Islam - Teddy Bear -

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/11/28/sudan.bears/index.html

 

I don't understand her conviction??? I mean Islam is such a peaceful and beautiful religion.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- A Sudanese court found a British teacher guilty of inciting religious hatred and sentenced her to 15 days imprisonment Thursday for allowing a teddy bear to be named "Mohammed," British authorities and her lawyer reported.


An undated amateur photo of Gillian Gibbons, who has been charged with offending religion.

Gillian Gibbons also faces deportation from Sudan after her prison term, her lawyer told CNN. He said he was "very disappointed" with the verdict and that Gibbons planned to appeal.

Gibbons, 54, was arrested Sunday after she asked her class of 7-year-olds in Khartoum to name the stuffed animal as part of a school project, the British Foreign Office said. She had faced charges under Article 125 of Sudan's constitution, the law relating to insulting religion and inciting hatred.

Although there is no ban in the Quran on images of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed, Islam's founder, likenesses are considered highly offensive by Muslims. Watch latest developments in the case. »

Appearing somber and dazed, Gibbons arrived at the central courthouse in Khartoum for her closed hearing early Thursday. A staff member from the British Embassy in Khartoum and defense lawyers were in the hearing with her.

The courthouse was heavily guarded by police, who kept journalists -- and, for a while, even one of her attorneys -- away.

Gibbons could have faced a sentence of 40 lashes, a fine or jail term of up to a year, according to the Foreign Office, which expressed Britain's dissatisfaction with the verdict.

"We are extremely disappointed that the charges against Gillian Gibbons were not dismissed," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement issued shortly after the verdict was announced.

"As I said this morning, our clear view is that this is an innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher. Our priority now is to ensure Ms. Gibbons' welfare and we will continue to provide consular assistance to her. I have called in the Sudanese Ambassador, Omer Siddiq, this evening to explain the decision and discuss next steps."

The Foreign Office said Gibbons would be given credit for the four days since her arrest, meaning that the she has 11 days remaining on her sentence.

Earlier, Miliband had met with Siddig, who was summoned to the Foreign Office in London.

"I explained to him that we were very concerned by the case. We believe that this was an innocent misunderstanding," Miliband said in a statement released Thursday after the meeting.

"The Sudanese ambassador undertook to ensure our concerns were relayed to Khartoum at the highest level. He also said he would reflect back to Khartoum the real respect for the Islamic religion in this country," the statement added.

On the first floor of the courthouse, around 25 police linked arms and forced journalists and British officials away from the court entrance. Police detained some journalists, and confiscated a camera belonging to a free-lance CNN cameraman.

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Four vans filled with riot police were waiting outside the courthouse, but there were no signs of street disturbances or protests. Staff from Gibbons' school, including Robert Boulos, the head of Unity High School, were present. The staff members refused to comment on their colleague's predicament.

On Wednesday, Boulos said he was "horrified" when he found out a member of his own staff complained, not from a parent as originally thought. Defense counsel later confirmed that the complaint came from Sarah Khawad, a secretary at the school.


Gibbons has been working at the school -- popular with wealthy Sudanese and expatriates -- since August, after leaving her position as deputy head teacher at a primary school in Liverpool this summer, Boulos said.

He said Gibbons asked the children to pick their favorite name for the new class mascot, which she was using to aid lessons about animals and their habitats. E-mail to a friend

Journalist Andrew Heavens contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

All About Sudan

 

What don't you understand? She was convicted of naming a teddy bear after their prophet, which is against their law. I do not see this as violent nor ugly, do you?

It's not as if she is to be executed for her crime. She was given a relatively short jail time (time served? It doesn't say) and is being deported.

 

Tell me you are not for real

What about all the children named Muhammad?
Why should that be acceptable, but a teddy bear isn't

 

False idols.

 

I think it has something to do with a child being human and a teddy bear is not only a toy, but also represents an animal.

How would you feel (honestly, now) about someone naming his cow Jesus Christ?

 

I think most religions work this way. Subject yourself to their dogmas and lose your individual free will to do what you feel is right.

 

I wouldn't like it, but I wouldn't put them in jail or subject them to lashes or have them deported.

Anyway, the children in her classroom named the teddy bear Muhammed, not her.
Why are the children not getting persecuted?

I'm shocked that your not shocked at this....anyone on this board feel the same way I do?

 

Their country, their rules. Personally I don't think people should be put in jail for gambling, especially when the state sponsors at least one form of it. But I like the state, so I live by the rules. She should either live by their rules or move out.

By the way, she did not get sentenced to lashes.

Probably because they are children and she was the one responsible for them. What I disagree with is that one of the kids testified that he did not name the teddy bear after the prophet, but after himself. That should have been taken into account.

I'm not shocked because, like I said, their country their rules. Nothing in her sentence violates her human rights (I would have taken exception had she gotten lashes). So there is nothing to get offended about.

 

Apparently not.



It is a good thing, though, that she was tried in their government's court, rather than tossed to the Zealots.

 

Heard on the news this morning that there were riots, they were chanting for her death.:shock: They are trying to expedite her deportation.

 

That was the link that I put in my last post, and the reason for my comment that it was better for her to be tried in their courts than handed over to the zealots.

 

OK, so to some here, the Sudanese Muslims are narrow minded, and incited over some little ole thing. To fundamentailsts, the teacher allowed her students to cross a line. Seems to me that she should have known the culture into which she was moving, and understanding that, would have made appropriate choices. Ditto the naming of a cow for a religious person here, with the discomfort that some here would find it. I recall feeling discomfort as a young'un seeing Hispanic baseball players names splashed on the screen. In those days of adolescent concrete thinking, "Jesus" was a name that was blasphemed if referring to any other than the Nazarene. Of course, in Hispanic culture, use of the name is glorification of the Nazarene. One learns.
POV, folks...POV.

 

And people think Christians are pusgy and wacko? Atleast they aren't out for blood and death if ya don't agree with them....

 

Oh? Perhaps you should look at the Army of God, or the Freedomites and get back to me. No, we won't mention, but in passing, the Crusades and the Inquisition.

If course, if you really want to get close to home, you could simply look at the Westboro Baptist Church. No, they aren't actively causing blood and death (yet), but they do cheer it.

 

That was a VERY long time ago, Clif. We are more civilized now and that must be taken into consideration. Besides, you can't change the past, you can only make the future better. These people chanting "death" are still living in the past violences of their heritage, so to speak.

As far as Westboro, I should have said that TRUE Christians don't act like that. There a lot of people who "say" they are Christian but are farther from it then ever. Westbor fits that bill, in my opinion only of course......

 

Only the Crusades and the Inquisition were a long time ago, which is why I only mentioned them in passing.

All the others are current Christian terrorist groups.

And TRUE Muslims don't chant out in the street for blood. The couple of Muslims I work with think the whole thing in Sudan is, for the most part, silly. They do see the crime and agree with the sentence, but certainly wouldn't be out in the streets calling for the teacher's execution.

But please don't let facts stand in the way of your bigotry.

 

Presuming that a majority of a religion's followers are "out for blood and death if ya don't agree with them."

 

I think the point is here that everyone is on the "band wagon" about Christianity in other threads talking about how judgmental and pushy they are. And here, the comparison was made to the fact that it was Muslims doing the "chanting' and not Christians.....

Not trying to start an argument, but I ssaw no bigotry. It seems like it was the Muslim group being "defended". How come no one really wants to defend Christianity? just a question..........relax........

 

And this thread simply reinforces that idea.

I'm not sure why that was pointed out, except to "show" that Islam is a religion of hatred. Unless you can give me another reason, then that is where the bigotry lies.

Of course not.