Russia Without YouTube?

 

______________________________

The YouTube video hosting service may become unavailable to Russians. The reason is that the trailer to the notorious film Innocence of Muslims is available there. The Genprokuratura recognised the film as extremist and insulting to Muslims. However, Google, which owns YouTube, refused to restrict access to the clip. The Genprokuratura filed a case in court to forbid the circulation of the film in Russia. There’s been no decision taken on the matter yet, but the Genprokuratura already instructed the Public Oversight Commission to take the appropriate steps. The trailer, which appeared on YouTube, provoked a wave of anti-American protests in Muslim countries.

In spite of requests from governments around the world, Google declared that it wouldn’t delete the clip. Later, access to it was restricted, but not in all countries. For example, in Pakistan, the scandalous film wasn’t blocked. As a result, the local authorities ordered ISPs to close access to YouTube for all Pakistani users. The same could happen in Russia. Amendments to the law protecting children from harmful material come into effect on 1 November. If YouTube doesn’t delete the page containing the forbidden clip by that time, all Russian ISPs would have to restrict access to this site.

Ivan Zasursky, the Chairman of Communications Theory of the Journalism Department of Moscow State University believes, “Still, it’s unlikely that things would go that far, with YouTube being blocked. Even if the law allowed putting YouTube on the list of sites to be blocked, it isn’t obligatory to do so. YouTube is a law-abiding company in all countries where it broadcasts. In some Arab countries, the film is unavailable. I believe that in Russia it’d be unavailable too”.

Meanwhile, Terry Jones, the mastermind of the scandalous film, has become persona non grata in Europe. The American pastor was notorious even before Innocence of Muslims was posted online. He’s known for burning Qurans. Recently, when he wanted to visit Germany at the invitation of an ultra-right group, the German authorities declared that his presence in their country was undesirable. Washington also seems to realise what kind of genie it let out of the bottle. The American government admitted that the wave of protests in the Arab world could result in a long crisis with unpredictable consequences.

18 September 2012

Mikhail Aristov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_18/Russia-without-YouTube/

 

Coptic and Muslim Leaders Denounce Violence Over “Innocence of Muslims”

Dr Maher Hathout, senior adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California, and Coptic Orthodox Bishop Serapion (1951- ) of Los Angeles at a news conference in Los Angeles CA USA condemning the violence surrounding the film Innocence of Muslims. Now, THIS is the real deal. THIS is what relations between REAL Orthodox and Muslims are like. God bless this.

______________________________

On Monday, Muslim and Coptic Orthodox leaders stood together to condemn the anti-American violence that broke out in several countries following the release of an anti-Muslim film allegedly made in Southern California. In a news conference at Los Angeles City Hall, they said that the creators of Innocence of Muslims need not fear retribution from them. The movie, whose trailer was posted on YouTube, is considered blasphemous by Muslims because it mocks the Prophet Muhammad. Maher Hathout, senior adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California, called the movie “hate speech” and “instigation”, but added, “We don’t go after people for what they say. If he’s hiding from us, he’s wrong. Hide from somebody else. We aren’t interested”. Hathout was referring to Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, an Egyptian Coptic Christian and naturalised American citizen living in Cerritos purported to be one of the makers of the film.

The movie was linked to protests that resulted in the death of the American Ambassador in Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other State Department employees. Hathout condemned those behind the violence, saying, “Those are neither Muslims nor Copts… those are people who are psychologically diseased, with hearts full of hate, and minds full of ignorance. There should’ve been no bloodshed. As a matter of fact, there should’ve been no reaction to such an insignificant production”. Bishop Serapion, the spiritual leader of the Coptic Orthodox church in Los Angeles, said neither should the movie trigger violence against Copts, noting, “We find there’s no justification to make such a movie, so, there’s no justification to retaliate or attack the Coptic community”. He also released a statement, “The actions of a few ignorant individuals don’t represent the collective Copt diaspora, nor do they represent the collective Muslim community”. Both religious leaders said they hope recent events would draw the Muslim and Coptic communities of Los Angeles closer.

17 September 2012

Christina Villacorte

Press-Telegram (Long Beach CA)

http://www.presstelegram.com/rss/ci_21566608?source=rss

******

On Monday, the spiritual leader of about 120 Coptic Christian families who live in the Portland OR metro area issued a statement critical of the film that’s sparked violent protests in Muslim countries. Fr Mekhail Hanna, pastor of St Antonious Coptic Orthodox Church in Southeast Portland, said the movie Innocence of Muslims is “inappropriate”. Also on Monday, The Los Angeles Times reported that the filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who claims to be a Coptic Christian, is in hiding with his family.

According to Fr Mekhail, the film, which sparked a riot in Libya, in which four Americans were killed, and several other violent protests, doesn’t reflect the teaching of the Coptic Church, saying, “The Coptic Orthodox Church respects equally all religions and doesn’t agree or like to see any religion treated with disrespect. We’re commanded in the Bible to deal with others with love, kindness, and respect, and we adhere to that. The behaviour of an individual in our community doesn’t reflect the opinion of our Church, and we should deal with such individuals through the legal channels according to the current laws”. Fr Mekhail, who’s been pastor of the Portland congregation since 2006, said Coptic Christians “disagree with the killing of innocent people”, including those who “disagree” with freedom of speech or don’t know about the film, observing, “We hope that the sound of peace will cover the spark that was ignited by this inappropriate movie”.

17 September 2012

Nancy Haught

Oregon Live

http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2012/09/portlands_coptic_christians_co.html

Editor’s Note:

With all the rightwing bloviation out there, THIS is refreshing. By the way, Dr Mathout said this:

Home is not where my grandparents are buried; home is where my grandchildren will be raised.

Hear, hear! This story wins the laurels as the story that I’ve most enjoyed covering in a long while. It DOES restore faith in humanity, doesn’t it?

BMD

LA Muslim and Coptic Orthodox Christian Leaders to Show Unity

Coptic Bishop Serapion (1951- ) of Los Angeles 

_______________________________

Groups Set To Condemn Anti-American Violence in Muslim Countries and Anti-Islamic Video

Muslim and Coptic Orthodox Christian leaders will join forces in downtown Los Angeles today to condemn the anti-American violence flaring in Muslim countries and the anti-Muslim film clip that triggered it. Dr Maher Hathout, an Egyptian-born physician who speaks for the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California, and Bishop Serapion, the spiritual leader of the Coptic Orthodox church in Los Angeles, are expected to be the main speakers at a late-morning news conference on City Hall’s South Lawn. Hathout said in condemning the violence directed at Americans, “Our religions teach us to respond to hate speech with good speech and good work. The behaviour exhibited doesn’t speak for the majority of Muslims and are the actions of a small group. This irrational behaviour can’t be allowed to spread, and this movie can’t be allowed to dictate our actions”.

On 11 September, Chris Stevens, the American Ambassador to Libya, was killed, along with three other State Department employees, in an attack on the American Consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi by a heavily-armed force at the same time that a demonstration was taking place outside it. He is believed to have died of smoke inhalation. Also on 11 September, an anti-American demonstration took place on 11 September in Cairo, where the wall at the American Embassy was breached, but it didn’t come under gunfire.

A supposed movie trailer for Innocence of Muslims sparked the demonstrations… it’s not clear that an entire movie actually exists… was posted on YouTube and featured dialogue insulting the prophet Mohammad. The words were in Egyptian Arabic, and were added after filming without the actors’ knowledge. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, an Egyptian Copt and naturalised American citizen, was identified as one of the makers of the film; deputies escorted him from his home in Cerritos just after midnight on Saturday, they took him to their station for questioning by his federal probation officer. Authorities said that federal probation officials in Los Angeles are investigating if Nakoula violated his probation stemming from an earlier bank fraud conviction. Under the terms of his probation, he wasn’t supposed to use the internet without permission. He remains out of the public eye.

17 September 2012

KESQ.com

http://www.kesq.com/news/LA-show-of-set-for-Muslim-and-Coptic-Orthodox-Christian-leaders/-/233092/16630652/-/oypqtv/-/index.html

USA Confronted by Arab Spring’s Turbulent Wake

______________________________

This week, the assassination of the American ambassador to Libya and attacks on American embassies in Egypt and Yemen stunned Washington, forcing it to confront the tumultuous aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings it supported. In Libya, armed Islamist militants killed American Ambassador Christopher Stevens in a brazen attack Tuesday.

Michael Semple, a former deputy to the EU‘s special representative for Afghanistan, and who travelled to Tripoli during the rebellion that overthrew Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, said, “It was clear a year ago that the risks were there that a popular uprising could actually lead toward anarchy. The fact that central authority hasn’t been fully restored, that institutions are weak, and that space exists for the type of groups that carried out the attacks… and that essentially nobody is in a position to challenge… that remains a question mark”.

The deadly assault raised questions for Americans, as well, about their country’s involvement in Libya. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement on Wednesday, “Today, many Americans are asking… indeed, I asked myself… how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated and, at times, how confounding the world can be”.

Rami George Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (and a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University) said that the absence of a sturdy security apparatus in post-Gaddafi Libya makes such violent assaults by well-armed groups hardly surprising. He said, “The security situation echoes that which followed the elimination of Saddam Hussein‘s ruling Baathist régime in Iraq following the American invasion in 2003. When a whole superstructure of government was wiped away by American decree, there was chaos. There was no police, no army. Therefore, you’ve seen what’s been going on in Iraq for the past 10 years”.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi Isa El-Ayyat waited a day to issue a statement condemning Tuesday’s attack by a violent mob that stormed the American embassy in Cairo in protest of a defamatory YouTube video targeting Islam. Robert Danin, a former US State Department official with extensive experience in the Middle East, said that Egypt’s hard-line ruling Muslim Brotherhood party… with which Morsi is affiliated… was “frighteningly quiet” in the wake of the incident, in which protesters replaced an American flag in the compound with a black Islamist flag. Danin, who’s a senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview, “They called on the USA to issue an apology for a film that’s insulted the Muslim world. They’ve called a nationwide protest on Friday about the film. …The Egyptian government should be focusing on the attack on the embassy, not trying to lead demonstrations against a film, however reprehensible it may be”.

The USA backed Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak for decades before his deposition in a revolution that paved the way for the Muslim Brotherhood’s victory in subsequent popular elections. Washington supported the grassroots pursuit of free and fair elections in Egypt, although the events of this week have jolted officials here. President Barack Obama told Telemundo in an interview that aired Wednesday evening that he doesn’t see Egypt as an ally, saying, “I don’t think that we’d consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy. They’re a new government that’s trying to find its way. They were democratically elected. I think that we’re going to have to see how they respond to this incident”.

On Thursday, protesters continued to demonstrate at the American embassy in Cairo, and hundreds attempted to attack the American embassy compound in Yemen in protest of the incendiary video. Obama spoke with Morsi by telephone Thursday and the White House released a statement saying, “[Obama] underscored the importance of Egypt following through on its commitment to cooperate with the USA in securing American diplomatic facilities and personnel. President Morsi expressed his condolences for the tragic loss of American life in Libya and emphasised that Egypt would honor its obligation to ensure the safety of American personnel”.

Ed Husain, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that Morsi’s tepid response is a partly a sign of the pressure he and his political allies are feeling from fundamentalist Salafi factions in Egypt, telling reporters in a conference call this week, “They can’t now vacate this area of debate within Egypt and hand this entire debate over to the Salafis to be seen to be the defenders of the Prophet, the defenders of Islam, the antagonists against the West. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood’s street activists would like to have some of that pie too. By saying the right thing on this occasion, it means taking a huge political hit on the Egyptian streets. I don’t think he’s prepared to do that”.

14 September 2012

Carl Schreck

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/world/20120914/175945509.html