Contextualizing Rage: Islamophobia, Anti-Americanism, and everyone in between

This week I want to stress the importance of examining not only the internal logic and coherence of such presentations, but also the larger context in which they have been made. Understanding context is one reason why I pointed to Kaminski’s other publications which denigrate Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as “nefarious” and “pathological” and claim […]

This week I want to stress the importance of examining not only the internal logic and coherence of such presentations, but also the larger context in which they have been made. Understanding context is one reason why I pointed to Kaminski’s other publications which denigrate Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as “nefarious” and “pathological” and claim that Jews created “the psychological hammer of the Almighty God that they have used to assault the world ever since.”  Not only are his arguments largely incoherent, but they feed on and feed back into the small pool of self-important delusions shared by the community of online hate groups and conspiracy theorists—strange bed-fellows who plagiarize each other’s ideas but who if they met face to face would likely demonize each other for being of the wrong race or creed. Similarly if we are to learn from the controversy surrounding the anti-Islam video “Innocence of Muslims”—which I condemn as a despicable provocation—we must understand the background and context in which it was made, who made it, and how it was promoted.

Despite some initial confusion, the Associated Press has confirmed that the YouTube video was produced by fraudster Nakoula Basseley Nakoula who, according to the LA Times, had spent time in prison for manufacturing drugs, identity theft, and other financial crimes. According to ABC News he wrote the script for the video while in prison. Using one of his aliases Sam Bacile, he conned actors into appearing in what the original casting call said was a “historical desert drama set in the Middle East” named “Desert Warrior.” Actress Cindy Lee Garcia told Gawker that in the script she was given, “There wasn’t anything about Muhammed or Muslims or anything.” Indeed, Garcia claimed that the character later featured as “Muhammed” was called “Master George.”

The scenes were later edited, character names changed, and the actors voices dubbed over into a disjointed, nonsensical, and offensive video. The LA Times reports that it was premiered under the name Innocence of Bn Laden in a Los Angeles movie hall to fewer than ten people. A 13 minute trailer was then uploaded to YouTube with the name “Innocence of Muslims.” The YouTube video apparently received little attention, until, Washington Post reports, an anti-Islamic activist Morris Sadek forwarded a version subtitled in Arabic to Egyptian journalists. The Atlantic reports that after the video was played on Saudi funded Al Nas TV, violent protests broke out in Egypt.

Nakoula and his small band of accomplices, including the attention-seeking extremist pastor Terry Jones who burned the Qur’an in April of this year, use the video and the outrage it provoked to spread hatred. Ironically, like Kaminski, Nakoula apparently tried to cynically manipulate anti-Semitic sentiments to hide his own role. Initially he claimed the producer was Jewish and that the shoddily produced video had been sponsored by Israelis. The allegations were later discovered to be false. Nakoula is actually an Egyptian of Coptic Christian background, and ABC News writes that he admitted to the authorities that the money had come from his wife’s family. Although a handful of Christian extremists have promoted the video, the bishop of the Coptic Church in L.A. has condemned both the video and the violence and rejected any association with the filmmaker. So have America’s leaders. President Obama has said “We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.” Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has called the video “reprehensible and disgusting” and stated that “the United States Government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its content and message.”

Violent protests around the world resulted in the death of nine people in a suicide bomb on an airport bus in Afghanistan, four American diplomats in Libya, three people in Sudan, and attacks on a church in Niger, an American school in Tunisia, embassies representing America, Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands, and so on. Viewed contextually, the protests were not just about the video, which was deeply offensive, but also about larger structures of inequality, America’s military interventions in the region, and misperceptions that most Americans support blasphemy. The video became a symbol of what protesters see as the immorality of America and the wider Western world. Ironically, however, protests that justified violence against “others” duplicate anti-Islamic rhetoric that holds every Muslim responsible for the actions of their governments as well as the actions of a few violent Muslims. All internal diversity is lost.

Unfortunately, the media contributes to this tension by decontextualizing the protests and publicizing the extremes on both sides while paying little attention to the moderate voices of the majority. First, the Egyptian media gave a nasty propaganda piece publicity it never would have received had it remained in the backwaters of YouTube. In the name of protest, they helped  spread hate speech and incite violence. Second, the international media blew the violent reaction of protesters out of proportion, implying that all Muslims were in a murderous rage. Neither the cynical provocations of Christian extremists or the violence of the Muslim extremists were representative of the whole. Many Americans, while upset at the killing of the diplomats, condemned the video; likewise, many Muslims, while upset at the video, condemned the violence.

The sensationalistic coverage obscured more encouraging stories: In France, on 5 September, seventy Muslim and Jewish leaders from eighteen European countries came together to pledge “zero tolerance” for hate preachers. In Los Angeles, on 17 September, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Coptic Orthodox Church, Los Angeles Diocese, held a joint press conference, “collectively condemn[ing] desecration directed at any religion” and condemning “any attacks against religious communities.” Similarly, although Nigeria has previously erupted during such times of crisis, Muslim leaders called on youth not to protest, and the north has largely remained calm.

And while Muslim protestors were being portrayed in the media as largely violent, there were also Libyans who went out on the streets with signs that mourned the death of the American ambassador—signs both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton quoted during the ceremony welcoming back the bodies of the four diplomats.

Ironically, the same internet which enables extremists to post inciting hate speech, also became the platform to challenge the binary presentations of the mainstream media. When Newsweek magazine released a controversial issue with a feature written by anti-Islamic activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, asking people to respond on twitter with the hashtag #MuslimRage, thousands took to twitter to mock Newsweek’s sensationalism. For example, Sarah Carr wrote “The other day I rang my friend Mohamed up but he said, ‘I can’t talk now.  I’m raging’ and hung up violently #muslim rage.” Hijabi Girl wisecracked, “You lose your nephew at the airport but you can’t yell his name because it’s Jihad. #muslimrage.” Others joked about experiences unique to Muslims. Sadaf J wrote, “Insomnia. But fall asleep 10 minutes before fajr. #MuslimRage.” Dalia Mogahed wrote “When I wear a white hijab to a TV interview with a white backdrop. #floating head #MuslimRage.”

On Twitter, the voices of ordinary people drowned out the shrieks of extremists and sensationalists. Iranian-American author Reza Aslan tweeted “Memo to those few violent MidEast protesters, this is how you fight Islamophobia. You make fun of it. #MuslimRage.”

Here’s another suggestion from scripture on how to deal with hatred: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21)