What next after Benghazi murders? Chris Doyle comment in the Evening Standard

Published in the Evening Standard, Thursday 13 September

As Syria descends into an ever bloodier civil war and warmongers try to lure the US into flattening Iran, the last thing the region needed was another Danish cartoons-style saga. Vicious idiotic Islamophobes produced a crude film whose sole purpose was clearly to insult Muslims as much as possible. Extremists took the bait, in the process making the otherwise unwatchable film notorious, and committed inexcusable acts of violence.

Events will now escalate. Muslim leaders worldwide will join in a chorus of outrage and demand action against the filmmakers. Yet where was the outrage when mosques were bombed in Iraq and now Syria or when ostensibly Muslim regimes committed atrocious human rights abuses? Where is the debate about the more mainstream Islamophobic discourse in much of the West?

These extremists must not distract the international community from the serious issues not least resolving the crisis in Syria and reconstruction and reconciliation in Libya.  The media should highlight the undeniable fact that most people abhor the despicable film, and nearly all Muslims are saddened and shocked by the killings in Benghazi. 

Chris Doyle
Director

Caabu