent of violence last week, the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack in Benghazi and US and other foreign embassies were stormed in several cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by enraged Muslims. At least nine other people have been killed.
The United States has sent ships, extra troops and special forces to protect its interests and citizens in the Middle East while a number of its embassies have evacuated staff and are on high alert for trouble.
The situation poses an unexpected foreign policy headache for US President Barack Obama as he campaigns for re-election in November, even though his administration has condemned the film as reprehensible and disgusting.
Despite efforts early in his tenure to improve relations with the Arab and Muslim world, he faces a number of problems including the continued US military involvement in Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian civil war and the fall-out from the Arab Spring revolts.
US, Israel flags burned
The renewed protests on Monday dashed any hopes that the furor over the film might fade despite an appeal from the senior cleric in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines, for calm over the weekend.
In the Kabul demonstration, protesters shouted "Death to America" and burned the flags of the United States and of Israel, a country reviled by many Muslims and Arabs because of the Palestinian issue.
Police Lieutenant-General Fahem Qayem put the number of demonstrators at between 3,000 and 4,000 but said police had the situation under control.
Embassies in central Kabul, including the US and British missions, were placed on lock-down and violence flared near fortified housing compounds for foreign workers.
Rallies also took place in London, Australia, Turkey and Pakistan on Sunday, showing the global scale of the outrage.
In other developments on Monday, Iran said it would hunt for those responsible for making the film.
"The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns this inappropriate and offensive action," First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said. "Certainly it will search for, track, and pursue this guilty person who has insulted 1.5 billion Muslims in the world."
Iranian officials have demanded that the United States apologize to Muslims for the film, saying it is only the latest in a series of Western insults aimed at Islam's holy figures.
The head of Lebanon's Iranian-allied Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, called for protests in Beirut this week and said the United States must be held accountable.
"All these developments are being orchestrated by US intelligence," he said.
The identity of those directly responsible for the film is still murky. Clips posted online since July have been attributed to a man named Sam Bacile, which two people connected with the film have said was probably an alias.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, a Coptic Christian widely linked to the film in media reports, was questioned in California on Saturday by US authorities investigating possible violations of his probation for a bank fraud conviction.
Vice-president: Iran will pursue makers of anti-Islam film
DUBAI (Reuters) -- Iran's government will "track down" those responsible for making an amateurish film clip mocking the Prophet Muhammad, a senior official said, Iranian media reported on Monday.
The video made in California and posted on YouTube portrayed the Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer and a fool. It has ignited a week of violent protests across the Muslim world.
"The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns ... this inappropriate and offensive action," First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said, according to the Mehr news agency.
"Certainly it will search for, track, and pursue this guilty person who ... has insulted 1.5 billion Muslims in the world."
The Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, condemned to death the Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie in 1989 for his novel "The Satanic Verses," saying its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad was blasphemous.
Iranian officials have demanded that the United States apologize to Muslims for the movie, saying it is only the latest in a series of Western insults aimed at Islam's holy figures.
Rahimi did not give details on how Iran would pursue the makers of the film in his remarks, which the Iranian Students' News Agency said he had made at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed in Benghazi, Libya, last Tuesday and several other people have died in protests around the Muslim world against the video entitled "Innocence of Muslims."
The identity of those directly responsible for the film is still murky. Clips of the film posted online since July have been attributed to a man named Sam Bacile, which two people linked to the film have said was probably an alias.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, a Coptic Christian widely linked to the film in media reports, was voluntarily questioned on Saturday by US authorities investigating possible violations of his probation for a bank fraud conviction.
An Iranian religious foundation said on Saturday it was increasing its reward for the killing of Rushdie, though he had nothing to do with the film, offering a total of $3.3 million for anyone who carried out Khomeini's death sentence.
Pakistan PM orders suspension of YouTube over anti-Islam film
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has ordered the suspension of YouTube in the country over a video made in the United States which mocks the Prophet Muhammad and has enraged the Islamic world.
Ashraf's office said in a statement that the Ministry of Information had been ordered to block YouTube so that the "blasphemous" video could not be viewed.
...Read more 19 sep 2012, 11:17 , Respect -
Maria 18 sept 2012
Romney video: Palestinians have no interest in peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukhFBJgrZxM
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Presidential candidate Mitt Romney told donors in a newly released video clip that Palestinians have no interest in peace and are committed to the destruction of Israel.
The footage was recorded at a private donor dinner in May and appeared on the website of the magazine Mother Jones.
"And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, 'There's just no way,'" Romney said.
The presidential candidate, whose recent Israel visit stirred controversy over the issue of Jerusalem, went on to criticize the notion of a Palestinian state due to Israel's security concerns.
"You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem. We live with that in China and Taiwan. All right, we have a potentially volatile situation but we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it," he said.
During the Republican candidates' trip to Israel in August, Romney said cultural differences were the reason behind the discrepancy between the Israeli and Palestinian economies, while also quoting inaccurate data on the GDP.
Palestinian officials had also accused Romney of undermining peace prospects by calling Jerusalem "the capital of Israel", ignoring their own claims to the city and most world opinion.
"What this man is doing here is just promoting extremism, violence and hatred, and this is absolutely unacceptable," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said at the time.
PLO envoy: Romney video shows 'complete ignorance of facts'
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The PLO's envoy to the US on Tuesday said presidential candidate Mitt Romney's videotaped comments about the Palestinians showed a "complete ignorance" of the facts.
"The leaked statements by the Republican presidential nominee once again show complete ignorance of facts and realities regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Maen Areikat said in a statement.
"Romney’s allegations that Palestinians are committed to the destruction of Israel are baseless given the fact that Palestinians have expressed support for the two-state solution, and repeatedly recognized Israel’s right to exist."
Areikat added: "The best way the Republican nominee can help in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by adhering to long-standing US policy regarding an acceptable solution that will lead to the end of military occupation of Palestine, peace, and security."
In the video, released Tuesday by a liberal American magazine, Romney is seen telling donors that Palestinians have no interest in peace and are committed to the destruction of Israel.
"And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, 'There's just no way,'" Romney said in the video published by Mother Jones.
The presidential candidate, whose recent Israel visit stirred controversy over the issue of Jerusalem, went on to criticize the notion of a Palestinian state due to Israel's security concerns.
Diana Butto, a former legal adviser in negotiations with Israel, said that "Factual inaccuracies aside, Governor Romney has made it clear that he doesn't intend to end Israel's occupation of Palestine and that he won't ever challenge Israel or its violations of human rights and international law."
Butto added: "He seems perfectly happy with maintaining an untenable status quo. By taking a position that is so blatantly in favor of Israel, Romney will continue to perpetuate the conflict rather than resolve it. That's neither good for the Middle East, nor for America."
Egypt court to try Copts living abroad over anti-Islam film
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Seven Egyptian Coptic Christians living abroad and a US pastor will be tried by a criminal court for insulting Islam over a film made in California which mocks the Prophet Mohammad, Egypt's public prosecutor said on Tuesday.
The Egyptians include US-based Morris Sadek who has said he promoted the film that provoked outrage in the Muslims world.
Florida Pastor Terry Jones, who angered Muslims in 2010 by threatening to burn the Koran and who has expressed support for the film, is also accused.
The public prosecutor said in a statement that convictions could be punishable by the death penalty and called for the seven Copts and Jones to be handed over to Egypt, but did not say in which the countries the Copts were.
A judicial source said two Egyptian lawyers had raised the suit with the public prosecutor, who referred the case to a criminal court on Tuesday. The court will set a date for the trial, the source added.
Anger at the film has stretched across the Middle East, Asia and Africa. In several cities, protesters attacked US embassies, blaming America for the video. In Egypt, protesters clambered over the embassy wall and tore down the US flag, and clashed with police in streets nearby for four days.
For many Muslims, any depiction of the Prophet is blasphemy, let alone one deemed insulting. The crude film, Innocence of Muslims, portrayed the Prophet as a womanizer, thug and child molester. Clips circulated on the Internet for weeks.
The seven Copts to be tried also include Elia Basseley, who the prosecutor said was also known as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. The 55-year-old, widely linked to the film, has been interviewed by US federal officers probing possible probation violations.
The US government has called the film disgusting and reprehensible, but said it could not act against it as that would violate freedom of expression. Egypt has urged Washington to take legal steps against those insulting religion.
Sadek, who heads a group called the National American Coptic Assembly, told Reuters last week that he promoted the film to highlight discrimination towards Copts in Egypt, a reference to some opening scenes of the film about that issue.
Speaking from the United States, he also said he was sorry about the death of the US ambassador and three other Americans in Libya in an assault by gunmen on the Benghazi consulate, but added anyone who objected to the film should do so peacefully.
The seven Copts and Jones will also be tried over accusations they sought to divide Egypt, in which about 10 percent of the 83 million population are Christians.
Christians in the country have long complained about discrimination in the workplace and under laws, such as those that make it harder to build a church than a mosque. Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, says he will treat all Egyptians fairly.
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church condemned insults to Islam and condemned some Copts abroad who they say financed the film.
Highlighting how Egypt's judiciary deals with such cases, a Copt in the Sohag region south of Cairo was jailed for six years on Tuesday, three of them for insulting the Prophet and Islam, the state news agency reported.
Bishoi Kameel, an English teacher, was convicted for publishing pictures deemed offensive to the Prophet on Facebook. He was also convicted and sentenced for insulting the president and another citizen.
Zionists, US launch all-out war on Islam
The Zionists created that blasphemous film. They did it to enrage Muslims and provide the USA with an excuse to send in drones.
At the same time there is increasing Zionist rhetoric, and increasing intent, against Iran. Whilst the Americans like it to be known that they are against an attack on Iran, the truth is that they want it. American, British and French warships now swarm in the Persian Gulf waiting for the Israeli planes to strike.
Within minutes of the strike an Israeli plane will fire a missile at an American aircraft carrier and the Western media will announce that Iran has attacked. Which will be untrue but it will appear to be true because it will be yet another false flag attack, at which the USA and Israel are experts, giving an excuse for the warships to hurl their missiles.
This is all part of the general Western onslaught against Islam the object of which is to weaken all Islamic states so that none of them can ever stand up against an ever-expanding Israel.
But there are other forces pushing the West to war and they are even stronger than the usual desire to humiliate and destroy Islam. Financial and economic forces, particularly when negative, ultimately decide most things.
These forces greatly increased in strength on 12th September when the German Constitutional Court, selling out the German nation, caved in to political pressure and opened the way to the printing of money for the benefit of a corrupt elite and banking system and not for the benefit of the European population as a whole. People might think that a government figure of 34% unemployment in Andalusia, Spain (and well over 60% for young people) would be sign enough that the European politicians are heedless of misery.
People might think that the forced selling of a Greek island to the Zionists for bombing practice would be the gravest possible insult to decent humanity and as such be inconceivable (although it is not inconceivable because Netanyahu and Barak proposed it).
But, no, people are not waking up to the implications of the endless printing of money (created as a debt to be repaid by the general population). This money is not directed at the creation of jobs for ordinary people and is ultimately directed at bailing out bankrupt banks.
It matters not that the German Court appeared to put a limit to the money printing because, since the European governments are making the situation worse, the limit is certain to be broken. As more and more austerity is piled on to the European populations their inability to repay debt sharply decreases so that more and more money-printing, and more and more debt, will be deemed necessary. At some point a break into hyper-inflation with unthinkable social consequences is inevitable.
And the situation is even worse in the USA. Helicopter Ben Bernanke (he once said he would throw money from a helicopter if necessary) is living up to his name except that no helicopter could ever do what he is doing now. Bernanke is going to print money to the tune of $40 billion per month for ever more (and by some calculations, that could rise to $85 billion) in the belief that pumping the stock market and asset prices will solve America’s unemployment of well over 20-22%.
It won’t. Only interest-free loan money put directly into the real economy and the spreading of the real economy (so that ordinary people have jobs and so income) stands a chance of bringing some balance back into the situation. But the gangster bankers of Wall Street (who essentially control Bernanke and the American government) have no intention of doing that because any interest-free loan money for the real economy strikes directly at the power of the banking elite, complacent politicians, servile academics, the military-industrial complex, their hangers-on and Zionists.
The American economy is collapsing, welfare programs are being slashed, forty six million people are below the poverty line, real incomes have been declining for twenty five years, unemployment benefit is cut as unemployment rises, money printing is soaring and the purchase of what is now a total of over one billion dum-dum bullets is clue enough that the American government will soon be shooting American people.
But when things get that bad, what do governments always do? They Play the Foreign Card i.e., another country is blamed for internal economic troubles which are now certain to include hyper-inflation, riots and misery. In short, if they can, governments go to war.
Which, in addition to the blasphemous film inevitably creating attacks on American interests and the build-up of military forces in the Persian Gulf (for the purpose of being present when a false flag attack is made) explains why, just as in the Great Depression of the1930s, war becomes more and more likely as a way of hiding failure at home and blaming everything on somebody else abroad.
So next time you hear Hilary Clinton giving a lecture on freedom, democracy, morality and how best to run an economy, just remember that it’s all hypocritical cant and, behind the scenes, she’s arranging a major attack.
CIA killed Omar Suleiman and Saudi’s prince Nayef: Fareed Zakaria
Egypt’s former vice president and spy chief, Omar Suleiman,left and Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, right
A prominent US-based Journalist, Fareed Zakaria says the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is behind the death of former Egyptian vice president and the country's long-time spy chief Omar Suleiman, and Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud.
Speaking in a TV program called Al-Haghigheh in an Arabic satellite channel, Zakaria said that Omar Suleiman made a phone call to him few minutes prior to his death claiming that his life was in danger and the CIA had targeted him with a laser radiation.
Zakaria added that Suleiman revealed to him in the same telephone conversation that the Saudi crown prince was also assassinated with a similar laser radiation by the US spy agency.
Several days before Egypt’s former dictator, Hosni Mubarak ouster, Suleiman was appointed vice president in January 2011 when the revolution gained momentum. He was directly involved in the killing of protesters.
Suleiman later left Egypt and went to Abu Dhabi with his relatives. He died in the US where he was undergoing medical tests at the age of 76.
The 79-year-old Nayef, who was also the long-serving interior minister of Saudi Arabia, traveled for medical reasons to a few countries including Algeria and the United States this year before he was announced dead on June 16.
Nayef was announced the new heir to the Saudi throne after the death of his full brother, former Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, at a New York hospital on October 22, 2011.
20 sep 2012, 10:58 , Respect -
Maria 19 sept 2012
Google's anti-Islam film targets Obama: Gordon Duff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXHnlsMBJq4
A 12-minute clip is posted on a video-sharing website and soon after a wave of protests hit the Muslim world and beyond.
On this edition of News Analysis we're asking why this latest act of offense against Islam has led to so much anti-US sentiment and why the entire affair is being viewed by some as an intelligence operation.
What kind of response is appropriate by Muslims and Non-Muslims?
Activists: Egypt Christian arrested, beaten over film
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Egyptian rights groups on Wednesday demanded the release of a Coptic Christian arrested on suspicion of posting an anti-Islam video online that ignited Muslim protests around the globe.
Police grabbed computer science graduate Alber Saber from his Cairo home last week after neighbors accused him of uploading sections of the film "Innocence of Muslims", rights activists said.
The neighbors also accused Saber, 27, of making a new movie that mocks all religions. He was jailed for 15 days pending investigations.
Clips from "Innocence of Muslims" were posted on various parts of the Internet weeks before violent protests erupted in Egypt and several other Muslim-majority countries last week.
The crude film made in California portrayed the Prophet Mohammad as a womanizer, thug and child molester. Angry Muslim crowds have stormed US embassies including in Egypt and Libya, where the US envoy and three other Americans were killed.
Neighbors of Saber interviewed by a human rights lawyer looking into the case, Rawda Ahmad, said Saber was among the first people to upload the film but the accusation could not immediately be verified.
Saber's mother, Kariman Ghali, denied her son had done anything of the kind. She said she called police to her home in the poor area of al-Marak after thugs attacked it.
"The thugs were hitting my son who they accused of insulting Islam," she said. "I called the police to protect me but instead they took him away from me, saying there were complaints filed against him and they needed him."
She said the attackers had kicked her out of her home and she had not been able to stay in one place for more than two days for fear of being found and harmed.
Members of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said police had no warrant from the public prosecutor for Saber's arrest and had beaten him up during interrogation.
Security officials have refused to talk publicly about the case, but a judicial source said the police had acted on the instructions of prosecutors.
Besides arresting Saber, Egyptian prosecutors have also brought criminal charges against seven Egyptian Copts living abroad and against a Florida pastor, Terry Jones, who expressed support for the film.
Many Copts worry about the rise to power of Islamists since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year and fret about any action that could stoke tensions with their Muslim compatriots.
The Coptic church in Egypt has condemned the film and the Copts who they say financed it.
Church officials were unwilling to comment on Saber's case because of the sensitivity of the issue but one, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his arrest was unjustified.
"I find it strange and unfair that Christians get jailed for posting the anti-Islamic video on the Internet, while the Muslim sheikhs who put the video on their Islamic channels and ignited Muslim anger are left untouched," he said.
Several Egyptian activists filed a lawsuit this week against sheikh Khaled Abdel Allah for showing parts of "Innocence of Muslims" during a talk show on Islamic satellite channel al-Nas.
The activists accused Abdel Allah of inciting violence.
Muslims decry French Muhammad cartoons as new insult
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Muslim leaders criticized a French magazine's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday as another Western insult to their faith and urged France's government to take firm action against it.
"We reject and condemn the French cartoons that dishonor the Prophet and we condemn any action that defames the sacred according to people's beliefs," the acting head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Essam Erian, said.
The cartoons were featured in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Its front cover showed an Orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned figure in a wheelchair and several caricatures of the Prophet were included on its inside pages, including some of him naked.
Their publication follows widespread outrage and violent anti-Western protests in many Muslim countries in Africa and Asia in the past week over an anti-Muslim film posted on the Internet.
Erian said the French judiciary should deal with the issue as firmly as it had handled the case against the magazine which published topless pictures of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, the wife of Prince William.
"If the case of Kate (the duchess) is a matter of privacy, then the cartoons are an insult to a whole people. The beliefs of others must be respected," he said.
Erian also spoke out against any violent reaction from Muslims but said peaceful protests were justified.
Mahmoud Ghozlan, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, welcomed French government criticism of the cartoons but said that French law should deal with insults against Islam in the same way as it deals with Holocaust denial.
"If anyone doubts the Holocaust happened, they are imprisoned, yet if anyone insults the Prophet, his companions or Islam, the most (France) does is to apologize in two words. It is not fair or logical," he said.
In Lebanon, leading Salafist cleric Sheikh Nabil Rahim said the cartoons were extremely insulting and could lead to more violence.
"Of course it will anger people further. It will raise tensions that were already dangerously high."
He accused those involved of trying provoke a clash of civilizations, not dialogue.
"We will try to keep things managed and peaceful, but these things easily get out of hand. I fear there could more targeting of foreigners, and this is why I wish they would not persist with these provocations."
An official in Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church said the move was a deliberate provocation. It showed "some international powers" wanted violence to escalate in Egypt so that the country would not develop economically, the official, who asked not to be named, said without elaborating.
In 2005, Danish cartoons of the Prophet caused a wave of violent protests across the Muslim world in which at least 50 people were killed.
In a torrent of violence last week, the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack in Benghazi and US and other foreign embassies were stormed in several cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by enraged Muslims.
At least nine other people have been killed.
Abbas aide: Romney remarks aimed at Jewish voters
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A political adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that remarks by US candidate Mitt Romney in a recently released video aimed to secure the votes of American Jews in the upcoming election.
Nimir Hammad said Romney's remarks, published Tuesday by a liberal American magazine, were not new as he has consistently made one-sided comments aimed at attracting supporters of Israel.
Hammad's comments echoed remarks by the PLO's envoy in the US denouncing Romney's position on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which he said was bound to go nowhere. In the video, Romney is seen telling donors that Palestinians have no interest in peace and are committed to the destruction of Israel.
"And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, 'There's just no way,'" Romney said.
On the topic of recent talk of the PA cancelling the Oslo Accords, Hamad said only that there was general discussion about adjusting some of the principles as Israel "hasn't complied with any."
"The Oslo Accord is merely obligations between both sides, beginning with Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands occupied in 1967 and ending transitionally with the PA (coming) in 2000. However, Israel hasn't complied with any of these principles which is what is pushing the leadership to adjust it," he said.
On recent tensions with Egypt, Hammad said relations were normal despite Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's meeting with the Egyptian prime minister on Tuesday.
"There is no deterioration in the relationship with Egypt. During Abbas’s meeting with the Egyptian ambassador, Yasser Othman, Abbas confirmed on the need to uphold to the unity of the Palestinian representation internationally and to be aware of all attempts" to support the split, he said.
He denied reports that the PA is considering taking the reconciliation file from Cairo to another country. "Egypt is the only sponsor for reconciliation," he said.
London: Singapore church and US TV held parties against Aqsa in J'lem
LONDON, (PIC)-- The Arab organization for human rights in Britain said a church group in Singapore and a Christian TV channel in the US participated in the organization of a raucous concert and other Judaization programs promoting the building of the alleged Jewish temple in occupied Jerusalem.
"The church called 'New Creation Church' which is based in Singapore organized in cooperation with trinity broadcasting network (TBN), one of the largest US media networks known for broadcasting its religious propaganda in Arabic, Persian and other languages, a trip to occupied Palestine for 10 days from 4 to 13, September 2012 mainly targeting the city of Jerusalem and the vicinity of the Aqsa Mosque and multiple programs, the most serious of which was a raucous concert near the Aqsa Mosque behind its mihrab (niche) and the Marwani Prayer House in Umayyad Palaces area. They also held another party on the Mount of Zeitoun (olives)," the British Arab organization stated.
"What hurts the heart most is the participation of Arab and Turkish airlines which transferred these groups to Jordan, their main station, before they headed to the occupied territories, and later these airlines also transferred them back to Jordan, which was a place for some of their activities as well," the organization added.
"The most prominent airlines that participated in the transfers were the royal Jordanian airlines, the Emirates, the Turkish, the Qatari and other airlines including the Israeli," it noted.
It also questioned if "these airlines were aware that it transported people threatening the international peace and security with their beliefs which call for the demolition of the Aqsa Mosque and the building of the temple."
Germany Condemns Producers of Anti-Islam Film, Ban them Entry to the State
Wednesday 19th September, Germany condemned the anti-Islam film, which mocking the Prophet Mohammad and praised the protests that has sparked across the Islamic world.
Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said, "We shouldn't fall for those who sow the seeds of confrontation and conflict through violence, extremism, intolerance and fundamentalism." He continued, "German law guarantees freedom of expression but not beyond the point where people feel insulted."
Westerwelle decried the film as an "anti-Islamic hate video".
He said authorities would consider whether to ban any screening. The government issued last weekend a ban on the film producer Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and on US pastor Terry Jones entering Germany.
Jones angered Muslims with threats to burn the Koran in 2010 and has lent his support for the film. Some German politicians warned that in forbidding the film to be shown, Germany would be sacrificing its free speech laws and pandering to extremists.
Westerwelle said, "Germany is home to four million Muslims, mostly of Turkish origin."
French weekly publishes Muhammad cartoons
PARIS (Reuters) -- French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday, a decision criticized by the French authorities which sent riot police to protect the magazine's offices.
The magazine's front cover showed an Orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned figure in a wheelchair and several caricatures of the Prophet were included on its inside pages, including some of him naked.
The publication comes in the midst of widespread outrage over an anti-Muslim film posted on the Internet. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticized Charlie Hebdo's decision as a provocation and said he had ordered security beefed up at French diplomatic offices in the Muslim world.
Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices were fire bombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Muhammad. In 2005, Danish cartoons of the Prophet sparked a wave of violent protests across the Muslim world that killed at least 50 people.
In a torrent of violence last week, the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack in Benghazi and US and other foreign embassies were stormed in several cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by enraged Muslims.
At least nine other people have been killed.
Army Attacks Protesters In Jerusalem
Israeli soldiers attacked, on Tuesday evening, dozens of protesters in the Shu’fat refugee camp, in occupied East Jerusalem and fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets at them; the army also fired a number of gas bombs into nearby homes.
Local sources reported that the army invaded the camp as the residents were holding a protests against the latest racist video the mocks the Muslim Prophet.
The sources said that hundreds of residents took off to the streets and marched to express their anger and rejection to all acts that aim at mocking the prophet but the Israeli army invaded the camp and fired rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs at the protesters. Dozens of residents were treated for the effects of teargas inhalation.
Under-cover forces of the Israeli army were also deployed in the camp and attempted to kidnap some residents.