Of course I mourn the loss of our Ambassador to Libya and
the other State Department employees who lost their lives in the Ben Ghazi
consulate. I abhor violence of all
kinds, so I do not think it is an appropriate response to the film trailer
which defames the prophet Mohamed. I
think the whole case of the attack in Libya needs more investigation, as it
seems unlikely the timing of the attack in Libya was a coincidence, and perhaps
not a reaction to the film’s content.
However, the film itself needs more investigation. Now it seems it is cloudy who made it and for
what purposes, attributed to a US/Israeli/Copt who cannot be found.
The film did and will continue to stimulate
lot of anger, not just in Egypt, but throughout Muslim populations
everywhere.
I respect the US First Amendment and Freedom of Speech
rights very much; however, this film constitutes, in my view, incitement to
violence, which is illegal under US law.
It is an extreme form of hate speech, as its content is so
malicious. Its filmmakers must have
intended for it to spark violence. It is
the equivalent of “falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater,” which is not protected
speech [Oliver Wendall Holmes in Schenker v. US].
Who would even think of portraying any religion’s prophet as
a buffoon, preaching fictional texts, engaging in sex, and condoning pedophilia
and killing of women and children in warfare?
Regarding any other religious faith, it would never be done.
These images of the prophet Mohamed occur in
the first 5 minutes of the trailer. It
is beyond reprehensible. I think it is
defamation of the religion.
I wish each country would look at its own religious
extremists, whether Muslim, Jewish or Christian, and investigate them
carefully, as they each believe in violence to achieve their fanatical
religious views, look at the log in one’s own eye, before pointing the finger
at the speck in the other’s eye. The religious extremists in one faith engage
in ideological warfare with extremists of other religions, escalate tensions,
and make the world a more dangerous place for all of us. The extremist Christian
groups in the East and in the West continue to fan the flames of hatred of
Islam. There is an unholy ideological alliance between Egyptian Coptic
extremists and the US evangelical right-wing Christians, feeding each other’s
hatred of Islam and supporting the faulty “War on Terrorism” paradigm.
The “problem” is not Islam.
The problem is all forms of religious extremism. Muslim extremists inappropriately
call for jihad, Jewish extremists attack Muslims and Christians. Christian
extremists fuel misunderstandings of Islam and attacks against Muslims. All these groups share hatred of others, a
love of violence, literal interpretation of their holy books,
misinterpretations of their own religions, and the use of a wide range of extreme
tactics.
In Egypt, I do not see an increase in anti-American
sentiment in recent months. I did see
anti-American sentiments grow during and since the Revolution, with
encouragement from the Mubarak government and thereafter, from the Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces, who encouraged the view on television that
Americans were behind the 25 January Revolution. However, that has stopped since the election
of President Morsy, and I think it unlikely the Morsy government will encourage
such attitudes. I can still walk safely
anywhere in Cairo, even at night, and when someone occasionally asks where I am
from, they will typically respond positively.
The people on the ground like Americans, regarding us as honest and
friendly. They don’t like US foreign
policy in the Middle East. People here have some genuine grievances against US
policy in this region. But overall,
Egyptians respect President Obama, while being critical of US policies. Egyptians tend to differentiate between actions
of a government and the individual citizens.
I can imagine US citizens in front of their TVs, wondering
aloud, “Why do they hate us?” and imaging that we are innocent. “They” don’t
hate us, but hate US policies in the Middle East. We should look into that and find out why.
There are ample reasons: the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the 30 years
of financing of the dictatorial Mubarak regime in Egypt, the US financing of
Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories are just a few examples.
Anti-Islam propaganda like the film trailer does profoundly
offend Muslims here, as the film trailer offends me and any other reasonable
person (I am a Christian, a Quaker). Americans
need a lot of education about other cultures and religions and need to grow in
respect for religious differences.
Mainstream Jewish and Christian groups should denounce the film and
similar misrepresentations of religions, as well as denounce their extremist
co-religionists. Mainstream Muslims have
repeatedly denounced the violence of their extremists, as not appropriate
behavior for Muslims.
The film, and “War on Terrorism” propaganda efforts like it,
can make life in the Middle East unsafe for US citizens living abroad, so
please reign in such religious extremists.
I wish each country
would reign in its religious extremists, before pointing the finger at someone
else’s. The Terry Joneses, the Christian
Identity Movement, Jim Joneses, the Brand Dravidians and their like in other
religions make the world more dangerous for everyone.
Short bio: Kathy Kamphoefner holds a PhD in
Communication Studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She
specialized in Intercultural Communication and Middle East Studies. She currently teaches US university students
and leads Community-Based Learning in an study abroad program.
