How much worse can this unbelievable situation get? This picture of mobs wielding clubs and knives today in Khartoum looks terrifying.
There are demands that her 15 day jail sentence was too lenient and that she should be shot.
The great thing about British law is its emphasis on the word “intent”, and clearly Gillian Gibbons had no intention to be blasphemous by naming a teddy bear Mohammed at her pupil’s suggestion.
Yet this mob’s anger was dangerously being inflamed by a leading cleric stating she had deliberately named her class’s teddy bear Muhammad “with the intention of insulting Islam.” Clearly that word carries some importance over there too.
All this could have been avoided if someone at the school had stepped in and prevented the teddy being named Muhammad. They could have had a quiet word with Gillian and prevented an international catastrophe from taking place.
I imagine many people in the Sudan are opposed to the hysteric demands of the mob. This letter describes the changes that have taken place in the country under military dictatorship, described as “degeneration”.
As an alumnus of Unity high school in Khartoum, I am saddened by the shameful treatment of Gillian Gibbons (‘My name is Muhammad’ – school project leaves British teacher facing 40 lashes, November 27). Unity is the best school in the city, and has stayed true to its founding principles of academic scholarship and a deep respect for other cultures and religions – important in a country as divided as Sudan. This incident exemplifies the degeneration of the country into one in which tolerance and the pursuit of knowledge have no place, and where religious zealotry, corruption and greed are the only currency. Central to the charges against Gibbons are accusations of blasphemy on the grounds of idolatry. In the time of early Islam, the restrictions on religious idolatry were seen as a key part of the prophet’s crusade against the jahiliyya (forces of ignorance). With the coming to power of the military dictatorship, widely acknowledged to be a front for Islamic fundamentalists, Sudan entered its own jahiliyya, and the repercussions have been the detention, torture and harassment of its citizens, the prolongation of the war in the south, and the ethnic genocide in Darfur.
Dr Halima Izzeldin Ali Amer
London
The world gets creepier and creepier. But, I must ask, what on earth went through her head when she decided to use that name? Looney fanatics will choose any excuse, and why on earth didn’t she know that?
…All this could have been avoided if someone at the school had stepped in and prevented the teddy being named Muhammad. They could have had a quiet word with Gillian and prevented an international catastrophe from taking place…
That’s the British way, Ellee. I fear this thing has political and financial overtones. When you started about the mob, I couldn’t help but think there was a cleric behind it, whipping them into a frenzy. These are the truly evil face of Islam. They’re well known as such over here, even by moderate Muslims.
Kizzie the Sudanese blogger has something on it at Blogpower.
It shows just how dangerous certain Moslems can be; the mind of a fanatic will use any excuse.
Drop napalm and incinerate the entire crowd. Let “Mohammad” sort them out later.
I too was surprised that Ms. Gibbons was not more wary cautious about using the name of the Prophet. I don’t know that I’ve seen how long she was at the school, but I believe I read that she’d been there for some time. Frankly, she should have been wary of this before she unpacked her bags. Of course, how this caution about using the name of the Prophet squares with naming every other male child Muhammad is something I also do not understand.
But we in the West must stop making excuses. You wrote, “I imagine many people in the Sudan are opposed to the hysteric demands of the mob.”
Really? Who are they? Where are they located?
Granted, not all were for killing the poor old dear; some would have simply flogged her and others — apparently the moderate, educated elites, judging from the sentence handed down — would merely jail her for a short time and deport her.
We have to stop assuming that many others in distant lands share some or all of our values when each new fact argues against that conclusion. One of your linked stories says it was the school secretary who ratted Ms. Gibbons out to the police. So much for the quiet word in the staff room, don’t you think?
I agree that Islam need not be this way. I’ve read a lot in the last several years and I am entirely persuaded on this point. But I am also persuaded that, while an adherent of Islam need not be an intolerant fanatic in order to be faithful to his creed, the intolerant fanatics are entirely in control at the moment and show no signs of getting weaker.
As the young girl in Saudi Arabia recently found out. She was sentenced to 200 lashes for being alone with a male not her relative. The street justice administered by passers by who were of course entirely offended by this anti-Islamic offense (they gang raped her) got off with a comparative slap on the wrist.
Curmudgeon, I’ve seen Sudanese people interviewed on TV who said they regretted how this episode had escalated. I can’t believe all their people are so extreme.
How can rape by condoned? How I pity that girl in Saudi Arabia. No compassionate religion surely wants people to suffer that way.
Sorry this is belated and O/T, Ellee:
Hearty Congratulations to uber political blogger Ellee Seymour on passing her CIPR diploma.
h/t Tim
Hi, Ellee. My first reaction was “What’s the matter with the school?” because they should have had in-service training in place and teachers should have been regularly updated on what was acceptable and what was not. I do think the poor lady was naive, or underinformed. She must be terrified now. I can’t believe this mob came “straight from prayers” and see no irony in that.
This is a sad day for world relations and an endictment of our failure to challenge such a fundamentalist government, simply because it is in Africa.
I am a teacher and I am horrified by what has happened. Unfortunately it is just one more incident which is hardening my attitude, to the treatment of Muslims in the rest of the world. Many of the fundamentalists are ignorant and cannot read, therefore they listen to deranged clerics who twist and use the Koran in ways it was never intended to be used. The Taliban is one example . In the Koran it states that woman should be protected and cared for. Is this an example of that. In the UK we have Muslims who scream and shout every time they perceive a slight on Islam and we pander to them. I know it is not all Muslims, but I am afraid the Moderate ones need to stand up and be counted because only they can change this and regain some respect for their faith.
Rose H
Rose, I have just seen the news tonight and it is terrifying. Yes, it is the extremists that make the headlines. This is a terrible situation for so many reasons, it’s unfair for the moderate Muslims and for the starving who rely on our aid and financial support.
I guessed that Gillian would have to be moved from her prison after seeing the mob. I only wish the the Sudanese would immediately deport her back home. This has been a most shocking experience for a woman who simply went there with the best intentions.
All religions should show compassion.
Ellee
People show compassion, not religions.
We are at war. It is time to stop pissing about. Next time you are in Antonio’s let me know.
G’day Ellee,
As a journo, I’ve been following this case since it was first reported.
The mobs have lost sight of one salient fact –
Who chose the name? Not Gillian Gibbons. No, her students did.
I rest my case.
(From the Road in Tulsa): Elle: My British friend from Chesshire told me that England became wise when it let go of rule over certain countries. I wonder? However, last night on the otherwise dull “Glenn Beck Show” at the hotel, I saw Asman Abdulla–a Muslim speaking out against the radicals who live for death. The world is worsening and we better do something. A bit like a school yard bully who is emboldened only when victims back down. I say we better redouble our efforts and assert ourselves!
I think it is very frightening. The world is not a safe place.
I agree with Richard Dawkins. It is hard to respect a culture that is based on superstition.
I agree that this whole thing was about students choosing the name not Gillian. Also, as a spokesperson said on the news this morning, it’s not difficult to wind people up about offending The Prophet.
15 days in a Sudanese prison seems fair to me. But deportation to Liverpool ? Jeez – that’s a bit harsh !
I love to see all the bullshit excuses your commenters and yourself have given for this episode.
It was not HER fault, it was not the children’s fault, it was not the school’s fault; it is not the West’s fault.
It is the fault of the evil idiots who want to kill her for their religion.
Stop apologizing for the barbaric 7th century assholes and wake up to Islam as THEY see it.
Lord Nazh, I think this terrifying episode is opening our eyes up to Islam as THEY see it.
Ellee, where in the hell have you been the past 6 years or so?
Islam as THEY see it has been on the news since before 9/11 and many times since then. It has not changed, only your perception of it has.
Is the teddy bear name Mohamed, Muhamed or Moohamed ?
as the official name is Mohammed.
Here is the mis-understanding.
I am currently teaching a Muslim student in the army to drive. I said to him last Friday that the majority of Muslims in Britain must cringe when they hear what is being done and said in the name of their religion around the world, and indeed here in Britain. He agreed with me.
I think there is always a danger of painting a picture that all Muslims are the same – not that you have done that – and that they should always be suspected as potential suicide bombers. Unfortunately, for them, Islam attracts more than its fair share of nutters and they in turn brain-wash those who feel detached from society or think they have a grudge with the West. They prey on vulnerable, uneducated people and turn reasonable men and women in to monsters.