Eric Allen Bell’s Accusations Typical of Islamophobic Spin Machine

by Sheila Musaji

Today,  Eric Allen Bell posted an article Islamists Seek to Settle Score by Framing Filmmaker on Front Page in which he says again that he is receiving death threats on his FaceBook page, that FaceBook, rather than going after those making the threats has blocked him from access to his own account, that he had nothing to do with the making of “Innocence of Muslims”, and that there is a plot to connect him with the film.  He says he is now in protective custody and writing this article from a safe house. Then he specifically mentions me, and two articles that I have written:

...  When I got off at my exit in Los Angeles, I said goodbye and we hung up.  I turned on a talk radio program and listened, when I heard someone say that Islamic protesters were storming the embassy in Egypt.  Muslim men had scaled the sides of the embassy and broken in.  Crowds shook their fists yelling, “Death to America!”  There was rioting.  I turned up the volume.  This was turning into one of those days where it just sucks to be right.  Everything I had been saying was going to happen as the result of the “Arab Spring” was beginning to happen.  Then things took an even worse turn, as the radio voice said, “… protesting an anti-Islam filmmaker in Los Angeles…”  Uh-oh.

I am the only filmmaker I know of in Southern California who is known for expressing views which are critical of Islamic law.  Maybe there were other filmmakers who were opposed to political Islam as well, but I was the only one writing articles about it, going onto the radio, television and speaking out at public events.  This could not be good.

Bell himself is saying that his first thought when he heard about the tragedy in Libya and the film was that he was the first person who would come to mind as having made such a film.  I don’t know of anyone else who thought this, and no one else said it except perhaps some poster on Bell’s FaceBook page, but Bell thought that might be a logical assumption for someone to make.

  ... Anyway, someone has to come up with this strategy of coming after me using digital media, and work at fanning the flames. Someone has to want to shut me up pretty badly. And of course, what better way for Islamists to silence one of their critics than to put your name out on the street, saying you have “mocked the prophet” (punishable under Islamic law by death)? And what better time than now?

Sheila Masaji [sic], of TheAmericanMuslim.org, has used this opportunity to put my name out on the street, to jihadists here in America. Now let’s keep this in mind: according to Islam, “jihad” is a word with essentially two meanings. One refers to an inward spiritual struggle. The other is fighting against the enemies of Islam, by way of the sword. Jihad is the duty of all Muslims, as commanded by Allah. So by running an article on a blog called “The American Muslim,” Sheila Masaji [sic], and the terrorists she defends, are clearly stepping up their game. Could it be that they are trying to shoot the messenger?

Bell is claiming that I have connected him with the making of the film, and putting him in danger.  This is an outright lie.  The statement that I defend terrorists is actually laughable, as anyone who has read any of my hundreds of articles over the years would know.

Since I posted many of the death threats from Muslims on my Facebook wall, as a sign that I am not scared, the Islamists added a new dimension to their venture against me. The articles written for American Muslims name me as part of a conspiracy to make this sloppy film, “The Innocence of Muslims” – thus forcing Islamists to have no choice but to riot, rape and kill.

Sheila Masaji must know I had nothing to do with the film. Her articles in the past are usually sourced with links, not to factual sources, but to more of her own articles. This devout Muslim is a professional liar for Islam. And Islam does not just allow lying for Allah’s cause, it demands it. The practice is known as “taqiyya.” Naturally, LoonWatch.com loves her.

I have no idea if Bell was involved in the film or not, however I never said that he was involved in the film.  I also never named him as part of a conspiracy to make this film, I only quoted from his article discussing his conversation with Ali Sina as proof that Sina had posted an article that he later deleted.  If Bell had actually read any of my articles, he would know that I cite numerous sources from many sites.  In this case, I will cite my past article on TAQIYYA, as it seems that Bell, like many Islamophobes doesn’t understand the term.

Here are two articles Sheila Masaji has put up so far, attempting to link me and some of my friends (and some people whom I don’t know) to the making of the “film”:  Who are the real players behind anti-Muslim film? – updated 9/18 The “Innocence” of the Islamophobes and the Film No One Wants to Be Associated With

In the first article that Bell mentions   I say that ‘Sam Basile” is clearly Klein/Nakoula/Sadek/Nasrallah*.  I note that those actually connected with the film have connections with each other and with individuals in the Islamophobia industry.  I then discuss a plan by Ali Sina to make a movie about Muhammad which was publicized on his site and on Islam Watch and Atlas Shrugs, and I comment “So, in February of 2012 Ali Sina, one of the board members of the newly formed SION group, had announced plans to make a film about Prophet Muhammad, said that he had a completed script, and was in the planning stages, already had been promised substantial angel financing. Geller posted his article and noted the importance of his project and said he needs our help.”

I do provide quotes from an article written by Eric Allen Bell in which he discusses a conversation with Ali Sina about the difficulties involved in making such a movie as corroboration that Sina was indeed planning such a movie since Sina had deleted the articles from his site.  And, I added an update about Bell writing an article claiming that people had wrongly connected a FB post and himself with the unknown filmmaker.  I comment that I could find nothing anywhere about anyone claiming that Bell was the person responsible for the film prior to Bell’s article saying that this had happened.  Here is the full content of what I posted about Bell other than those quotes from his article about Ali Sina:

Updates on Eric Allen Bell aka Eric Edborg  posted a hateful anti-Muslim screed on FaceBook on September 11th.  Then, on September 14th, he posted an article on Front Page claiming that people wrongly connected his FaceBook post, and himself, with the unknown filmmaker who made the “Innocence of Muslims” film.  He says: “Anyway, recently my Facebook inbox was flooded with the usual threats from Muslims, telling me that I should be killed for “mocking the prophet” and lefties who refuse to tolerate my intolerance.” I searched but could find only one blog post dated September 13th that mentioned Bell’s FB post, and that post simply countered the substance of Bell’s FB posting.  I could find nothing anywhere about anyone claiming that Bell was the person responsible for the film.  

On September 16th, The Guardian published an article America’s ‘counter-jihadis’ fan flames of hatred across Middle East which quoted Bell and said he spoke to them from hiding, and said he had nothing to do with the film but was getting “wave after wave of death threats” because of being “mistakenly identified” as the filmmaker.  Since the only previous mention of Bell in connection with this film came from Bell’s own FaceBook fan page, all the “waves and waves” of threats are difficult to comprehend.  The article also quotes Bell and another minor figure in the Islamophobia Industry as making statements that raise the issue of Islamophobic plots.

Eric Alan Bell “In terms of high public profiles I’d say there is less than a dozen of us.  We co-operate and communicate fairly regularly but there is no central control.”  Jim Horn “We meet at these things and get to compare notes.  We know what Islam’s intentions are – to colonise us, turn us into another Egypt.”

Nowhere do I say anything about Bell being responsible for the film. 

At the bottom of the article I list a series of questions raised by various articles published by the Islamophobes themselves.  Bell’s name doesn’t even come up in those questions.  Again, here is the full text of what I said:

Who made a large donation to Media for Christ in 2011?  Why did Ali Sina feel it necessary to scrub the articles about his planned film from his site, and when were those articles scrubbed?   Was Ali Sina’s script the one used for this film, and was it complete long before the February appeal for funds on Atlas Shrugs?   Was this film separate from the film that Ali Sina plans, and therefore there may be another film coming?  How many of the “facts” we think we know about this film and its’ producers are part of a disinformation campaign?  Who is actually pulling the strings?  Was this a conspiracy?  Was provoking a violent reaction exactly what the filmmakers wanted?  Is SION connected with this project, and is it one of their “practical steps” “beyond rhetoric”?   Why did so many key players in the Islamophobia industry feel it necessary to speak out so quickly to distance themselves from this film, and to trivialize its’ importance?   Geller said “we must help” get Sina’s film made, who did help?   Why was the film initially blamed on “Jews”?  If Nakoula was a dupe, and the actors hired for the film were duped, who else was duped, and who is behind all of this doing the duping?

In my second article listing statements by various individuals that they have no involvement with the film, or by organizations that they are not affiliated with those who are involved, this is the full text of the entry on Bell:

— Eric Allen Bell posted a hateful anti-Muslim screed on his FaceBook page on 9/11 (which said nothing about the “Sam Basile” film).  Then, on September 14th, he posted an article on Front Page claiming that people wrongly connected his FaceBook post, and himself, with the unknown filmmaker who made the “Innocence of Muslims” film. He says: “Anyway, recently my Facebook inbox was flooded with the usual threats from Muslims, telling me that I should be killed for “mocking the prophet” and lefties who refuse to tolerate my intolerance.” I searched but could find only one blog post dated September 13th that mentioned Bell’s FB post, and that post simply countered the substance of Bell’s FB posting. I could find nothing anywhere about anyone claiming that Bell was the person responsible for the film.  On September 16th, The Guardian published an article America’s ‘counter-jihadis’ fan flames of hatred across Middle East which quoted Bell as saying that he was speaking to them from hiding due to death threats, “after he was mistakenly identified online” as the maker of the YouTube trailer.  Bell told them “It’s been crazy, completely insane, wave after wave of death threats. They’re promising to torture me to death on video, to cut me into small pieces, sodomise me, a lot of screwed up sexual stuff.”  He said he had nothing to do with “Innocence of Muslims”, but said he endorsed its’ message.  It would seem that the only identification of Bell with the filmmaker came from Bell’s own FaceBook fan page.

The death threats that have come from American Muslims since the publishing of those articles, I will not publish at this time. The threat to my life has been deemed serious. So naturally the police department lost the report I filed. After what felt like an eternity, as the FBI tried to locate that report, and then begin the long process of filing their own report, I decided to go ahead and publish this article, complete with many of the death threats, should something happen to me while the federal government is fumbling with paperwork. I have been relocated to a safe house and am in dialogue with the FBI. I would like to report that the proper authorities have issued the appropriate warrants and are taking steps to identify and attempt to capture the numerous Muslims who are threatening to kill me for “mocking the prophet.” But something tells me that Eric Holder is not going to let that happen. As of this moment, there is paperwork and dialogue. And nothing stands up to Islamic terrorism like paperwork and dialogue. Eric Holder’s incompetence and fetish for appeasing radical Islamists who seek to infiltrate American society have become a national embarrassment. But I’m open to being pleasantly surprised. In the meantime, I’m filing my report with the media.

He says he will not publish at this time, but then publishes them in the same article.  It is good that he has reported these to the police and the FBI, and hopefully they will investigate.  Whoever posted such threats should be punished to the full extent of the law.  Threats and violence are never an appropriate response to provocation.  If those who posted these threats are in fact Muslims, then they have clearly little understanding of their religion.  No one should face threats or intimidation even for hateful speech.

...  Meanwhile, the narrative overseas has narrowed even more. Someone has been very busy, planting stories. Several Muslim newspapers and blogs are now reporting that I alone am the filmmaker who “mocked the prophet.” And it is perhaps no coincidence that they are all more or less using variations of the exact same wording – calling for me to be punished. Under Islamic law (Sharia) that means death.

EGYPT:“Prosecutors said they will ask the international police agency, Interpol, to add the names to its wanted lists. U.S. authorities would also be contacted, according to prosecutors.”

Oddly, the link Bell provides about the “narrative overseas” is to a Yahoo question site asking the question “Who is the mastermind of the anti-Islam film….?”  There is no comment by anyone on that page from overseas or not mentioning Bell, except for an inflammatory comment posted by Bell himself

Answerer 5 “A non-Muslim is a second-class citizen called a Kafir. You and I are Kafirs. Much of the Koran concerns itself with the Kafir – how to control us, to subjugate us and to kill us.  “Islam has the mind of a psychopathic rapist and because its founder, the “prophet” Mohammed was in fact a psychopathic rapist himself.”  - Eric Allen Bell

And, the link he provides as proof that in Egypt someone is calling for him to be punished according to Islamic Law, is to an article from CNN noting that the Coptic Christians accused of being involved in the film may be charged in Egypt for their involvement in making the film   Bell’s name is not mentioned anywhere in that article.  In fact, another pointless google search turned up no one anywhere asking for Bell to be tried.

Never mind the fact that I did not make the film, was not involved in the making of the film, do not live in an Islamic country under Islamic law, enjoy the First Amendment right to free speech and, did I mention that I did not make the film?

It seems as if the only person desperately trying to attach his name to this film is Eric Allen Bell.  Perhaps, he believes in the old show business adage “no publicity is bad publicity”. 

As I was working on this article, I checked my email and discovered this email from Eric Allen Bell:

1 - Check out my Facebook page and see the threats for yourself.  Before you go leaping towards that keyboard to type out another nasty little rant about how I am making all of this up, be advised that the FBI has seen, firsthand, the threats.  There are many more than what I have posted.  They have seen the originals and have pulled IP addresses on them.  If you try to say that I have manufactured this story, as I know you will be tempted to do, be aware that you are setting yourself up for embarrassment later.

2 - You really can’t find any news sources in a simple Google search that site me, and me alone, as “The Filmmaker”?  Either you are lying, or you don’t know how to do a Google search.  Again, since screenshots have been made and the FBI are in possession of them, to report such lies will only embarrass you later.

If you really are not in the business of terrorist spin control, then do your homework.  Otherwise, keep publishing libel and slander and see where that leads you.  Your cover up of numerous Islamic death threats is very suspicious, and I have communicated as much to the authorities who are working to get to the bottom of this matter.

Your lies and recklessness are placing my life in danger.  Is that your intention? 

Best, Eric Allen Bell

This truly is a delusional individual.  I have never claimed he was the filmmaker, never said that he made up death threats, never libeled or slandered him, never covered up any death threats.  I’m glad he is in touch with the authorities, and am particularly happy that he has screen shots of my articles for the FBI, as they will simply show how delusional this man is. 

Update 9/20:  Both Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller have posted Bell’s article making the false claims.

Daniel Greenfield (aka Sultan Knish) has just posted an article 10 Million Rupee Reward Placed on Eric Allen Bell’s Head.  He opens with

“Front Page contributor Eric Allen Bell now has a 10 million rupee reward on his head after The American Muslim, falsely linked him to “The Innocence of Muslims” movie. 

Eric Allen Bell is a filmmaker who had nothing to do with the Nakoula film, but that did not stop The American Muslim from casting as wide a net as possible in its conspiracy theories connecting numerous completely unrelated Islam researchers to the movie. The wide net appears to have succeeded in convincing some Asian Muslims that Bell had made “Innocence of Muslims” and appears to have resulted in a 10 million rupee bounty being placed on Bell.

...  The American Muslim’s wide net feeds into the grand conspiracy theories circulated by Muslim groups which easily convert them into hit lists. From the Islamist point of view the details don’t really matter, so long as all the people on the enemies list belong on the enemies list. To them Bell is as much of a target as Nakoula, as is anyone who speaks out against Islamic violence, supremacism and terror.”

There may have been a bounty placed by a Pakistani FaceBook group called “Enemies of Pakistan” which does mention Bell as being involved with the film.  The article Greenfield links to about this supposed bounty is by Jehanzaib Haque in the Pakistan Express Tribune expressing his concern about the extremism of this FaceBook group.  In his screen grabs of entries from their page, Bell is mentioned.  Nowhere is the source of their making this claim mentioned, and a CTRL F search of the article and comments turns up nothing about a 10 million rupee bounty.  A google search also turns up nothing except this article by Daniel Greenfield. (Update 9/21 a screengrab in the Jehanzaib Haque article does show a FB posting suggesting a bounty.  I missed it originally as it is written in Urdu, and the number listed is 1 followed by 15 zeros.  I have no idea how much that might be, as a million would be 1 followed by 6 zeros.  I have been informed that it would be a quadrillion rupees.)

Update 9/21  A new article on Front Page today quotes Bellas saying

Bell said that starting last Wednesday, he began to receive death threats. The threats gained momentum on Thursday, and on Friday, they got even more serious.  The threats came, said Bell, following a series of blog posts on the website The America Muslim. The writer, Sheila Musaji, denied any involvement in linking Bell to the film.  Despite her denial, Bell said that shortly after the posts appeared he received a number of threatening messages on his Facebook page.

It’s difficult to understand what is prompting this effort to keep Bell’s name in the public eye, and to attempt to falsely blame me for putting him there.  But since both Bell and Front Page continue this propaganda effort, let’s look at this claim logically:

9/11 Tue. - Bell posted a truly hateful anti-Muslim screed on his FB page

9/12 Wed. - Bell began to receive death threats

9/13 Thu. - A blog post by Jack Cluth names Bell “the worst person in the world”, reprints Bell’s FaceBook post and comments that he finds it hateful. In fact he writes a lengthy refutation of Bell’s posting
- FaceBook removed his original 9/11 post saying “We removed the following content you posted because it violates Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.”
- Bell said the threats gained momentum

9/14 Fri. - Bell reprints the original 9/11 post removed by FaceBook on Front Page.  Bell adds this information about events since posting - it was shared by thousands of FaceBook members around the world - recently his page was “flooded” with threats - On 9/13 FaceBook had removed his original 9/11 post saying “We removed the following content you posted because it violates Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.”
- Bell says the threats got even more serious - and he told the Guardian that he had to go into hiding on this day.

9/15 Sat. - My first article was published and did not name Bell as responsible for the film (see above)

9/16 Mon. - The Guardian published an article quoting Bell who said he was speaking to them from hiding and was getting “wave after wave of death threats” and had been in hiding since he had fled his home “last Friday”.

9/17 Tue. Jahanzaib Haque posts an article about extremist Pakistani group that includes screenshots of postings linking Bell with the film and making threats.  There are no dates attached to these postings.

9/20 Thu. - Bell posted an article on Front Page attempting to say my original article connected him with the filmmaker
- I posted this article rebutting that claim

9/21 Fri. Bell again falsely claims referring to my articles that “shortly after the posts appeared he received a number of threatening messages on his Facebook page.”

It is clear from simply looking at the timeline that Bell’s claims are false.  It is also clear that his original 9/11 FaceBook posting had more to do with bringing him to the attention of extremists who would make threats, as it is offensive by any standards. I hesitate to give it more attention, but in this case, it is necessary.  Here is that original posting so that readers can judge for themselves:

9/11 LET US REMEMBER THAT Islam is War. It has been at war, overtly or covertly since its founder, the “prophet” Mohammed, spread his “religion” through warfare, and became the head of state. Islam is about control, conquest and domination. Islam is war. And what is the first casualty in war? The first casualty in war is the truth. Islam is deception. Even a huge percentage of the followers of Islam are deceived as to what it really is. We have a word for such people and that word is, “Moderate Muslims”.

And according to Islam, Muslims are not only allowed to deceive for the sake of Islam, they are commanded to do so. In Islam there is no right and wrong – only that which is commanded and that which is forbidden. Islam has no golden rule, no conscience. The very word itself, Islam, means submission. If this belief system were a human being, it would have the mind of a rapist. Islam gets off on making you submit. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to convert. You just have to submit.

A non-Muslim is a second-class citizen called a Kafir. You and I are Kafirs. Much of the Koran concerns itself with the Kafir – how to control us, to subjugate us and to kill us. Islam has the mind of a psychopathic rapist and because its founder, the “prophet” Mohammed was in fact a psychopathic rapist himself. Islam was spread through rape. Women were raped by Muslims when a town was seized by Islam. Mohammed ordered this and participated in this. Islam was spread by rapists. Mohammed even raped a child who was only 9 years old.

The Islamic scripture mentions, over 90 times, that Mohammed is the highest moral example. Mohammed personally tortured other human beings, he was a thief, a pedophile, a man who annihilated Jews for Allah, a man who ordered the stoning of women, the beheading of his critics, a man who beat his wives and who forced a woman to marry him, after killing her husband, father, brothers and her entire tribe.

Islam is a criminal enterprise, using lies about hell and Paradise to manipulate its masses. Islam is terrorism. The “prophet” Mohammed said, “Strike terror into the hearts of the unbelievers” and “I have become victorious through terror”. Islam is terrorism. The civilized people on planet Earth seek to evolve. It’s what we have done over time, and it’s what we seek to continue to do. Civilized people evolve. But Islam forbids critical thinking. Instead, Islam demands that we all follow Islamic Law – the Sharia. You have one freedom under Sharia and that is the freedom to follow the Sharia.

Islam seeks to take away your freedoms and mine. It is a 1,400 year old human rights nightmare which must not continue. Today, as I remember all of those innocent souls who lost their lives on 9/11, because of Islam, I reaffirm my commitment to fight Islam until it is destroyed and it is destroyed completely.

Islam and human rights cannot coexist. Islam and Liberty cannot coexist. Islam and America cannot coexist. We must end Sharia in our time. And if we are to evolve and to survive, as a species on this planet, we must wipe out Islam entirely. We must destroy Islam completely. The slightest trace of this Cancer called Islam will try to grow back. The civilized world, which is superior to Islam in every way, simply cannot afford that.

Muslims are human beings, capable of changing their minds.  Muslims, as an entire group of people, are not necessarily our enemy.  Arguably the majority of Muslims in America have a higher sense of morality than Islam itself.  Islam however is a belief system. It is a savage and sadistic belief system, one which we cannot “coexist” with any longer.

In fact, we must crush Islam and destroy it completely. Islam must die in order for all that is good in this world to continue. If you are Muslim, seek help for this mental illness. If you are a person of conscience, know that Islam has one enemy which has the power to destroy it completely and that is TRUTH. The enemy of Islamic supremacy is information. Spread it like napalm.

Peace, as we remember all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. - Eric Allen Bell

At the top of this re-posting of the original FaceBook article on Front Page, Eric Allen Bell says “Given that that my Facebook account is a fan page, I am provided with weekly stats on how many people I am reaching.  The numbers generally range from about 160k to 450k, week after week.”

That’s a lot of people that he reached with his hateful article, and if thousands re-posted on their FaceBook pages as Bell says, then there are a lot of possibilities as to who might have tied him with the film.

UPDATE 9/24/2012

Bell seems determined to continue, presumably still from hiding, to put his own name out there.  Today he published another article raising all the same points disproven above, and adding insults calculated to offend the most people possible.

UPDATE 10/4/2012

Today, Bell once again posted something calculated to keep his name in the public eye.  In a post titled My Letter to the Editor of “The American Muslim” he says:

I have no problem with you disagreeing with me.  The right to free speech in America is something we value.  In Islam it is forbidden.

The FBI has already made records of the continuing death threats, which come my way, as you and others advance the false rumor that I had anything at all to do with the hit Islamo-Comedy, “The Innocence of Muslims”.  After watching the trailer online, it seems clear to me that the source for this (rather poorly produced) material came from Islamic scripture exclusively.  And I salute whoever actually did make the film.

If I ever do make a Muhammad bio pic, I will make sure you are notified and I will stand behind my work.  However, I did not make “The Innocence of Muslims”.  Furthermore, I do not personally know the people who are said to be behind it.

So, if you continue to suggest, rather not-so-subtly, that I am somehow part of some Hollywood conspiracy to make the movie, you do so without a shred of evidence.  You know perfectly well by now, based on my writings, that I do not hold back when it comes to criticizing the self-appointed “prophet” of Allah.  And you know that if I had made this movie I would not be coy about it.

Your suggestion that I have somehow lied about the death threats is incredible.  Since you and the terrorist spin-control doctors at Loonwatch.com monitor my Facebook page, you can clearly see many of the threats, literally as they are being posted, by members of the Religion of Peace.

You are knowingly misleading your readers, knowing full well that some of them are very likely Jihadists - and I don’t mean “Jihad” in the “inner personal spiritual struggle sense”.  I mean the 2nd definition of Jihad, which you know perfectly well - dying in Allah’s cause.  Pick up a Koran if it helps to refresh your memory on that one.

I believe in the higher potential of human consciousness to evolve.  It is my view that Islam appeals to the lower aspects of the human psyche.  Islam brings out the worst in people.  Nothing has caused the suffering of more human beings than the influence of Islam.  Islam is pure evil and you are an agent of evil.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  You can snap out of it.  Being deeply indoctrinated is not something which changes overnight, and I can see that you have much invested in keeping your blinders on.  But you are on the wrong side of history.  If anything happens to me, you are on record as being one of the principal instigators.

I never suggested that Bell was the filmmaker responsible for “Innocence of Muslims”, never said he was involved in that film, never suggested that he was part of some “Hollywood conspiracy to make the movie”, have not “continued to suggest” anything at all about Bell and this film, never suggested that Bell “lied about death threats”, and I don’t “monitor his FaceBook page”. 

As to threats against Bell, I clearly said It is good that he has reported these to the police and the FBI, and hopefully they will investigate.  Whoever posted such threats should be punished to the full extent of the law.  Threats and violence are never an appropriate response to provocation.  If those who posted these threats are in fact Muslims, then they have clearly little understanding of their religion.  No one should face threats or intimidation even for hateful speech.

Bell also posted an appeal to his readers to contribute to a fund to help pay for the expenses of keeping him safe.

UPDATE 10/9/2012

There has been some confusion about whether or not Bell is in FBI protective custody.  Today Bell posted this on his Facebook page:  “CORRECTION: I am not in “FBI Protective Custody”. I am in a privately financed safe house, while FBI Counter Terrorism investigates a call for my death, ordered by a known Islamic Terrorist organization. The Federal government does not provide protection. They investigate. The responsibility to protect oneself falls on the private citizen, while at the same time one’s right to protect oneself is extremely limited - hence the safe house. Meanwhile the Obama government apologizes to the Islamic world, for anyone who may have had their feeling hurt, by American citizens who exercise their right to free speech.” 

UPDATE 10/13/2012

On 10/11, Bell posted an article Zero Tolerance - DESTROY ISLAM.  In this truly disgusting screed, he makes the impassioned plea:

...  We cannot wait for some elected leader to get it and do the right thing. They are mostly weak. They are more interested in focus groups than following their moral intuition or even protecting the Constitution. As the saying goes, “When the people lead, the leaders will follow”.  It is the moral responsibility of all free and civilized people to fight tyranny and to end it. And no political system is more tyrannical than Islam. Followers of such an evil political ideology should not be admitted into any free country in the world - and those who refuse to denounce it must be sent back home.  We must end the tyranny of Islam. We must destroy Islam. We must end Sharia in our time. We must absolutely destroy Islam absolutely - and leave the free world a better place for generations to come. Islam appeals to the darkest qualities in the human psyche.  Freedom seeks to evolve. And that which seeks to undermine our evolution must be moved out of the way - by any means necessary.

This is as close as an individual can come to calling for genocide or violent action, and yet possibly remain within the letter of the law.  It is hateful, and completely savage.

UPDATE 10/20/2012

All of the pieces are beginning to fit together.  It seemed odd that Bell so regularly insinuated his name in discussions about making an anti-Muslim film.  Now, he has announced that he will use 300 hours of film that he already has as the base for a film to be called “American Infidel”.  He is requesting donations and says he only needs $200,000 to complete this film. 

UPDATE 2/21/2013

Eric Allen Bell has been pretty quiet for a few months.  I thought that perhaps we had heard the last of him, but not quite.  Garibaldi at Loonwatch has just published JihadWatch Zombie Eric Allen Bell Returns and Adds Antisemitism to the Islamophobia about Bell’s latest efforts.

Garibaldi publishes (with screen shots) some discussions between Bell and others on Bell’s Facebook page.  Garibaldi says: “This time Bell is relishing in antisemitism and putting forward ideas picked straight out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  Bell got into it with some of his assumedly now “former” Facebook followers. Bell tells “Clark Banner” that he is just speaking truth to power, exposing the social taboo surrounding “Jewish control of banking and media.”

Garibaldi also asks a pointed question: “This protege of Rev. Deacon Robert Spencer has exposed himself to have some very kooky and racist beliefs not only about people of Muslim background and the religion of Islam but also about Jews and Judaism. Will we hear swift condemnations from Rev. Deacon Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller who hailed Bell as a former “liberal” who saw the light of “Counterjihad?” Aren’t they embarrassed and ashamed of supporting and allying with someone who supports this vile antisemitic nonsense?  Don’t hold your breathe. They will likely continue their strategy of pretending such views aren’t held by their friend.”

Bob Pitt of Islamophobia Watch has more on this anti-Semitic side of Bell.  Eric Allen Bell discovers that ‘Jewish supremacists’ control the media and the banks.  Pitt notes

Predictably, Bell was enthusiastically taken up by Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer and David Horowitz who helpfully provided him with a platform to expound his newly acquired hatred of Islam. His conversion to rabid Islamophobia also made Bell welcome in the more mainstream right-wing media, resulting in several appearances on Fox & Friends. Even his demented suggestion that a nuclear attack on Mecca might be a good idea failed shake his admirers’ confidence in his political judgement.

Bell still retains his mindless bigotry towards Islam. A recent post on his Facebook page featured a map of the world with countries ranked according to “rates of inbreeding”. Claiming that “inbreeding can often cause lower levels of IQ and higher levels of aggression”, Bell noted that Muslim-majority countries are particularly prone to this phenomenon because “first cousin intermarriage is a long practiced Islamic tradition”, and he invited a Swedish supporter to “look at the percentage of rapes committed by people who came to Sweden from these countries”.

However, Bell has now extended the range of his bigotry to target all of the faiths he refers to as the “Abrahamic death cults”. This week he asked:

Will there ever be a day when hundreds of millions of women are not suffering under Islamic gender apartheid? Will there ever be a day when hundreds of millions of children are not brainwashed into believing superstitions, for fear of burning in hell when they die? Will there ever be a day when a small but elite group no longer takes from others, under the premise that they are “god’s chosen”?

Yes, you read that last question right. Not content with embracing Islamophobia, Bell has lately become a convert to antisemitism as well.

An earlier thread on his Facebook page had already been notable for the expression of openly antisemitic views by Bell. Challenged over his claim (in itself not unreasonable) that “the Evangelicals and the Zionists are taking the lead in Counter Jihad for reasons other than the kindness of their hearts”, Bell retorted: “What do you know about Jewish Supremacy?” He went on to argue that Jewish supremacists

control the IMF, the Federal Reserve, the US Treasury, the media and Goldman Sachs (which owns Obama). They seek to preserve and expand their influence, geographically, monetarily, culturally and every other way possible. To the Jewish Supremacist, “god” gave everything to the Jews and everyone else exists to serve this interest.

True, Bell emphasised that he doesn’t believe all Jews are supremacists – just those who hold influential positions in society, it would appear. In response to a question about what this had to do with religion, Bell advised his critic to “study the Jewish scriptures with regard to Jewish supremacy”. He added: “I don’t think you understand what Judaism is - Money, power, prestige and supremacy: aka ‘God’s Chosen People’.”

Bell followed this up with another Facebook post that included a graphic depicting leading US media organisations, to which he appended the following observation:

These 6 companies control over 90% of the media. What religion must one belong to, in order to have a chance at being CEO of one of these companies? BONUS QUESTION: What name or names is a person called, for even raising this basic and reasonable question?

In the discussion that followed Bell defended this view, demanding to know:

Is there a head of a TV network or a movie studio that is not Jewish? The answer is almost always no. Look at who runs the IMF, the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury, just to name a few. Is it “the Jews”? No. But is it almost exclusively Jewish? Yes.

He went on to argue:

Our society is slowly overcoming the brainwash around criticizing religion. However, we are not allowed to say anything remotely critical of the Jewish religion without being branded bigots, Nazis or antisemitic. How cleverly engineered our culture is. And who engineers the culture? What is the nerve center of our culture? Hollywood. Having worked in Hollywood for 20+ years I can tell you that everyone in the industry knows who is in charge.

One former supporter expressed his shock at Bell’s promotion of such a classic antisemitic stereotype: “A while back you said that the Jews controlling the media was an outright lie…. This is actually really disturbing hearing you do a complete 180 and engage in conspiracy theories like this.” In response, Bell wrote: “A conspiracy theory is a theory without proof. Look into how the food chain works in media and find out who is consistently on top. Same with banking.”

It was pointed out to Bell that other minority communities are concentrated in certain business activities. “I guess Indians owning the majority of hotels proves it’s Hindu Supremacism”, his critic commented sarcastically. To which Bell replied: “Motel monopoly is hardly the same base of power as monopolizing banking and media.”

Bell is evidently an unstable individual who is prone to sudden and irrational swings in opinion. However, in contrast to the dramatic reversal of views that saw him turn from condemning anti-Muslim bigots to becoming one himself, there is an obvious continuity in Bell’s move from simple Islamophobia to the adoption of antisemitism. His paranoid conspiracy theory of Jewish supremacists motivated by their religious beliefs to seize control of the media and the banks has clear parallels with the “counter-jihad” narrative he had already bought into, of Islamic supremacists bent on conquering the West and imposing sharia law.

It’s very doubtful that Geller, Spencer or Horowitz will be publishing any more of Bell’s rants about Islam. Most likely they will just quietly drop him. But turn to Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch or FrontPage Magazine for a serious accounting of their decision to promote this poisonous hate-monger in the first place and, as Loonwatch points out, you’ll probably be waiting a very long time.

first published 9/20/2012