Was anti-Muslim film a trumped up justification for violence?

Because the California filmmaker, identified as Sam Bacile, claims a connection to Israel and funding from Jewish backers, the Jewish state and its supporters felt compelled to comment too.

Numerous questions have been raised about the actual authorship of the film, Innocence of Muslims.

"Anything [Bacile] did - he is not doing it for Israel, or with Israel, or through Israel in any way," an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman in Israel told reporters.

Yaron Sideman, the newly arrived consul-general of Israel in Philadelphia, said his country "shares the grief of the American people" in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three embassy personnel.

"The fact that these attacks took place exactly 11 years from the 9/11 attacks indicates that this is a long and difficult battle against terrorists who believe in sowing death and destruction," Sideman said.

Philadelphia civic leader Sam Katz, himself a sometime filmmaker, and strong supporter of Israel, said extremists never lack for provocation.

"When Salman Rushdie wrote Satanic Verses, the fundamentalist Arab world marked him for assassination. The cartoon that appeared in Denmark depicting Muhammad in some offensive way, that caused such a ruckus" and deadly protests. "These are basically trumped-up justifications for the violence," he said. "It's not about a book, a film, or a cartoon. It's about Western culture."

Contact Michael Matza

at 215-854-2541 or mmatza@phillynews.com