2012’s annual Eid event in the U.S. honored three young Muslim-Americans who belong to the State Department's “Generation Change” program, according to a media dispatch. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton launched the initiative two years ago.

She gave a speech on Thursday about religion, to honor the event. She said, among other things, that the Benghazi attack was committed by a "small and savage group," and that the United States will continue to ignore the "inflammable and despicable" anti-Islamic film, “The Innocence of Muslims."  But she indicated that there is never a justification for such vitriol:

"When Christians are subject to insults to their faith, and that certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. When Hindus or Buddhists are subjected to insults to their faiths, and that also certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence…The same goes for all faiths, including Islam." she was quoted saying.

"I so strongly believe that the great religions of the world are stronger than any insults. They have withstood offense for centuries…Refraining from violence, then, is not a sign of weakness in one's faith; it is absolutely the opposite, a sign that one's faith is unshakable…” she said.

“We can pledge that whenever one person speaks out in ignorance and bigotry, ten voices will answer…They will answer resoundingly against the offense and the insult; answering ignorance with enlightenment; answering hatred with understanding; answering darkness with light… In times like these, it can be easy to despair that some differences are irreconcilable, some mountains too steep to climb; we will therefore never reach the level of understanding and peacefulness that we seek, and which I believe the great religions of the world call us to pursue…” she continued.

"But that's not what I believe, and I don't think it's what you believe… Part of what makes our country so special is we keep trying. We keep working. We keep investing in our future…”