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Stupid Islamaphobic YouTube Video Sparks Stupid Riots In Middle East
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 13, 2012
Modified Sep 13, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 13, 2012
Modified Sep 13, 2012
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Never doubt that one little YouTube video can change the world, no matter how imbecilic. Riots and demonstrations against the trailer for a no-budget "Muhammad Movie" that probably doesn't even exist spread to Yemen, Iran, and Egypt, where angry mobs have attempted to storm embassies. The worst of it was in Yemen, where hundreds of protesters attacked the American Embassy, days after the American ambassador to Libya was killed at the embassy there.
Protesters broke through the outer perimeter protecting the embassy in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, and looted computers and furniture before they were dispersed. No casualties were reported. In Tehran, the Times reports that 500 Iranians chanting “Death to America” tried to storm the Swiss Embassy, which handles US interests in the country. Tear gas was also used to disperse angry mobs outside American mission sin Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia.
And in Egypt, where the embassy in Cairo was under siege even before mobs swarmed the embassy in Libya, President Mohamed Morsi—leader of the Muslim Brotherhood—waited 24 hours before issuing a statement urging protesters to eschew violence. By then, rioters had breached the embassy.
Egypt is the second largest recipient of American foreign aid after Israel, at $2 billion a year. But in an interview with Telemundo, President Obama said, "I don’t think that we would consider [Egypt] an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy. I think it’s still a work in progress, but certainly in this situation, what we’re going to expect is that they are responsive to our insistence that our embassy is protected, our personnel is protected." Asked if he would consider withdrawing aid from Egypt, Obama said the U.S. "doesn't have an option of withdrawing from the world... we're the one indispensable nation."
Meanwhile, it's unclear if the movie promoted by the stupid YouTube trailer even exists, and the mysterious producer/director Sam Bacile has reportedly gone into hiding. The Times and other media outlets can't find it, and it seems like the YouTube video—which depicts the Prophet Mohammed as a buffoonish child molester—may very well be the extent of this thing. The video was posted on YouTube in June with little response, but someone recently translated it into Arabic and it went viral days before September 11th.
Whether or not a feature length version of this nonsense actually exists, some of the actors who participated in it are coming forward to say they were duped into appearing in it, and that they had no idea it was anti-Islam propaganda. It appears that all the religious references were dubbed over in post-production, and the cast and crew released a statement saying, "We are 100% not behind this film and were grossly misled about its intent and purpose. We are shocked by the drastic re-writes of the script and lies that were told to all involved. We are deeply saddened by the tragedies that have occurred."
Steve Klein, a California resident, Vietnam veteran, and notorious Islamaphobe, says he helped produce the film and that it had been screened in Hollywood. In an interview with the Times, he said the intention was to "lure hard-core Muslims into a screening of the film thinking they were seeing a movie celebrating Islam." But instead they would "see the truth, the facts, the evidence and the proof. So I said, yeah, that’s a good idea.” Oh yeah, it's a Swiss fucking watch.
Tagged
anti islam
anti muslim
egypt
middle east
sam bacile
steve klein
yemen
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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