Another Provocation Against Islam

Yet again, the enemies of Islam have excelled in the art of provocation, offense and insult toward Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad.

After the Danish cartoon caricatures in 2005, now the film “Innocence of Muslims,” by Israeli-American Sam Bacile, an unknown property developer, has sparked violent street protests in Arab-Muslim countries.

It’s not a work of art; the film is extremely mediocre, according to experts. And it wasn’t made under the false pretense of exercising freedom of speech. The deliberate intent to insult Islam is obvious, especially when we know that this turkey was produced with the support of 100 or so Jewish donors and that the director refers to Islam as a “cancer.”

The frustration and resentment felt by Muslims across the world is only natural; mass demonstrations of protest and outrage in the Arab-Muslim world are the spontaneous and unsurprising reaction of people hurt by this vile provocation that has insulted their most sacred beliefs.

The worst part is that the reaction was more violent than expected and that the tragedy took place in Libya with the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, which resulted in the death of the ambassador and four diplomats. We don’t know if this was the act of Gadhafi supporters or the terrorist network al-Qaida, but in either case the situation is extremely serious. It points to problems of insecurity in that country as well as the proliferation of arms trafficking.

It also raises questions about the responsibility of the major powers, who, in their haste to evict the Libyan dictator, have only promoted the implantation of terrorist networks, which threaten not only Libya but the entire region. Today the United States is the first to pay the price; they are in urgent need of a new strategy.