Protestors climb US Embassy walls in Cairo

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

This is just an FYI for those that have business with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and may find some interuptions or delays with their process due to what happened today.

Egyptian protesters, largely ultraconservative Islamists, climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, made their way into the courtyard and brought down the flag, replacing it with a black flag with an Islamic inscription to protest a film attacking Islam's prophet, Muhammad.

Hundreds of protesters marched to the embassy in downtown Cairo, gathering outside its walls and chanting against the movie, which was reportedly produced in the United States.

"Say it, don't fear: Their ambassador must leave," the crowd chanted.

Dozens of protesters then scaled the embassy walls, took down the flag from a pole in the courtyard and brought it back to the crowd outside. The crowd tried to burn it, but failing that, tore it apart. The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with the Muslim declaration of faith on it, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet." The flag, similar to the banner used by al-Qaida, is commonly used by ultraconservatives around the region.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was working with Egyptian authorities to try to restore order.

Almost all the staff had left before the embassy was breached, a U.S. official said. Only a few staff members were still inside, as embassy security had sent most staff home early after learning of the upcoming protest. The situation is still fluid, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

An official in the embassy in Cairo said the ambassador was out of town.

Egyptian media say the movie was recently produced in the United States by an anti-Muslim group. The film, clips of which are available on the social website YouTube, depicts Muhammad as a fraud, showing him having sex and calling for massacres. Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any fashion, much less in an insulting way.

The protests came after some Egyptian media have been reporting on the film for several days, with ultraconservative clerics going on air to denounce it.

This is a link to another version of the story other than AP's. CNN version

I do not have information at this time how this will affect operations at the Embassy in regards to visas but we've seen delays before due to protests during the revolution. The Embassy was aware of protests that were going to happen but this is the only message posted on the Embassy's website as a caution about the protests. It may be updated later with more information. Link

Edited September 11, 2012 by Dr. A ♥ O

[lolo5 1]

Great !!exactly what we need

sighzzzzzzzzzzz :angry: :angry:

[No-Where-Man 147]

Seriously, once I read the news I went mad...I do not know what the heck they think about when they do that

Great !!exactly what we need

sighzzzzzzzzzzz :angry: :angry:

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Al Ahram and a few other news sources on the ground there are reporting that the film that provoked the Salafist protest is being produced by US-based Coptic-Christian Egyptians. Link

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Here is recent video of the protest still going on after night fall. It looks like a lot of people. The army has been called in to help control the situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFIymQkiDO0

Edited September 11, 2012 by Dr. A ♥ O

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

This link has more about the story and other Embassy's affected in the area such as the British and Italian Embassy. It also has some really good pictures of how many people were on the wall. Link

[NY_BX 397]

Seriously, once I read the news I went mad...I do not know what the heck they think about when they do that

I still don't understand why they targeted the US Embassy, really? You don't like a film, boycott it. Tell people don't watch it. SMH....

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

We've seen this before. Muslims rioted and burned Embassies when a Dutch cartoonists published what they deemed offensive material.

It took a little digging but I found the movie on Youtube that is so offensive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sQPRtS2h7k&feature=player_embedded#!

The movie is called Mohammed Nabi al-Muslimin, or Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims.

Here is the background story on how tensions built up. Link

Edited September 11, 2012 by Dr. A ♥ O

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

The Global Post connects the infamous Koran burning pastor, Terry Jones, as a co-producer of the film with the US-based Coptic-Christian Egyptian group.

GlobalPost correspondent Erin Cunningham, who is in Cairo, said that the film is "Mohammed Nabi al-Muslimin," which translates to "Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims." The film is said to have been produced by "infamous Quran-burning preacher" Terry Jones, in the words of Foreign Policy, "in collaboration with a group of Egyptian Copts."

Link

One would think that after the killing of UN soldiers and the spur of the Afghan riots and protests due to the provoking of his very public Koran burning he might not go for the ultimate offense to some religious groups of producing such material as this.

[Ihavequestions 419]

I still don't understand why they targeted the US Embassy, really? You don't like a film, boycott it. Tell people don't watch it. SMH....

Movie production requires government approval in Egypt.

These folks either don't know or don't understand it doesn't work the same way in the US, so they believe the government approved of the production, thus the reason the Embassy has been targeted.

Lots of videos here:

http://www1.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=782992&SecID=12

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Movie production requires government approval in Egypt.

These folks either don't know or don't understand it doesn't work the same way in the US, so they believe the government approved of the production, thus the reason the Embassy has been targeted.

Lots of videos here:

http://www1.youm7.co...782992&SecID=12

Wow that's a great link with lots of videos. Thanks! I'm only the second one now but I'm going to try to watch all of them.

In response to NY_BX we also have to keep in mind that Egypt is a newly formed democracy. From my political science classes newly formed democracy's are unstable for about the first 10-15 years and sometimes longer.

We can't expect them to have adopted the ideas of a mature democracy that has been in development for 236 years just like we can't expect a newly licensed driver on the road to have the experience and skill level of someone who has been driving for 30 years.

Edited September 11, 2012 by Dr. A ♥ O

[hawkeyez 45]

If I posted my thoughts about Muslims here the moderators would ban me. They are dhimmis.

[RFQ 110]

Such a shame-- the protestors have no right to claim lack of government maturity for their actions. Ignorance... Ignorance of the manners of conduction oneself that the religion of Islam calls for, and ignorance of the lack of involvement of the US government perhaps.

Sad...

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

For now the Egyptian protest was relatively peaceful. Even in the videos Ihavequestions linked you can see them calling for calm and not to get out of control. They didn't do the kind of damange that was done in Libya.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Ok I see now. The American media has updated some of the articles I've link. Though Egyptian media for several days has been citing Terry Jones as the creator here is latest.

Update: * - This sentence originally credited Terry Jones with producing the film, as some Egyptian media had suggested. In fact, as the Wall Street Journal now reports, Jones is playing a promotional role, but the film was in fact directed and produced by "an Israeli-American California real-estate developer who called it a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam." Separately, members of a Libyan Islamist extremist group called Ansar al-Sharia attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, over the film, firing at the building with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Link