The Silence that Cost the US
What are the details of the film that has insulted Islam's prophet and what are its behind-the-scenes elements?
Reports that have been published with regard to this issue have not been transparent. Several names have been presented for the title of the film, its director and the producer. Some have said that he is an Israeli residing in the US, and some others have introduced him as a Christian or a Coptic Egyptian who is a US resident. But what is certain is that the mentioned film has been produced in the US, but the accurate identity of the people involved in it is not clear. It has also been reported that hundreds of people who support Israel and Judaism have donated 5 million dollars for the production of this film. It has also been stated that this film, which is two hours long, was shown in limited theaters in June and July, 14 minutes of which were selectively placed on one of the famous video-broadcasting sites of the Internet. Many people have watched this film and one Arab network has broadcast news about it. Following this report, protests were held in front of the US embassy in Egypt. In the beginning, the US embassy exonerated itself from this film, but when these movements grew and the incident in the US embassy in Libya took place, the US retreated, not officially, from its embassy's position in exonerating itself. That is to say that there was no apology in the statements made by Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and Obama, the US president. The only issue which was raised was that it was not a good film. There has been another report about one of the elements of the film stating that this man has not been arrested, but rather transferred to an office. It has been stated that he was not arrested for the film, but because of his previous violations. This case can be compared with the issue of Salman Rushdie. In that case, the author was known. This is actually a clip, because it does not have a well-written scenario or well-known actors. It is a very weak film, full of insults from beginning to end. Therefore, it does not even have the basic characteristics of a film. It is said that the reason behind making this film was to attack the main beliefs of Muslims and Islam in general. It is not clear who the people behind the scenes were. What is obvious is that this film was made in the US and the US has not done anything to prevent its production and distribution. The US has the capacity to easily deal with any organization if it decides to do so. Furthermore, the 5 million dollars which were collected for the film's production is not a small amount. Just to state an example, when the US decides to deal with any Palestinian group inside the country, even one dollar which is donated for a Palestinian orphan, and is not political aid, should be accounted for. Therefore, the US administration powerfully deals with any issue it wants. But, with regard to this film, its decision was one of non-involvement.
There are also certain laws in the US with regard to "Hate Speech". For example, if someone talks about the Holocaust, he will be dealt with based on the "Hate Speech" law. The US administration has decided not to act against the producers of this film, and it has actually ignored this law.
Why hasn't this person been arrested and what is the reason behind the US’ non-attention to this issue despite such protests against it?
This issue is related to the issue of Islamophobia in the US. It means that it is a country which is fighting against the world of Islam. Every day, the US fights against Muslims in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan, with many civilians being killed. The question must be raised as to why the US massacres Muslims every day? In order to prevent the creation of such a question in the public opinion, what the US has done in recent years, particularly after 9/11, is to show Muslims as sub-humans for its own people. That is to say that it creates the image that, if Muslims are killed, since they are not considered as humans, bombarding or killing them is not important. This is the literature propagated by the US, and under these conditions, the US cannot deal with the producer of this film because he has acted in the interests of the US.
To what extent can it be said that this is the Zionists' making?
There is no doubt that the Zionists, either directly or indirectly, were behind this project, for a Muslim does not make such a film, unless he is a Zionist Muslim. Neither regular Christians nor Jews would make such a film, but a Zionist Jew, Christian or Muslim might take such measures. But it is not certain whether the Israeli government was necessarily behind this project.
What will the impact of this issue be on the US presidential elections?
Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican rival, has used this issue for his own publicity, accusing Obama of being a second Carter. He claims that, as the revolution in Iran happened during the Carter presidency, today's situation in the Middle East is the result of Obama's weakness. Therefore, this film might impact the elections and the Romney campaign might have been behind this project. But, all of these are just speculations because there is no evidence and nothing is certain.