A majority of Muslims in Cairo, Libya, and 27 other Islamic countries have launched a series of riots disdaining a video, mocking the Prophet Mohammed. The YouTube video, which carries the right of freedom of speech, is acknowledged by the American government as the main cause of these riots. However, Islamic extremists have been accused for the numerous attacks on the United States Embassies.

The question stands on whether the attacks, specifically in Benghazi, killing a U.S. ambassador, were premeditated? The Libyan President and officials believe that these attacks, starting on the opportune, tragic day of 9/11, were intentional. Nonetheless, New York Times reporters have spoken to multiple protestors gathering reasoning for these riots. Zakaria Magdy, a 23-year-old printer, protests, “Everyone across all these countries has the same anger, they are rising up for the same reason and with the same demands, and still no action is taken against the people who made that film.” Meanwhile, a religious scholar stated, “Our prophet is more dear to us than our family and our nation.”

These motives suggest that Muslims are protesting due to the absence of action taken by the American Government, concerning the video. Other protestors justify their rioting by explaining that this video accounts for an accumulation of belittlement of Islamic faith by the U.S.A., including American troops in Afghanistan and a Floridian pastor who violated and besmirched the Koran. Mohamed Badie, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared that the “criminalizing of assaults on the sanctitiesof all heavenly religions…otherwise, such acts will continue to cause devout Muslims across the world to suspect and even loathe the West, especially the U.S.A., for allowing their citizens to violate the sanctity of what they hold dear and holy,” he continued, “Certainly, such attacks against sanctities do not fall under the freedom of opinion or thought.” The spiritual leader summarizes that if degradations of the Muslim faith, and all religions, continue to be permitted by the right of freedom of speech, the world will ultimately despise the United States of America.

Primary Source:

Kirkpatrick, David D. “Cultural Clash Fuels Muslims Raging at Film.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/world/middleeast/muslims-rage-over-film-fueled-by-culture-divide.html?pagewanted=2>.