Eric Allen Bell originally wrote for the liberal Daily Kos and worked with leftist documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. But he had a change of heart when researching a film he was making to counter "Islamophobia." Now Bell is living in an undisclosed location after he was falsely identified as one of the filmmakers behind the "Innocence of the Muslims" movie.
Bell spoke to Josh Hasten, host of Israel National Radio's Reality Bytes podcast, on the phone from the confines of a safe house. To listen to the full interview click here.
"I was making a documentary to expose Islamophobia in America," said Bell. He specifically wanted to discredit the opposition to a mega-mosque being build in a small town in suburban America.
"Along the way I learned quite a bit about Islam," Bell stated. "I ended up writing about some of my revelations and was banned from the Daily Kos for Islamophobia." Bell says he is now committed to raising awareness about the threat of radical beliefs.
Bell was referenced as having ties to the "Innocence of the Muslims" video which supposedly led to deadly riots in Muslim countries.
"Four Pakistani newspapers have accused me of being the filmmaker and called for my death," Bell stated. "I have been moved to a number of safe houses. I cannot go outside and I have been advised not to stand near windows."
An op-ed in Pakistan Daily Times from October 1st refers to "Eric Allen Bell (the director of the film), [and] Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (the producer)." However Bell had nothing to do with the movie.
Although Bell says he is dedicated to warning about the threat of radical beliefs, he does not blame all those born into the faith. "Not all Muslims are terrorists," he commented, stating that he believes most Muslims don't go deeply into extremist teachings. Nevertheless, he says, those that blow up buses, fly airplanes into buildings and assassinate journalists are out to spread their "ideals" throughout the world.
"It's a political ideology with religious overtones," he stated, adding that things like the "Innocence of the Muslims" and cartoons of Muhammed are just excuses. "They don't hate Jews because of Israel, they hate Israel because of Jews. They will always come up with some political grievance as a cover story," Bell stated.
Bell says his goals today are to inform the public. He believes that some people, in order not to appear bigoted, have swept incidents under the rug. "There are a lot of the statistics that we don't have access to. When there is an honor killing, they call it domestic violence. When there is an act of jihad, they call it work-place violence."
Bell continued, "information is the enemy of brutality. Historically there have been bad ideas that lasted a long time and then suddenly vanished when a critical mass of public opinion was reached."
To hear more of Eric Allen Bell's story, including the reactions of his friends and colleagues, listen to the full interview by clicking here.
Arutz Sheva staff writer Ben Bresky contributed to this report.
The Reality Bytes podcast is hosted by public relations expert Josh Hasten. It airs live every Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 am - 12:00 noon Israel time on Arutz Sheva - Israel National Radio. For mp3 archives click here. To donate click here: http://donateINR.com.