Libyans protesting in Benghazi: Images You Won’t See in the Media
Posted Sep 13, 2012

Libyans protesting in Benghazi: Images You Won’t See in the Media

by Sheila Musaji

Our TAM article The Tragic Consequences of Extremism gives a detailed background on the attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Egypt and Libya, and on the tragic murder of the U.S. Ambassador and three Embassy staff in Libya, and the film that sparked these events.   A summary of what we know about the film and its’ producers is provided in the TAM article Extremist Christians Produce Anti-Muslim Film Blame Jews.  We are collecting some of the many statements that have been made condemning the film, and the violence in the article Muslims and Muslim Organizations Condemn Attacks on U.S. Embassies

There has been a great deal of contradictory information put out.  It seems clear that the attack on the Libyan Embassy was made by Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda affiliates, and was not part of any popular demonstration against the film.  As noted in our background article on the events, Ambassador Stevens was much loved by everyday Libyan people:

What adds yet another level of tragedy to all of this is that as Aref Nayed, Former Ambassador of Libya to the UAE, Member of the League of Libyan Ulema said in a statement:

This is to express my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the late Ambassador Christopher Stevens and his fallen colleagues, and to the American people and government. I had the honor of personally knowing Ambassador Stevens, and witnessed, firsthand, in Benghazi and later in Tripoli, the care and hard work that he devoted to fulfilling his duties towards his country and towards Libya and the Libyan people. He was a man of dedication and honor, and I am shocked and deeply anguished for the loss of a dear friend and supporter of the Libyan people’s struggle against tyranny. Tyranny and darkness may wear a thousand guises, including pseudo-religiosity, but must never deceive us. Islam is a religion of peace and understanding, and Islam’s Prophet (peace be upon him) is the Prophet of Compassion. It is outrageous and totally unacceptable for criminals to kill and destroy in the name of defending Islam and its Prophet (peace be upon him). The criminals who committed this cowardly act must be rigorously pursued and rapidly brought to justice. May this tragic loss make us even more dedicated and determined to building our respective countries, based on the values of dialogue, understanding, and peace.

And, as Shahed Amanullah of Generation Change posted on FaceBook:

“I am saddened by the death of Ambassador Stevens and his colleagues in Libya overnight. He (like many others I’ve met) cared deeply about serving his country as well as the people he reached out to. Take a look at this video to see what kind of a public servant he was. He was very supportive of our outreach efforts to young leaders in Libya and was preparing for a launch of our Generation Change program there next month. I last saw him at his swearing-in a few months ago - he was so excited to return to Libya (he helped the opposition during the transition) to help the country rebuild.  Video:  Introducing U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens

All of this anger, violence, sectarian hatred, and suffering was stirred up by a combination of extremist efforts.  Based on what has currently been reported, it seems that a group of extremist Christians produced and distributed a hateful film insulting Islam, Muslims, and the Prophet Muhammad to further their own agenda, and then made up a fictional Jewish person to blame for their actions.  Muslim religious extremists drew attention to the film to further their own agenda.  Extremist Christians promoted the film and held a “trial of Prophet Muhammad” event to gain publicity for themselves.  Egyptian political extremists used the film to stir up the masses to promote their political agenda.  The extremist political organization Al Qaeda used the film as an excuse for their attack on the Embassy, and as further “proof” of their propaganda effort to say that the U.S. is at war with all Muslims to gain support for their cause. 

The only figure that I know of in the Torah, the New Testament, or the Qur’an, who would be honored by the actions of any of these extremists is Satan.  

These religious and political extremists use religion as a cover to attempt to justify actions that can only be called evil.   They want to provoke a reaction, as it feeds into their narratives, or they believe they can use the suffering of others to aid their own political cause.   All of the extremists have more in common with each other than they do with the majority of decent people of their faith.  Their actions bring disgrace on other members of the faiths they claim, and they bring nothing but more hatred, chaos, and suffering to the rest of the world.

A Libyan site posted a series of images of ordinary citizens protesting the murder of Ambassador Stevens and his staff, and the attack on the Embassy.  Garibaldi of Loonwatch did the necessary work to make a number of these available in an article format.  I would like to know why it is that I can find no such images in the hundreds of articles from the mainstream media that I have skimmed?

Here are those images: