So, school teacher Gillian Gibbons is finally out of jail? It’s about time. It shouldn’t have been allowed to get quite so out of control. So, now that Mrs Gibbons is ‘homeward bound’, let’s see who made the complaint in the first place … step forward, school secretary Sarah Khawad.
It’s a shame Christmas isn’t something you celebrate, because I’ve got just the thing for you …
The public and press reaction to the jailing of British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons is exactly as I had imagined. A Sudanese court sentenced 54-yr old Gibbons to 15 days in jail followed by deportation. The only saving grace is that the poor woman has already spent 5 days in custody, therefore, only another 10 days to serve.
In September, her class of 23 seven year olds voted to name a class teddy bear. ‘Mohammed’ was the name chosen by 20 out of 23 children. Once before the judge, Mrs Gibbons apologised to the court for any offence she may have caused and angry reaction to her sentence came swiftly from religious heads, politicians, the public and Sudanese alike.
- Britain’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said he could not “see any justification” and called it an “absurdly disproportionate response to a minor cultural faux pas”.
- David Miliband, Britain’s Foreign Secretary said that he was “extremely disappointed” and repeated his view that it had been an “innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher”.
- Catherine Wolthuizen, chief executive of Fair Trials International, said that 15 days in a Sudanese prison for such an “innocent misunderstanding a serious and harsh punishment”.
- Mike Blakemore, of Amnesty International said “The sentence is a mockery of justice and we consider Gillian to be a prisoner of conscience”.
- Ibrahim Mogra of The Muslim Council of Britain called the sentence “completely unjustified” and “I’m utterly disappointed with this decision”.
- Sudanese blogger, Amjad, wrote “Why are they assuming that the teddy bear was named after our prophet? This is really stupid!”.
- A comment on the same blog said “Unbelievable. And totally outrageous … More excellent PR for Islam, and the forward thinking, rational, Muslim community”.
- Malcolm Moss, a Conseravtive member of the Commons foreign affairs committee said “It is tokenism by the Sudanese government. If they had really felt she had insulted Islam, they would have sentenced her to much longer. It seems they are scoring points.” However, he went on criticise the British government “Our government dithered over intervening and this is what happens. We should have been a lot tougher, a lot sooner.”
And what of Sudan’s top clerics? Well, they called for the full measure of the law to be used against Ms Gibbons and labelled her actions “part of a Western plot against Islam”. So, you can see what the poor woman is up against. Despite the best intentions of the British Consular staff, Ms Gibbons was taken off to Omdurman women’s prison in Khartoum. And, by all accounts, it’s not exactly the Hilton.
So, upon Ms Gibbons’ return to the UK I wouldn’t blame the poor woman her if she cashed in on her experiences, sold her exclusive story to the highest-bidder and didn’t donate a single penny to 3rd World education. But I doubt it.
Talking of that, I rather expect that the British Tabloid Press (the most vicious on the planet) will conduct their own witch-hunt in pursuing and exposing Ms Gibbons’ snitch – the colleague who reported her to the authorities. Although we are generally respectful of other nations and their individual cultures, I just hope that it doesn’t escalate into some form of Islam-bashing. But when you pass such a sentence on someone seemingly innocent and apologetic, then you roll with the punches – no matter if you truly understand the reaction or not.
The situation in Sudan over Gillian Gibbons, the 54-yr old British teacher now in custody, is quickly gaining snowball status.
She is to be charged with insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs, after allowing her class of seven year olds to name a teddy bear ‘Mohammed’.
In the UK, Muslims live side-by-side with Jews, Christians, Buddhists, a multitude of non-believers and off-the-wall groups. They seem to get along quite nicely, thank you.
Yesterday, the Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, reacted angrily on hearing about Ms Gibbons, saying the Council was “appalled” and demanded her immediate release.
“This is a disgraceful decision and defies common sense. There was clearly no intention on the part of the teacher to deliberately insult the Islamic faith,” said Dr Abdul Bari.
He added “We call upon the Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, to intervene in this case without delay to ensure that Ms Gibbons is freed from this quite shameful ordeal”.
This sounds very much like a witch-hunt as letters were sent out to all the parents in September, announcing the arrival of the class bear. Yet here we are, 2 months later, and now someone complains.
At this time of year, up and down the UK, 5, 6 and 7-yr olds are rehearsing for their school Christmas Nativity plays. Little boys and girls will be dressed up in fake beards, long gowns and an array of head-wear, pretending to Arabs and singing religious-type songs … and in the centre of the stage will be a plastic doll named Jesus.
It all goes to give children a solid start in life, helping them grow up and have respect of other people and nations.
If Ms Gibbons, as is claimed, has acted in good faith (now there’s a word to play with) and named the bear after a child in her class, then the Sudanese government should be ashamed of their actions …
… and how about stopping all that foreign aid flooding into Sudan?
If they want to act like children then they should be treated as such.
