Egypt Courts Sentence 8 To Death Over Anti-Islam Film

Eight people directly or indirectly involved in the making or promoting of the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims"- the video that sent the Muslim world into paroxysms of violence, and was initially blamed (by our government) for the deaths in Benghazi- have been sentenced to death for blasphemy by an Egyptian court. Yes, seven Egyptian Christian Copts, and even American Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida were sentenced in absentia.

Jones, who leads a fringe Christian congregation of no more than 50, said in response to the sentencing that it "shows the true face of Islam."

"we can speak out here in America,” Jones said. “That freedom means that we criticize government leadership, religion even at times. Islam is not a religion that tolerates any type of criticism.”

And he's right. They've proved exactly what he's been rallying against with his Quran burnings.

Others sentenced were, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (aka Mark Basseley Youssef, aka Sam Bacile) the producer of the film who is back in jail, for another year, in the U.S. for probation violation. The guy was a scam artist, and all those aliases he used before they finally tracked him down: not a good thing. Then there's Morris Sadek, who claims he had nothing to do with the film other than post it on his website. He too is a Coptic Christian activist living in the Chantilly, Virginia. Sadek said of the ruling:

“ [it] shows the world that the Muslim Brotherhood regime wants to shut up all the Coptic activists, so no one can demand Copts’ rights in Egypt.”

He too is right.

Not much is known about the other five defendants, and/or how they were involved with the film.

 They include two who work with Sadek at a radical Coptic group in the U.S. that has called for an independent Coptic state, a priest who hosts TV programs from the U.S. and a lawyer living in Canada who has previously sued the Egyptian state over riots in 2000 that left 21 Christians dead.

The other person is a woman who converted to Christianity and is a staunch critic of Islam.

Calling for an independent Coptic State warrants the death penalty?  Not surprising, I guess.

The arrest warrants for the eight individuals were issued back in September, and according to Egypt's official news media:

.. the court found the defendants guilty of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information - charges that carry the death sentence.

Apparently, there could be a reprieve when a final verdict (after review) is pronounced on January 29, 2013.

Good luck carrying out the sentence, since none of the accused live in Egypt.

Fatwa For Head of Anti-Islam Filmmaker By Pakistani Minister

Liberals and other Muslim apologists like to place the blame on "radicals" and "extremists" when it comes to all the violence in the name of Islam, but the line between radical and moderate is becoming increasingly blurred. I wondered how long it would take for some non al-Qaeda type to officially place a fatwa on Nakoula Basseley Nakoula's head for his anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims", and we now have it.

Pakistani Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, the Railways Minister no less, has placed a $100,000 reward for the death of Nakoula. Not much compared to Salman Rushdie's $3 plus million bounty, which was just raised another $500,000 for a grand total of $3.3 million. But give it another 20 plus years and maybe Nakoula's will reach that amount, as well.

Bilour said:

“I announce today that this blasphemer, this sinner who has spoken nonsense about the holy Prophet, anyone who murders him, I will reward him with $100,000. I invite the Taliban brothers and the al Qaeda brothers to join me in this blessed mission.”

And this coming from a government official!  Granted, the Pakistani government distanced itself from Bilour's statement, but nothing was done to censure him for it. Probably because they unofficially condone the action, but know they can't admit to it publicly.

No doubt, there will be more fatwas, and the man will probably have to live looking behind his back for the rest of his life.

Egypt- Arrest Warrants For Florida Pastor Terry Jones and 7 Copts Over Anti-Islam Film

The dopes in Egypt seem to think they have the authority to issue arrest warrants for U.S. citizens who don't happen to live in their country. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and 6 other Egyptian Christian Copts have warrants out for their arrest, but they also added idiot Floridian pastor Terry Jones to their list for promoting the infamous anti-Islam film "The Innocence of Muslims".

Of course, that's better than being the target of a death fatwa, which is what Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah wants for all the people who participated in the movie.

Egypt's general prosecutor knows the arrest warrants are simply a means of appeasing the rabidly angry masses who, like Nasrallah, probably want their pound of flesh, preferably dead. It also doesn't help matters for Herr prosecutor that most, if not all of them, don't happen to live in Egypt.  At least one would hope, for their sake.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that the accused, which includes the film's alleged producer, face charges of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information. The office said they could face the death penalty, if convicted. No date for the trial has been set.

Besides the main culprit Nakoula, they've also charged Morris Sadek (another Coptic Christian who is said to have been the one to stupidly bring the film to the Egyptian press' attention), and Florida Pastor Terry Jones (who promoted the video).


Source: ABC World News

Hezbollah's Nasrallah- Kill All Involved In Anti-Islam Film "Innocence of Muslims"

Hassan Nasrallah, head honcho of Hezbollah, wants Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and everyone else involved in that anti-Islam film, "Innocence of Muslims", dead. It doesn't matter that the bulk of the cast and crew had no clue what they were involved with. Nah, he wants blood.

Nasrallah's fatwa has called upon all Muslim youth, particularly those in the West, to do the dirty deed.

"I issue a fatwa and call on the Muslim youth in America and Europe to do this duty, which is to kill the director, the producer and the actors and everyone who helped and promoted the film,"

Amazing to think that the Lebanese, who you don't think of as quite so 'backwards' as some other citizens of Muslim majority countries, voted for Nasrallah and Hezbollah in a democratic election.

And here's some irony for you: apparently, Salmon Rushdie- who is himself a targeted man- believes Nakoula deserves it. On the Today Show, Rushdie said:

"He [Nakoula] did it on purpose. He set out to create a response and he got it in spades," he said.

"He's done something malicious, and that's a very different thing from writing a serious novel. He's clearly set out to provoke, and he's obviously unleashed a much bigger reaction than he hoped for. I mean, one of the problems with defending free speech is you often have to defend people that you find to be outrageous and unpleasant and disgusting."

Yes, disgusting, but calling for someone's death is even more disgusting.

Source IB Times

HT: Weasel Zippers

Anti-Islam Film Directed by X-Rated Director Alan Roberts?

As if the whole anti-Islam "Innocence of Muslims" saga couldn't get any more bizarre (or confusing), it does.

First of all we were told the director was an Israeli Jew by the man calling himself Sam Bacile. Then we come to find out that 'director' Bacile was not an Israeli Jew after all, but rather ex-con Coptic Christian Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. But Nakoula insisted he was only involved in the logistics, and now it turns out he was possibly telling the truth when he claimed he wasn't the director of the tacky film. According to Gawker, the movie- that we have since come to realize was actually dubbed in post production to add Islamic references- was actually directed by a  d-rated, "has been" director best known for several softcore x-rated films from the 1970s and 80s. Although this too could eventually change.

65-year-old Alan Roberts aka Robert Brownell directed "The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood", and several others, but had more success as a film editor. If he did indeed direct this, I'm sure the notoriety wasn't quite what he had hoped for his career; because even though he was apparently duped like the majority of people involved in the production, when word gets out to the Muslim world, you know there will be a price on his head.

An Alan Roberts is listed as director on the film's casting calls and call sheets from the summer of 2011, back when it was innocuously called Desert Warriors..

Castmembers and crew told us yesterday that Roberts was brought on by producer "Sam Bacile" aka Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, and he muddled his way through a disorganized three-month shoot.

This is the same Alan Roberts listed in IMDB as the director of a handful of softcore porn movies and other low-budget films, according to acquaintances we spoke to today.

"I am sure it was the same Alan Roberts, as I remember him speaking about this project," said filmmaker David A. Prior, a longtime acquaintance of Roberts, in an email. Roberts is listed as a producer on two of Prior's films, 2008's Zombie Wars and 2007's Lost at War.

"He did work on [Innocence of Muslims]," confirmed a man who was Roberts' business partner in a post-production facility he ran, who asked not to be named.
The backstory behind how Roberts became director of Innocence of Muslims is still unclear, like so many things about the film. We've tried to reach Roberts, but his business associate told us he "turned off his phone" soon after protests broke out over the film and is laying low. But he said Roberts was "non-political" and did not have any apparent anti-Islam feelings. Roberts may have been duped by the film's producer in much the same way as the rest of the cast and crew. They believed they were participating in a period piece about ancient Egypt and had no idea the movie would be edited and dubbed into a piece of Islamophobic propaganda..

The rest at Gawker.

Note: "Desert Warriors" is not listed on imdb.com

Shame On Badrya Darwish For Reporting Misinformation On The Anti-Islam Film!

Badrya Darwish is a journalist with the Kuwait Times who wrote the following opinion piece regarding the anti-Islam film "The Innocence of Muslims" that has wreaked havoc in the Muslim world.  Her commentary was published on 9/13, more than enough time for her to have researched the subject matter (like the rest of us) and discovered that it was not an Israeli Jew involved in the project, but rather a California-based, ex-con Egyptian Coptic Christian, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.  And that that the project was funded by the Christian community.  And that the actors and crew had no clue, whatsoever, that they were working on what would turn out to be a controversial film that would inflame the easily angered Muslim world. Darwish, no Nonie, irresponsibly claims that the movie was created by an American Jew (wrong), and that the cast had to have known (also wrong).  She titles her article Shame on you filmmaker! I say, shame on you Badrya for not doing your job and vetting your information, or at least updating it.

Shame On You Filmmaker!

I find it a bit strange how the attack on the American ambassador in Libya, Christopher Stevens, which resulted also in the death of three other diplomats coincided with the news about a film depicting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a very insulting way. It is a known fact that American embassies around the world are well-protected and they all resemble big fortresses. This is why I could believe the statement of Obama administration that the attack had been pre-arranged and pre-planned. Of course, the murder of the ambassador and any other American or a person of any nationality is a crime and is considered an act of terror. I condemn any murder.

Let me now go back to the movie which was made by an anti-Muslim filmmaker. Jointly, this American Jew and a Coptic Christian American created a movie which depicts Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in all sorts of non-religious ways. According to online reports, the movie and its trailer depict Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in a very insulting way. I cannot even begin to describe in what demeaning ways.

Of course, the producer of the film and the actors taking part in the movie knew exactly what they were doing and knew exactly what the result of this would be – violence and riots. Plus, the movie called “Innocence of Muslims” reportedly cost millions to make with money raised from the Jewish community. I call this insinuation of hatred and an act of terror that is wrapped in velvet. And do not say that it is about freedom of speech because it is not!

After 9/11, the US has new laws. Let’s see the American government use those against non-Muslims too. The silence of the Arab and Muslim governments is amazing. It reminds me of the silence of the lambs.

Way to go Badrya!  And what's with the silence of the lambs reference.  Did you even see the movie? And yes, Badrya, in our country there is a thing called freedom of speech. And offensive or not, in the civilized world, no-one goes around setting buildings on fire or murdering people because they happen to be offended by  a trashy film made by a few individuals.  One small f-rated film does not reflect a whole country. When will your people get that through their thick heads? Ambassador Stevens and the other three innocents had NOTHING to do with that film. Now they're dead. And you wonder why we criticize your religion for its gross overreaction to any little perceived offense.

Evolve and grow up!  Get a thicker skin. It's not all about you and your Prophet.

The Real Man Behind The Anti-Islam Movie "The Innocence of Muslims"?

"Sam Bacile" writer/director of the tasteless, cheesy  anti-Islam movie "The Innocence of Muslims" that spawned the violence in Egypt, Libya and now Yemen, is more than likely 55-year-old Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian Christian Copt living in Southern California. Although he claims he merely "provided logistics" for the movie initially called 'Desert Warriors', and that he's not the "Israeli/Jewish" director "Sam Bacile", it's more than likely he's fibbing. Apparently, the cellphone the AP dialed for an interview with Sam Bacile was traced back to Nakoula's address. Oops.

It also turns out that Nakoula has been a very bad boy, aside from producing a piece of crap film that has set the Middle East ablaze, not that it takes much to do that. In 2010, Nakoula pleaded no contest to federal bank fraud charges. He had to pay back over $790,000, and was sentenced to 21 months in jail. Prosecutor Jennifer Leigh Williams said Nakoula had a major "check-kiting scheme" going on, which he managed by using stolen identities and Social Security numbers.

 "You try to get the money out of the bank before the bank realizes they are drawn from a fraudulent account. There basically is no money."

Nakoula is obviously of questionable character, so I suppose it's not surprising that he had the brazen gall to claim he (as Bacile) was an Israeli Jew.  Since Coptic Christians are terribly persecuted in Egypt, I can understand the need to keep his identity under wraps, but to identify himself as another religion, particularly one that is so vilified in that region, is unconscionable.  In fact, protesters in Yemen were calling for "Death to America", and "Death to Israel" thanks to Nakoula.

More evidence that indicates a Coptic/Christian connection, not an Israeli one, is the fact that the film consultant Steve Klein,  a Christian, has been involved with the Copts for years.  Jim Horn, another activist working with Coptic groups said about Klein:

"He's been helping them to stand up for themselves against Islamic terror in Egypt. That's what he does."

Then you have wacko evangelical Christian Florida Pastor Terry Jones, who has promoted the video, and  Morris Sadek- another Christian Copt, posted the 13-minute trailer on his Facebook page a week a week or so ago.

It's all still much of a mystery, including why the video was only promoted right before 9/11 of this year, when the movie was filmed last summer.  More of the truth will eventually be revealed.

Sources: Yahoo, GuardianUK

UPDATE: According to the Daily Beast, Nakoula was also meth manufacturer (spending a year in jail for that back in 1997), and a registered Democrat from 2002 to 2008. He then switched to American Independent.