Reactions to Innocence of Muslims

2012 U.S. diplomatic missions attacks
Part of Aftermath of the Libyan civil war, Arab Spring
Date 11 September 2012 Location Cairo, Egypt; Benghazi, Libya Result U.S. Consulate in Libya destroyed
Belligerents
United States Libyan security forces Egyptian police	Islamist militants, possibly Al-Qaeda (Libya) Salafist protesters (Egypt)
Commanders and leaders
Barack Obama Christopher Stevens †	Unknown
Strength
Unknown 50 Marines deployed	3,000+ protesters
Casualties and losses
4 killed 2 injured	Unknown

On September 11, 2012, the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, and U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, were attacked during protests over the film Innocence of Muslims, which the protestors considered blasphemy against the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. In Egypt, a group scaled the embassy wall and tore down the American flag, replacing it with a black Islamist flag. In Libya, rocket-propelled grenades fired at the consulate from a nearby farm killed the visiting U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, two U.S. Marines, a Foreign Service Information Management Officer; and injured two others. U.S. officials said that the Cairo protests appeared to be the work of a spontaneous mob, while the violence in Benghazi was likely planned.

Background

The protests in both Egypt and Libya were triggered by the screening of a trailer of the film Innocence of Muslims by American filmmaker Sam Bacile. According to Reuters, the film depicts Muhammad "as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake" and showed him having sex with a woman. According to the New York Times, the film that triggered the attack was an "amateurish, American-made video that opens with scenes of Egyptian security forces standing idle as Muslims pillage and burn the homes of Egyptian Christians." The trailer had been dubbed into Arabic, although according to Bacile, the film was produced in English and he did not know who had dubbed it. He said that the film "was intended to help Israel by exposing Islam's flaws" and that his "plan is to make a series of 200 hours" on the same subject. Though the film had not been shown in its entirety, Bacile also said he had declined distribution offers for the time being.

Bacile identifies himself as an "Israeli Jew" though Israeli authorities found no evidence that he is a citizen. The film's consultant, Steve Klein, said Bacile's name is a pseudonym and that he may not be Israeli or Jewish, as has been reported. Klein said there were a number of people involved in the making of the film, who were from countries including Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt, and that some were Copts but most were Evangelical Christians. Klein reportedly told Bacile: "You're going to be the next Theo van Gogh", in reference to the Dutch filmmaker.

The film was promoted by the U.S. pastor Terry Jones, who had previously caused anger among many Muslims by announcing plans to publicly burn the Qu'ran. According to Jones the movie is "not designed to attack Muslims but to show the destructive ideology of Islam."

The film was also promoted by Morris Sadek, a Copt whose Egyptian citizenship had previously been revoked for promoting calls for an attack on Egypt. Sadek promoted the film on his website and television stations.

In response to the promotion of the film, the US Embassy in Cairo issued a statement hours before the attacks that condemned "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims, as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions".

Attacks

Egypt

Almost 3,000 Salafist demonstrators and football fans protested at the embassy. A dozen men were then reported to have scaled the embassy walls, after which one of them tore down the flag of the United States of America and replaced it with a black Islamist flag with the inscription of the shahada: "There is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God." Some of the protesters also wrote "There is no God but God" on the compound walls. According to Sherine Tadros of Al Jazeera Arabic news service, the protestors demanded that the film be taken "out of circulation" and that some of the the protestors, many of whom were Salafists, would stay at the site until that happens. Thousands of Egyptian riot police were at the embassy following the breach of the walls; they eventually persuaded the trespassers to leave the compound without the use of force. After that, only a few hundred protesters remained outside the compound.

Libya

Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was killed in the Benghazi attack

A few hours after the Cairo incident, an armed mob converged on the consulate in Benghazi in the evening. Rocket-propelled grenades were reportedly fired from a nearby farm, which caused the consulate building to be engulfed in flames. The U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, who was on a visit to the city at the time, died either as a result of smoke inhalation or when a mortar hit a car in which he tried to escape. Stevens was brought to the Benghazi Medical Center alone, and no one initially realized he was the ambassador. Ziad Abu Zeid, the doctor at the hospital, tried to revive Stevens for 90 minutes. According to Abu Zeid, Stevens died of severe asphyxia that had caused stomach bleeding. At the same time, two U.S. Marine Corps personnel who were accompanying him also died along with Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, while two consulate staff were wounded.

The bodies were then taken to Benina International Airport and flown to the capital, Tripoli, and scheduled to fly to a U.S. airbase in Germany. Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, the spokesman for the Supreme Security Committee, said: "One American staff member has died and a number have been injured in the clashes. There are fierce clashes between the Libyan army and an armed militia outside the US consulate," while adding that roads leading to the compound were sealed off and Libyan state security forces had surrounded the building.

Reactions

U.S. President Barack Obama said that he "strongly condemned this outrageous attack" on U.S. diplomatic facilities. He further ordered that security be increased at all such facilities. A Marine FAST team was sent to Libya to help with security.

In light of the statement made by the US Embassy in Egypt, presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized the Obama administration for being sympathetic towards the attackers. An unnamed Obama administration official later said that the previously posted embassy statement "was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind."

Several Congressmen have asked that aid be halted to Egypt and Libya.

The Libyan Prime Minister's office condemned the attack and extended condolences, saying "While strongly condemning any attempt to abuse the person of Muhammad, or an insult to our holy places and prejudice against the faith, we reject and strongly condemn the use of force to terrorize innocent people and the killing of innocent people." It also reaffirmed "the depth of relationship between the peoples of Libya and the U.S., which grew closer with the positions taken by the U.S. government in support of the revolution of February 17."

Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf, the President of the General National Congress of Libya said: "We apologise to the United States, the people and to the whole world for what happened. We confirm that no-one will escape from punishment and questioning."

Sam Bacile spoke to the Associated Press from an undisclosed location, and said that he had not changed his stance that Islam is "a cancer" and that the film was intended to be a provocative political statement. However, he added that he had not anticipated such a reaction and said: "I feel sorry for the embassy. I am mad."

Steve Klein, who was a consultant for the movie, stated that the murder of John Stevens was not a matter of guilt for the film-makers but was the result of the mob "following Mohammed’s violent teachings". Klein stated "We told the truth and these people reacted the way that Mohammed wanted to them to react - by killing people."

Egyptian activist Wael Ghoneim wrote on his Facebook page that "attacking the US embassy on September 11 and raising flags linked to al-Qaeda will not be understood by the American public as a protest over the film about the prophet. Instead, it will be received as a celebration of the crime that took place on September 11."

An communique by the Argentinean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship signed by the President Cristina Fernández express: "The Argentine people expressed its strongest condemnation of the attack perpetrated yesterday against the U.S. Consulate of America in the city of Benghazi. We deeply regrets the death of that country's Ambassador in Libya, Christopher Stevens, and other Americans and Libyans citizens".

Theories

The British think tank Quilliam has argued that the attackers in Libya were too heavily armed and organized to merely be angry protesters, suggesting that the American fatalities in Benghazi were the result of a pre-planned revenge attack by al-Qaeda for the killing of Abu Yahya al-Libi three months prior and the protest outside the consulate was just a diversion.

According to New York Times and CNN, officials within the Obama administration have said the deadly attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi was planned in advance, and that a pro-al Qaeda group is the chief suspect.

See also

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• Arnold Lewis Raphel, the last U.S. ambassador who died in the line of duty before Stevens.
• 2011 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Egypt
• 2008 Serbia protests, during which the U.S. embassy in Serbia was torched by a mob.

External links

• "Official Webpage - United States embassy Libya"
• "Official Webpage - United States embassy in Egypt"