More from the ‘tolerant’, ‘peaceful religion’ of Islam:
KHARTOUM, Sudan —British teacher Gillian Gibbons was convicted of insulting Islam for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad and sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation from Sudan, one of her defense lawyers said Thursday.
Ali Mohammed Ajab, of Gibbons’ defense team, said she was found guilty of “insulting the faith of Muslims in Sudan” under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code, a lighter conviction than the original charge of inciting religious hatred. A charge later confirmed by a judge leaving the closed court session.
All this stemmed from a ‘British National Curriculum’ course designed to teach young pupils about animals and their habitats’, which was in this case, the bear.
Ms. Gibbons asked one of her students to bring in her teddy bear, then asked the children to name the toy.
Among the choices were: Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad. The children would then put the names to a vote.
Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad. Each child was allowed to take the bear home for weekends and asked to keep 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.”
Apparently, it’s alright to name yourself or your children Mohammad, but not a frickin’ Teddy Bear.
“I feel this is very serious and very unfair,” he told The Associated Press outside the courtroom. Ajab, who also works for the Khartoum Center for Human Rights, said the issue was raised by “hard-liners who are always trying to make some noise,” in an apparent reference to religious conservatives.
……Religious conservatives in Sudan have been outraged by the naming of Gibbons’ class teddy bear “Muhammad” in an apparently insulting reference to Islam’s most revered prophet and defense lawyers reported receiving death threats.
Yeah, the perpetually outraged muslim zealots tend to foam at the mouth when their precious Mo-Ham-Ass is “insulted”.
The maximum penalty for the original charge, which has attracted world wide attention, was 40 lashes, a fine and six months in prison.
Gibbons is expected to serve out her sentence in the Omdurman women’s prison near Khartoum. It was not immediately clear if following the verdict in the closed hearing, she went immediately to prison.
The “perpetually outraged” National Organization for Women is mum on this, as they usually are with regard to any one who represents America’s enemies.
In the U.S., a spokeswoman for the National Organization for Women said the situation is definitely on the radar, and N.O.W. is not ignoring it.
But she added that the U.S.-based organization is not putting out a statement or taking a position.
Radio personality Tammy Bruce, former president of the Los Angles chapter of the National Organization for Women and past member of their board of directors, criticized the organization for not taking a stand.
“We have a duty to make a difference for women around the world,” Bruce told FOX News. “The supposed feminist establishment is refusing to take a position in this regard because they have no sensibility of what is right anymore. They’re afraid of offending people. They are bound by political correctness.”
“The American feminist movement has not taken one stand to support the women of Iraq, the women of Afghanistan, the women of Iran,” she said.
But let ’em get a whiff of any ‘human rights abuses’ by Americans or those we support, and the squalling banshees can’t shut up.
Being a strong, independent female, who believes in and practices equal rights and responsibilities, I’ve had it up to my mammary glands with women’s groups who won’t spread their disdain for discrimination across the board.
Ms. Gibbons is a nice, idealistic teacher who mistakenly believed that she could bring some goodness and civility into the lives of young muslim children.
Unfortunately, she learned a valuable lesson about trying to cast pearls before swine.
Update:
While she awaited deportation the Sudanese Islamonuts still foamed:
“What she did requires her life be taken,” Yassin Mubarak said, standing in a crowd of several thousand Sudanese protesting in central Khartoum yesterday against the teacher.
Banners demanded “Punishment, Punishment, Punishment,” as protesters chanted, “Kill her! Kill her by firing squad!”
Link: http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/119649960772760.xml&coll=1
She’s now home, but what has she learned?
LIVERPOOL, England – A British teacher returned to her northern English hometown Tuesday after being pardoned in Sudan for insulting Islam by allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons took refuge from the media in a hotel, issuing a plea for privacy — and time to consider interview requests.
Police sealed off the street in front of her son’s Liverpool home as more than 40 reporters waited outside. Neighbors poked their heads out of their homes to examine the crush of satellite trucks and camera crews.
“She’s had a long journey home and is thinking about events and just wants to spend some time with her family,” said Richard Clein, associate director of the Bell Pottinger North public relations firm. “I think the family are surprised at the amount of interest … we’ve been asked here to tell you to leave.”
After traveling through the night from Sudan, Gibbons told reporters at Heathrow Airport that she was stunned by the swift turn of events and her eight days in jail.
“I’m just an ordinary middle-aged primary school teacher. I went out there to have an adventure, and got a bit more than I bargained for,” she said. “I don’t think anyone could have imagined it would snowball like this.”
At her son’s home, British Muslims delivered a message of support and brought a bouquet with the message: “Welcome back, Gillian.”
“It was outrageous, she shouldn’t have been treated that way,” said Dr. Abdul Hamid. “She’s been the victim of something ridiculous. We’re glad she’s back home and her ordeal is all over.”
Gibbons’ supporters have said the case started when a school secretary with a grudge, Sarah Khawad, complained to the Ministry of Education that Gibbons had insulted Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Gibbons’ lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, and school officials said Khawad was acting out of revenge after she had an argument with the school’s principal, though they could not say the cause of the argument.
……However, the case escalated as Muslim clerics in Sudan sought to drum up public outrage, calling the naming of the teddy bear part of a Western plot to insult the prophet and demanding Gibbons be punished.
Gibbons, 54, was freed Monday after two Muslim members of Britain’s House of Lords met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The teacher sent the president a statement saying she did not mean any offense.
Newsflash, Gibbons. Anything you do or say will be ‘offensive’ to the Islamonuts.
Pearls before swine Gillian, pearls before swine….