Teacher held for teddy bear 'blasphemy'

[Flintlock]

Teacher held for teddy bear 'blasphemy'
By Terri Judd
Published: 27 November 2007

A British primary school teacher in Sudan is facing 40 lashes and up to a year in jail for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear after the Prophet Mohamed. Gillian Gibbons has been imprisoned under strict blasphemy laws for showing "contempt and disrespect against the believers".

Colleagues of Ms Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, claim she made an "innocent mistake" by allowing her class of seven year-olds to choose the name. But she was accused of insulting Islam's holiest prophet and arrested. Her actions have sparked protests in Sudan and forced the school to close until January for fear of reprisals.

Ms Gibbons' friends and colleagues said any suggestion that she would have intentionally caused offence was ridiculous.

She is being held at a police station in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. She was said to be in good health but shaken when British embassy officials visited her yesterday. The Foreign Office said she had not been charged but detained on suspicion of the crime.

Ms Gibbons had been working at Unity High School, which is popular with wealthy Sudanese and expatriates, since August after leaving her position as deputy head at Dovecot Primary School in Liverpool.

She was taken from her home in the school grounds on Sunday after several parents complained to the Education Ministry.

The school's director, Robert Boulos, said it was such a sensitive issue that he had decided to close the school until January for fear of reprisals in Sudan's predominantly Muslim capital. "We are very worried about her safety," he added. "This was a completely innocent mistake. Ms Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

The teacher was following a British national curriculum course designed to teach her Year 2 pupils about animals and their habitats. In September, she asked a girl to bring her teddy bear into class so that the children could name the stuffed toy.

Eight names were suggested so, in an attempt to teach the pupils about voting, she held a ballot. Twenty of 23 children chose the name Mohamed. Each child was then 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 which bore a picture of the bear and the words "My name is Mohamed". Police have confiscated the diary and plan to interview the girl who owned the bear.

The state-controlled Sudanese Media Centre said Ms Gibbons was arrested "under article 125 of the criminal law", on suspicion of insulting faith and religion.

Mr Boulos said the first he knew about the course was last week when he received a phone call from the Education Ministry to say that some Muslim parents had made formal complaints.

One teacher said: "I had no problem with it at all. I know Gillian and she would never have meant it as an insult. I was just impressed she got them to vote." Another source said it was believed that a teacher with a grudge against Ms Gibbons brought the case to a head.

The teacher's friends said she decided to take up the challenge of working in east Africa after separating from her husband of 20 years. She planned to spend two years in Sudan and was finding the work rewarding.

Unity, founded in 1902, is an independent school for Christian and Muslim children aged four to 18 and is governed by a board representing major Christian denominations in Sudan. It prides itself on providing a British-style education to students, whatever their gender, nationality, religion or ethnic origin, "whilst encouraging mutual respect". Ms Gibbons is one of several Western teachers who work there.

She has two children Jessica, 27 – also a teacher – and John, 25, and used to live in Aigburth, Liverpool. Her former neighbour Peter Sorensen, 64, described her as a normal working mother who was a wonderful neighbour and "would not hurt a fly".

"We are very worried about the kind of conditions she is subjected to. Being held in police cell in Khartoum must be an horrendous experience," he added.

Teacher held for teddy bear 'blasphemy' - Independent Online Edition > Africa

 

[Flintlock]

Protests against “Muhammed teddy bear” teacher break out, execution called for
"No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."


Khartoum, Nov 30, 2007 / 07:13 pm (CNA).- "Shame, shame on the U.K.," thousands of armed Sudanese protestors shouted, as they spilled out of their mosques after their Friday services to rail against Gillian Gibbons, a teacher from Britian that they claim insulted Muhammad.

The Associate Press reports that the disgruntled demonstrators gathered in central Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed. Efforts were not made to stop the rally, which lasted about an hour, even though the government promised on Thursday that they would prevent the promised protests.

Shouts calling for Gibbons' execution, could be heard from the crowd: "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."

One Muslim cleric from the Martyrs Mosque denounced Gibbons during his sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however.

"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hard-liner, told his congregation.

"This an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad," he said, according to the AP.

The outcry comes one day after Ms. Gibbon’s trial, which ended yesterday with her being “convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammed." Gibbon’s was sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation, but did not receive the heavier punishment of 40 lashes and 6 months in prison.

“In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women's prison near Khartoum to a secret location to protect her safety for the nine days remaining in her sentence,” her lawyer told the AP.

Several hundred protesters, not visibly carrying weapons, marched from the square to Unity High School, where Gibbons worked. They chanted slogans outside the school, which is closed until January and under heavy security, then headed toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks short of the embassy.

Britain, meanwhile, pursued diplomatic moves to free Gibbons. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with a member of her family to convey his regret, his spokeswoman said.

The majority of Britons expressed shock at the verdict by a court in Khartoum, alongside hope it would not raise tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain, the AP reported. Several Muslim groups in the U.K. and elsewhere have spoken out against the punishment of Gibbons.

Protests against “Muhammed teddy bear” teacher break out, execution called for

 

[Flintlock]

Guys, whats with naming Teddy bears Muhammed? Can someone explain?

 

[aryan2007]

Guys, whats with naming Teddy bears Muhammed? Can someone explain?

Muhammad is the most common name in uk.I don't think it was intentional though I don't know how blasphemous is this...

If she apologies then things should be cool.. no reason for flare - up imo...

 

[Flintlock]

Muhammad is the most common name in uk

I mean....whats wrong with naming a teddy bear Muhammed? Don't muslims name their kids muhammed all the time?

 

[Black Stone]

Wasn't the kids who named the teddy and not the teacher?

 

[HK-47]

exactly she cannot be regarded as guilty as she made a mistake and that too an honest one.
sheesh why do Muslims nowadays make such small issues into big crises?no wonder we get such a bad name.

 

[Cheetah786]

Muslim world for a very long time has been ignoring education.now the results are showing idiots mullahs making up islam as they go along .

As long as they can create some kind of fuss to justify there own pathetic exsistence and uneducated close minded indivduals following such mullahs it will bring nothing but embracement for us muslims.

 

[roadrunner]

exactly she cannot be regarded as guilty as she made a mistake and that too an honest one.
sheesh why do Muslims nowadays make such small issues into big crises?no wonder we get such a bad name.

Why even be surprised at it? It's Sudan. It's like saying that Congo gives Christianity a bad name because they are into mutilation. Don't be so dramatic.. Keep your own house in order, Sudan is not the whole Muslim world, just a very small part of it.

 

[UnKnOwN]

And I thought Saudi Arabia was strict

 

[Cheetah786]

Why even be surprised at it? It's Sudan. It's like saying that Congo gives Christianity a bad name because they are into mutilation. Don't be so dramatic.. Keep your own house in order, Sudan is not the whole Muslim world, just a very small part of it.

wow am i reading this correctly werent you the one justifying saudi arabians punishing a women for being raped.

double standerds if i dare say so.

 

[roadrunner]

wow am i reading this correctly werent you the one justifying saudi arabians punishing a women for being raped.

double standerds if i dare say so.

How is it double standards? I disagreeed with the Saudi law, something I mentioned a hundred times. If you're so illiterate that you cannot read what I type, or too hormonally imbalanced that puberty is causing you to hallucinate, then there is medication at hand for you. I disagree with this idiotic "law", just as I disagree with the Saudi law. However, the Saudi punshment was in line with the laws of Saudi Arabia. The punishment for this crime, were there to be one, would not fit any clearly worded law. This is a fuzzy interpretation of a non existent law, that has been interpreted by radicals too backward to co-exist with the rest of the world. The teacher in this case did not know she was doing wrong, the Saudi girl did. That is the essential difference.

So before you mention about double standards, I insist you take your meds, because you're not making any sense in half the stuff you've been posting recently.

 

[Cheetah786]

How is it double standards? I disagreeed with the Saudi law, something I mentioned a hundred times. If you're so illiterate that you cannot read what I type, or too hormonally imbalanced that puberty is causing you to hallucinate, then there is medication at hand for you. I disagree with this idiotic "law", just as I disagree with the Saudi law. However, the Saudi punshment was in line with the laws of Saudi Arabia. The punishment for this crime, were there to be one, would not fit any clearly worded law. This is a fuzzy interpretation of a non existent law, that has been interpreted by radicals too backward to co-exist with the rest of the world. The teacher in this case did not know she was doing wrong, the Saudi girl did. That is the essential difference.

So before you mention about double standards, I insist you take your meds, because you're not making any sense in half the stuff you've been posting recently.

Iam glad to hear medications will help me iam affraid to tell you nothing can help you but getting some education.

Teacher in this case just named a teddy bear after a kid in her class (she did absolutly nothing wrong and she shouldnt be punished for it)

girl in saudi was raped do you understand that only fault of her was she was over powered and raped.
people like you will say any thing and excuse to justify saudies making a mokery of religion.

now let me ask you what is the punishment for raping some one in islam.

read that again and again and again if u cant understand it ask some one closer by with a brain or education.

now read this again saudi law is suppose to be shria law.

what is the punishment for rape

what is the punishment for homosexuality

i doubt you will answer me cause saying anything against house of saud will be wrong.

before you come out with lessons for me to learn and get and education answer that.
you have a double standerd nothing but now tell us all what is the punishment for rape in islam.

 

[roadrunner]

I'll explain this simply so even a nit like you can understand

Teacher in this case just named a teddy bear after a kid in her class (she did absolutly nothing wrong and she shouldnt be punished for it)

IF the law in Sudan says you are not allowed to name teddy bears, and she breaks that law knowingly, then yes she should be punished, however ludicrous the law. It is not for me to judge how others should act. It is a question of cultural tolerance. Mentalities are never the same.

girl in saudi was raped do you understand that only fault of her was she was over powered and raped.

Which is not true. Her fault was she broke the Saudi law and met a man in a car. Saudi law clearly states that you are not allowed to mix with the opposite sex in this manner. She broke it, therefore she got punished. This is something you fail to get into your head time after time. Laws are there to be folllowed. It is not for you or anyone else to say that Saudi mentality is backward for suggesting that people of the opposite sex are not allowed to meet. Different culturally minded folk can point the finger at virtually anyone else in the world, and claim what they do is sick or backward. It does not make it so.

people like you will say any thing and excuse to justify saudies making a mokery of religion.

lol, I'd hardly describe myself as religious in the Saudi way, or in many other ways! I'm saying you're intolerant of other people's mentalities. You define normal as your own yardstick, because you're narrow minded, and incapable of widening your thought stack.

now let me ask you what is the punishment for raping some one in islam.

read that again and again and again if u cant understand it ask some one closer by with a brain or education.

Get this through your head please.

The Islamic punishment is whatever it says in the Qu'ran (if it says death, then it is death). There IS a school of thought that says there is punishment for men and women that mix together in a car prior to marriage. This is from where Saudi law derives from (you can argue about Hadith all you want, it is the same in Christianity). This is exactly what she was doing. Therefore the Saudi girl got punished also. Now note, I do not support this Saudi law, but it is their cultural mentality, and I do not have the monopoly on telling them their laws!

(i know it hasn sunk in!)

now read this again saudi law is suppose to be shria law.

what is the punishment for rape

what is the punishment for homosexuality

i doubt you will answer me cause saying anything against house of saud will be wrong.

The House of Saud is nothing more than a backward bunch of hypocritical fanatics, illiterate to the T, just as you are incapable of reading what is being written here. Was that a good enough quote against the House of Saud? There is a line to separate in saying that you are in the right, and everyone else is in the wrong

(Again, I know it hasnt sunk in with you).

before you come out with lessons for me to learn and get and education answer that.
you have a double standerd nothing but now tell us all what is the punishment for rape in islam.

I believe I've answered it. It's not a double standard from me at all. As I said, I am against men and women not mixing, as I am all for calling teddy bears any name they want. However, I am all for following the laws of any country I reside in , and adapting myself so not as to seem culturally intolerant. Your double standard is this. You ARE culturally intolerant, and are not able to see it. I would place you at the same extreme as the average fascist.

All the points have been answered..Just as they were answered hundreds of posts ago in the other thread. You just seem incapable of understanding them.

 

[Flintlock]

IF the law in Sudan says you are not allowed to name teddy bears, and she breaks that law knowingly, then yes she should be punished, however ludicrous the law. It is not for me to judge how others should act. It is a question of cultural tolerance. Mentalities are never the same.

Firstly, there is no law in Sudan that says explicitly "teddy bears are not to be named muhammed".
Secondly, even if it is, by a slim chance, illegal in Sudan to name a teddy bear muhammed, we are talking about someone's life here. It is no joke for a teacher (that too a volunteer...someone with good intentions) to get punished for something as trivial as this.

Cultural tolerance is fine, but when this tolerance starts to become malignant, we need to stop tolerating.

Which is not true. Her fault was she broke the Saudi law and met a man in a car. Saudi law clearly states that you are not allowed to mix with the opposite sex in this manner. She broke it, therefore she got punished. This is something you fail to get into your head time after time. Laws are there to be folllowed. It is not for you or anyone else to say that Saudi mentality is backward for suggesting that people of the opposite sex are not allowed to meet. Different culturally minded folk can point the finger at virtually anyone else in the world, and claim what they do is sick or backward. It does not make it so.

Definitely, when you are in Rome, do as the romans do.

However, there is no need to respect the law. If the law is stupid in your opinion, don't hesitate to let the world know what you think.