With the US ambassador to Libya killed in Bengazi and a protest of 2,000 in Cairo raising an Al-Qaeda-associated flag above the US embassy on the anniversary of 9/11, it is clear the reaction to a small video published online yesterday has got out of hand.
The YouTube clip of a film named “Innocence of Muslims” has been reported in the (rumour-filled) Egyptian press to have been the work of Koran-burning Florida Pastor Terry Jones and Coptic Egyptian Christians, who make up about 10 per cent of the population in Egypt. It was in fact produced by an Israeli filmmaker named Sam Bacile. “Islam is a cancer,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “The movie is a political movie. It’s not a religious movie.”
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
