On 18 September 2012, the Egyptian government issued arrest warrants for Terry Jones, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, and six others associated with the amateur youtube video, the "Innocence of Muslims." The warrant alleges that they are wanted for the crimes of: "Harming national unity," "Insulting and publicly attacking Islam," and "spreading false information."
Aside from Terry Jones, the remaining individuals targeted in the warrant are Egyptian Coptic Christians, who fled the religious persecution of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood has taken over the reins of government in Egypt, after Obama ordered longtime US ally, Hosni Mubarrak to resign. It is currently in the process of writing a new constitution for the country, which is expected to make it a crime to speak against Islam.
The video in question opens with scenes of the oppression Egyptian Coptics have experienced in Egypt where a Coptic daughter asks her father why they are being persecuted. The father tells the daughter, she'll have to come to her own conclusions as to why fellow Egyptians would commit such violence. It then portrays scenes described in the Koran, including allusions to the marriage of Muhammed to his supporter's post-toddler daughter, and overt calls of Mohammed to violence.
Lost in the violent aftermath, and to the public debate, is the irony that Islamists are acting out the very violence that the video producer was highlighting.
The Egyptian video producer, who lives in California, faces the possibility of a violent death over his production. Theo van Gogh, the great-grandson of the famous artist, was brutally stabbed to death in the streets of Europe for a film which Islamists considered blasphemous. A 14 year old mentally challenged Pakistani girl faced the death penalty for buring pieces of paper, on which verses of the Koran were allegedly written.
Meanwhile, today, a left-wing French magazine is publishing cartoons depicting Mohammed naked, along with other cartoons of the 7th Century Arab conquerer. And the French government is closing its Embassies in 20 Islamic countries to counter the threat.
The Obama Administration has made no statements concerning extradition or protection of the Americans wanted in Egypt, but the video producer has previously been brought in for questioning.
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