“You can’t in the name of freedom of speech slander a faith of 1.8 billion people. We all have free speech and I respect that. It is something that we had been missing for decades in Muslim countries before the Arab Spring . Actually this movie was a test by the West for Muslims after the Arab spring.

Speaking to Alyunaniya, he said the  reason the Muslim Association of Greece hasn’t planned any demonstrations, is that “even though in a democracy we have every right to protest, we wanted to state our position in a civilized way, we don’t want to create tensions in a country that is also ours suffering from an economic crisis. We respect the hard times Greece is going through.”

It is worth noting that during the press conference eminent figures like known theologians and sociologists stated their positions while a message of the Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Education Giorgos Kalatzis was read.

In his message, Kalatzis stated that even though he was aware of the movie released he is not amongst the people who even bothered to watch it as it was simply an act of provocation aimed at dehumanizing a belief.”

He added, “Muslims and Christians in Greece have been living harmoniously together  in Greece and nobody had the right to insult their religion. We strongly condemn that.”

While the press conference was organized for the purpose of the anti-Islamic film in response to questions concerning problems Muslims in Greece face, Greek-Egyptian El-Ghandour said that Muslims in Greece feel as “second class citizens” then they have no places for worship and no place to bury their dead. “Greek Muslims have no other option but to use basement apartments, garages and warehouses for worshipping,” he said.

As for the phenomenon of the increasing racist attacks, he said that it’s not only the Muslims being attacked but also the Christians from Egypt.”

In a comment already stated a few months ago on Alyunaniya, El-Ghandour called the Greek PM a racist who said should be especially sensitive to the issue since he comes from a family of Greek migrants who once lived in Egypt.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has adopted a tough line against illegal immigration during his pre-electoral campaign referring to migrants as “the conquerors of Greek society”.

The Greek Parliament has approved a controversial plan to build a taxpayer-funded mosque in Athens, the only capital in the European Union without a state-funded mosque. The plan which has been stalled calls for renovating an existing state building  on a disused navy base in the industrial district of Votanikos near the center of Athens.

The report of the death of the ambassador and staff members follows the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, over a film by a U.S.- Jewish producer that ridicules and insults the Prophet Muhammad.

“I condemn these barbaric acts in the strongest possible terms. This is an attack on America, Libya and free people everywhere,”  Deputy Prime Minister of Libya Mustafa Abushagur said in a post on his Twitter.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton confirmed and condemned the deaths of the American personnel in Benghazi.

“The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind, ” she said in a statement.

According to Alyunaniya correspondent in Libya Rajab Benghuzzi: “Most Libyans here are against the attack at the US consulate which they believe was an act of provocation to create chaos in a time where Libya is struggling to overcome the turmoil following the ouster of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Hours before the attack at the U.S consulate in Benghazi hundreds of mainly protesters in Egypt marched to the U.S. Embassy in downtown Cairo, scaling its walls, and taking down the American flag from a pole in the courtyard.

The U.S. Embassy said on its Twitter account that there will be no visa services on Wednesday because of the protests. The U.S. Embassy in Libya also announced that the Consular Section will reopen on Monday, August 27.

According to Wall Street Journal The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” was directed and produced by an Israeli-American developer who characterized it as a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam. It has been promoted by Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose burning of Qurans previously sparked deadly riots worldwide.

A 13-minute trailer of the movie that sparked the protests, posted on the website YouTube in an original English version and another dubbed into Arabic, depicts Muhammad in an overtly ridiculing way, showing him having sex and calling for massacres.

Sam Bacile, an American citizen who said he produced, directed and wrote the two-hour film, said he had not anticipated such a furious reaction.  According to  AP Bacile said he is Jewish and familiar with the region. Bacile said the film was produced in English and he doesn’t know who dubbed it in Arabic.

The two-hour movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” cost $5 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors, said Bacile, who wrote and directed it, according to the Denver Post. Though Bacile was apologetic about the American who was killed as a result of the outrage over his film, he blamed lax embassy security.

Tuesday’s protests came on the eleventh anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when U.S. cities were targeted by hijacked planes for the incident.