British teacher faces lashes in Sudan after class teddy bear is named 'Muhammad'

[Lov3ll]

British teacher faces lashes in Sudan after class teddy bear is named 'Muhammad'
From Times Online
November 26, 2007

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00245/school185_245751a.jpg
Unity High School, where Ms Gibbons teaches

Rob Crilly of The Times in Khartoum
A British primary school teacher arrested in Sudan faces up to 40 lashes for blasphemy after letting her class of 7-year-olds name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was arrested at her lodgings at Khartoum's Unity High School yesterday, accused of insulting the Prophet of Islam.

Her colleagues said that they feared for her safety after reports that groups of young men had gathered outside the Khartoum police station where she was taken and were shouting death threats.
The Unity school is a Christian-run but multi-racial and co-educational private school that is popular with Sudanese professionals and expatriate workers.
Bishop Ezekiel Kondo, chairman of the school council, told The Times that the school was in dispute with authorities over taxes, and suggested that Ms Gibbons, who arrived in Khartoum in August, may have been caught up in that.
"The thing may be very simple but there are people who are trying to make it bigger. It's a knd of blackmail," he said.
Teachers at the school, in central Khartoum only a mile from the River Nile, said that Ms Gibbons had made an innocent mistake by letting her pupils choose their favourite name for the toy as part of a school project.
Robert Boulos, the Unity director, said that Mrs Gibbons was following a British National Curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and their habitats. This year’s animal was the bear.
In September, she asked a girl to bring in her teddy bear to help the Year 2 class to focus and then asked the class to name the toy.

“They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad. Then she explained what it meant to vote and asked them to choose the name,” Mr Boulos said.
Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad. Each child was allowed to take the bear home at weekends and asked to write a diary about what they did with the toy. Each entry was collected in a book with a picture of the bear on the cover, next to the message "My name is Muhammad".
Mr Boulos said that the bear itself was not marked or labelled with the name in any way, he added, saying Sudanese police had now seized the book and had asked to interview the 7-year-old girl.
He said that he had decided to close down the school until January for fear of reprisals in Sudan’s predominantly Muslim capital.
“This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety,” he said. “This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam.”
The British Embassy in Khartoum said that it was still unclear whether Mrs Gibbons had been charged formally. “We are following it up with the authorities and trying to meet her in person,” it said.
Under Sudan's Sharia law blasphemy could attract a large fine, 40 lashes or a jail term of up to six months.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2947734.ece

:|

[Johnny_H02]

Goddammit this **** never ceases to piss me off, It must be a very scary time for her.I wish her all the best of luck.

[little icebear]

It might be contraproductive, but somehow I feel the urge to buy a pig and name it Muhammad.

[vinny_121_ND]

interesting. the police can arrest this teacher for a simple mistake, but completely forget about the genocide going on.

[Johnny_H02]

We need to bring Kitchener back from Carbon Freeze, and mount another military expedition to the Sudan to teach "Fuzzy Wuzzy" whats what.

Disclaimer: This was not a serious post or intended as my actual opinion.

[muck]

It might be contraproductive, but somehow I feel the urge to buy a pig and name it Muhammad.
Count me in.
I was always told Islam would be the religion of peace. These lunatics must learn to separate between unintentional actions and intentional insults, and quickly abolish their draconian penalty system for being accepted as such.

[Kaapeli]

It's their country and they have the right to manage it like idiots.
Don't like it? Don't travel. I certainly wouldn't...

[FelixA9]

As the saying goes, "no good deed goes unpunished". :cantbeli:

[Johnny_H02]

Yeah damn those "Idealists" someone who would go to the Sudan and teach children .... building that new generation that might break the mold and enter the modern world with fresh minds who want change.

Damn those people to 40 lashes.
It almost seems like I'm attacking your post (Kaapeli) but please do not take it that way, because I sure as hell wouldn't go to the Sudan there isn't a price you could pay me to do so.You'd think the Sudanese would remember what happens when they mess with Great Britain, guess not.

[khukuri]

It might be contra productive, but somehow I feel the urge to buy a pig and name it Muhammad.


Count me in.
I was always told Islam would be the religion of peace. These lunatics must learn to separate between unintentional actions and intentional insults, and quickly abolish their draconian penalty system for being accepted as such.

Good, respond to ignorance with ignorance.

I think what happened is stupid, but just as I think that muslims in europe need to adapt and realize they cant act like they are in their home countries I expect foreigners in sudan to adapt to their culture.

[pgm]

It might be contraproductive, but somehow I feel the urge to buy a pig and name it Muhammad.

Buy one more for me, please.

[pgm]

interesting. the police can arrest this teacher for a simple mistake, but completely forget about the genocide going on.

Genocide? What genocide? Islam is a religion of peace.

[gaijinsamurai]

A good reason for Westerners to stay out of Sudan.

Don't get me wrong-her choice to work there doesn't mean she deserves what she's getting. But, there's no way I'd choose to work in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, or any other country which treats people, especially non-Muslims, like dirt.

[AZRON]

Has anybody noticed it's a female ?
Islam and females seems to be on a constant collision course.
Whipping them seems to be a cultural sport.

[Malleus]

I thought Muhammad was a common surname among muslims? Oh, I get it, if someone uses it in an improper context, it was 100% surely meant as blasphemy against the prophet himself! Geez, some people...:-(

[Eokboy]

Has anybody noticed it's a female ?
Islam and females seems to be on a constant collision course.
Whipping them seems to be a cultural sport.
It is very important that women know their place in society. My sister just got 10. A relatively light sentence but that'll teach her not to step into the living room when shes not supposed to.

[Lazy Lob]

I think what happened is stupid, but just as I think that muslims in europe need to adapt and realize they cant act like they are in their home countries I expect foreigners in sudan to adapt to their culture.

You have always had circular logic about most of your posts even though I have rarely agreed with them. But trying to justify whipping some one using such an equivalence is absurd.


On a by the by. Chuckled at the reporter’s surname. Religious matters by “Father” Crilly.

[RJMC]

what happens if someone have a ID that have "name: muhamad" next to the picture on it?

[pgm]

Has anybody noticed it's a female ?
Islam and females seems to be on a constant collision course.
Whipping them seems to be a cultural sport.

Could Islam be a form of sadomasochism? I mean: kamikazes, fasting, infibulation, lapidation...

[vinny_121_ND]

She didn't know. She asked her kids what This is like back 1000 years ago when people boiled, burned, and tortured witches.

The class voted that they wanted to name the bear mohammad. She didn't name it. The logic should be, the entire class should be whipped. (Of course,that's so sick. Where are human rights activists now??)

[Mofreaka]

"Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad."

So it's obviously the teachers fault. She was most definitely trying to imply that the teddy bear was the Muslim prophet, and not just an ordinary bear named Muhammad, like the thousands of other ordinary people who share that name. /sarcasm

[Dling]

It might be contraproductive, but somehow I feel the urge to buy a pig and name it Muhammad.

slaughter it and turn it into bacon. I'll bring the eggs and someone else can bring the english muffins.

[artistoli]

Buy one more for me, please.

And another for me :)

You know maybe if the authorities in places like Sudan paid as much attention to the development of their nation and their citizen's welfare as they do to enforcing barbaric, draconian medieval style laws (and yest I can say that - after all no one reasonably expects us to respect the Nazi's just because 'it was their culture' - so I'm not about to respect a culture that is quite clearly inhuman just because it's happening in someone else's country) then there wouldn't be such a need for foreign teachers etc.

When will the world grow out of religion?

[khukuri]

You have always had circular logic about most of your posts even though I have rarely agreed with them. But trying to justify whipping some one using such an equivalence is absurd.


On a by the by. Chuckled at the reporter’s surname. Religious matters by “Father” Crilly.

No no no no don't even try that, I stated very clearly that I thought it was stupid to whip someone for something like that. What I suggested is for the teacher to know the region and the culture she is visiting. Not that its was ok for her being whipped. I fI travel to thailand I dont step on their coins with their king on it, etc

Other than that I dont know what a circular logic is ?? :oops:


- after all no one reasonably expects us to respect the Nazi's just because 'it was their culture' - so I'm not about to respect a culture that is quite clearly inhuman just because it's happening in someone else's country)

So what is that you're not ready to respect, the whipping of a person or the naming objects after their profet.


See most people here cant make a difference between two simple things.

First there was a naming of an object after the prophet Muhammad
Second the is the response from the Sudanese to whip someone for it, clearly a barbaric act.

Instead of reacting against whipping people for stupid things, which is the problem in this case people are reacting about the issue of depicting or naming issues after Muhammed.

No logical conclusion

See the problem isn't that Muslims consider that naming an object after Muhammed is an issue, but their response to it.

But Instead many decide to respond with ignorance like naming a pig after the prophet, a kindergarten level response.

[artistoli]

So what is that you're not ready to respect, the whipping of a person or the naming objects after their profet.


See most people here cant make a difference between two simple things.

First there was a naming of an object after the prophet Muhammad
Second the is the response from the Sudanese to whip someone for it, clearly a barbaric act.

Instead of reacting against whipping people for stupid things, which is the problem in this case people are reacting about the issue of depicting or naming issues after Muhammed.

No logical conclusion

See the problem isn't that Muslims consider that naming an object after Muhammed is an issue, but their response to it.

But Instead many decide to respond with ignorance like naming a pig after the prophet, a kindergarten level response.

I'm really not sure what logic you are using there; there are not two issues or points here at all; just the one. It is that a strictly Islamic authority deems it ok to react to what it deems a religious insult in such a way. Simple.

Don't try and moralise or justify things here by splitting hairs. Are you looking for people to say that she was 'wrong' to let the bear be named - somehow lessening the absurdity of her punishment? Lets not loose sight of the actual issue. Sometimes things are just plain wrong and stupid and this is one of those times.

If anything is 'kindergarten level' it is the way some people seem to think that this can even be a remotely acceptable response to naming a bear after a prophet.

[khukuri]

Don't try and moralise or justify things here by splitting hairs. Are you looking for people to say that she was 'wrong' to let the bear be named - somehow lessening the absurdity of her punishment? Lets not loose sight of the actual issue. Sometimes things are just plain wrong and stupid and this is one of those times.

Who have tried to do that, your not even reading my posts. My reaction was towards members who thought a great response was to name a pig after the prophet Muhammed. Showing another kind of ignorance. Whats plain wrong and stupid in this issue is whipping some one for having a different view, not that muslims think that you shouldnt name an object after a prophet. Instead the respons here is #yay lets name pigs after their profit and insult all of them#.

Seems people cant separate simple things.



I dont think anyone in this thread have stated that unless youre trying to make things up. I think my statements are very clear. Sense my first post I condemned the whipping, your trying to imply that I think what happened was Ok which is far from the truth.

[Beowulf]

wait......girls in school?

[LRPV]

wait......girls in school?

Relax, it was wife-skills tuition...p-)

[clean]

You can't go into someone else's country unaware. The use of the name Mohammed, the image of him, the mere utterance of him, is a very delicate situation. Even teaching the kids to vote on a name is something that can bring reprisals from the strictest of believers. The entire situation, from where I sit, is insane, backwards, and idiotic. From where she was sitting, it is real and dangerous.
When in Rome...
Hope she gets home okay.

[AZRON]

If this woman screwed up , which seems to be true run her out of the country immediately if not sooner.

This is a great banner for all those who demand multi-culturalism to be the norm in western countries. Wake up !

[Dr_ColoSSus]

Yeah, the Sudan has a bright future ahead of it....

Law and religion do not belong together, and in this case, the authorities interpretaion of the law is especially idiotic.

[Chulo]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23423342-details/Teddy+bear+teacher+appears+in+court+as+Islamic+fanatics+demand+execution/article.do


Teddy bear teacher appears in court as Islamic fanatics demand execution[quote]

.......Reports have suggested she could learn her fate by 5pm today.
Before the hearing began the public and press were cleared from the court room but only moments later the case was adjourned for two hours.
The prosecutor-general said Mrs Gibbons, whose case has drawn international condemnation, can expect a swift and fair trial under Sudanese law.
Mrs Gibbons faces 40 lashes and a year in jail after after being charged with insulting Islam. Reports today suggested the complaint against her had been made by a secretary at the school.
She was charged after behind-the-scenes political moves to avoid a court case collapsed amid growing Islamic anger in the east African country.
A Sudanese official said it was "unlikely" that Mrs Gibbons would be convicted.
A powerful Sudanese newspaper urged authorities to call a hardline Islamist leader linked to Osama bin Laden to give evidence at her trial, to stress how offensive the case was to Muslims.
Extreme Islamic groups said Mrs Gibbons "must die" and urged Muslims to hold street protests after prayers tomorrow.
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was "appalled" at the decision by Sudan.
Legal sources in Khartoum said it is possible the case could be dealt with in a single hearing....

[MoFo]

The prosecutor-general said Mrs Gibbons, whose case has drawn international condemnation, can expect a swift and fair trial under Sudanese lawWhat a crock of ****, whats fair about dragging this poor lady through hell for something so pathetic.

[Sixpints]

Wait a minute; Since when can sharia laws be applied on non muslims?

[California Joe]

I'm afraid that this thread is an excercise in hostility. Yes, it's awful and barbaric to Westerners, yes there should probably be a Powerpoint presentation given to people going to that part of the world entitled "What not to do to piss off the locals". But sitting in here making retarded, borderline racist statements ain't going to change anything.