Victor Davis Hanson* on the Teddy Bear Affair
TOWNHALL.COM: Here we go again. Thousands of Sudanese Muslims took to the street last week to threaten death to a British schoolteacher in Khartoum.

Her crime? She inadvertently committed the felony of allowing her class to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, has been pardoned by Sudan’s president (after initially being sentenced to 15 days in prison) and sent home to England. Yet that happy ending doesn’t erase the reaction in the streets of Khartoum. The tired story behind irrational anger in much of the Muslim world remains the same.

Watch out if Westerners somewhere are judged blasphemous to Islam when they draw a cartoon, write a novel, make a movie or discuss history.

In their furious reaction, thin-skinned Muslims may issue death threats. And they expect apologies. Sometimes the offense — like the reporting of a Koran flushed down the toilet at Guantanamo Bay — turns out to be false but still causes riots and murdering thousands of miles away.

Likewise, the reaction to this madness is now stereotyped. Often apologies — not condemnation — follow from contrite Westerners. To prevent a recurrence, Western writers, filmmakers, teachers and religious figures quietly edit their work and restrict their speech — but only when Islam is involved. Of Teddy Bears and Cartoons >>>

*Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)

A Look Back at the Teddy Bear Affair; Melanie Phillips at Her Finest
Many thanks to Ray Boyd for drawing this truly excellent and insightful article to my attention:

DAILY MAIL: The case of Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed in Sudan after her pupils named their class teddy-bear Mohammed, has shown up once again the spinelessness of the Foreign Office which has turned Britain into an international laughing stock.

Her freedom has been left to depend on the ostensibly freelance efforts by two Muslim peers, Lord Ahmed and Lady Warsi, who have been in Khartoum lobbying for her release.

Hopefully, Mrs Gibbons will be a step closer to being freed by the time this article lands on breakfast tables.

But the fact remains that, in response to this persecution of a British citizen under Islamic sharia law, the Foreign Secretary's craven response was to say how much Britain respected Islam.

It took four days from her arrest before he summoned the Sudan ambassador, and after she was jailed he summoned him again to express 'in the strongest terms' his concern.

Since we're talking cuddly-toy diplomatic incidents here, this was like being savaged by Winnie The Pooh (with apologies for thus insulting the cultural sensibilities of A. A. Milne).

Mr Miliband should have thrown the ambassador and every Sudanese diplomat out of the country, cancelled all visas and stopped British aid to Sudan.

And he should also have denounced the religious precepts which produced such a barbaric response to a preposterously imagined slight.

Moreover, the only reason Mrs Gibbons was placed in this predicament at all was because, for more than two decades, the British Government has kow-towed to the Islamist rogue regime in Sudan. The teddy-bear teacher and Labour's spineless response to a rogue state >>> By Melanie Phillips

Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)

Take Your Next Vacation in the "Fantastic" Sudan! Jail There is Like a Five-Star Hotel, According to Gillian Gibbons
It is to be hoped that this lady is still ‘in shock’ rather than being serious!

WATCH THIS TELEGRAPH VIDEO OF GILLIAN GIBBONS
Mark Alexander

A Refreshing Change
Photo courtesy of SpiegelOnline International
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Sudanese President Pardons Gillian Gibbons

Mark Alexander

Gillian Gibbons Is to Be Released After President Omar al-Bashir Grants Her a Full Pardon; She Says She Has “Great Respect” for Islam
You will respect our religion, or else! Ve av vays of making you respect it!

THE TELEGRAPH: The British teacher jailed in Sudan over a teddy bear is to be released immediately after being granted her a full pardon.

Gillian Gibbons said in a written statement that she was sorry if she had caused distress and that she has a "great respect" for Islam.

Mrs Gibbons was pardoned by President Omar al-Bashir after he held a meeting with two senior British Muslim peers, Baroness Warsi and Lord Ahmed, who had spent the weekend in negotiations with Sudanese officials in an effort to secure her release.
Gordon Brown welcomed the news, saying he was "delighted and relieved".

In a statement, the Prime Minister said: "Common sense has prevailed. She will be released into the care of our embassy in Khartoum after what must have been a difficult ordeal.

"Through the course of Ms Gibbons's detention I was glad to see Muslim groups across the UK express strong support for her case."

Mahzoub Faidul, the Sudanese presidential spokesman, said Mrs Gibbons would fly back to England today. Pardoned teddy teacher 'sorry' for distress >>> By Richard Holt and Caroline Gammell

BBC:
Teddy row teacher freed from jail

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Reaction to teacher’s pardon

Mark Alexander

Many in the Sudan Want Gillian Gibbons Killed ‘by the Sword’
BBC: The protests may be over for now in Khartoum but the debate about Gillian Gibbons carries on unabated.

As efforts to get her released by the British foreign office and two Muslim peers continue, opinion is divided and both sides of the argument are trying to make their voices heard.

Clearly the Sudanese Government is coming under huge pressure internally about this case.

Some now want the government to send Mrs Gibbons back to court. They believe the 15-day sentence for insulting religion was too lenient and they would like her to be re-tried.

Pictures burned

As witnessed during Friday's protest, there is a minority who are baying for her blood.

Some chanted threats against the 54-year-old primary school teacher from Liverpool.

A group of men shouted: "She must be killed by the sword." Sudanese views differ in teddy row >>> By Amber Henshaw

Mark Alexander

Muslim Peers Visit Gillian Gibbons
Photos of Baroness Warsi amd Lord Ahmed courtesy of the BBC
Whilst I appreciate the efforts made by these peers to bring about the release of Gillian Gibbons, I would like to ask the following question: What on earth could these two young peers have done to deserve the titles ‘baron’ and ‘baroness’? Mrs Thatcher had to work all her life to become ‘Baroness Thatcher’, and even spend years in No. 10, cleaning up Britain. How do these youngsters compare? Or is this political correctness talking again? I should lke to add that it seems infinitely easier these days to get a title if one is an immigrant than if one is a member of the indigenous population of centuries’ standing! Further, does being a ‘lord’, ‘lady’, ‘baron’ or ‘baroness’ mean anything anymore?

BBC: Two British Muslim peers have met the UK teacher jailed for 15 days in Sudan for insulting Islam by allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Labour's Lord Ahmed and Tory Baroness Warsi reported that Gillian Gibbons, 54, of Liverpool, was comfortable and safe in a secret location in Khartoum.

Lord Ahmed said they had met Sudanese ministers and advisers and hope to meet the president in the next 24 hours.
Mrs Gibbons's defence team is confident she will be pardoned by the president. UK peers visit teddy row teacher >>>

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Peers attempt to free teacher

Mark Alexander

”No One Lives Who Insults the Prophet!” More than 1,000 Demonstrating Barbarians Called for Gillian Gibbons to Be Shot or Stabbed!
If anyone has been fooled in the past by the nonsense ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ slogan, then let him be fooled no longer. Islam is anything but a ‘religion of love’. Islam is a cruel religion, a religion of killing and violence and hatred and vengeance. So what’s ‘godly’ about that?

Islam is a religion intent on imposing its will, and taking over the world by means of the Jihad. Many people must be rueing the fact that so many people with such barbaric views have been allowed to come and live in Western countries. Having so many people ready to fight and demonstrate in the cause of their religion bodes ill for the future of peace and security at home. How long will it be before we see such violent demonstrations on the streets of the West? Fie on the weak and snivelling politicians for endangering our own peaceful existence! - ©Mark

· Militants besiege British diplomatic compound
· Foreign Office believed she would be acquitted

THE GUARDIAN: Carrying swords and machetes and waving green Islamic flags, protesters marched through the streets of Khartoum yesterday demanding the execution of British teacher Gillian Gibbons. "No one lives who insults the prophet," read one of the banners outside the British embassy.

More than 1,000 Muslim demonstrators in the Sudanese capital called for her to be shot or stabbed for insulting Islam after her pupils called a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gibbons, 54, of Liverpool, was sentenced on Thursday night to 15 days in jail followed by deportation in a case that has attracted international condemnation.

Last night she was moved from the women's prison where she was being held to a secret location across the Nile for her own safety. Sword-waving protesters call for death of teacher who named a bear Muhammad >>> By Xan Rice in Nairobi and Andrew Heavens in Khartoum

DAILY MAIL:
'I still cannot believe this is happening,' says teddy bear teacher as mob bays for her blood By David Williams and Christian Gysin

Mark Alexander

Sudan Jails 'Harsh and Crowded'
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Briton Gillian Gibbons has been imprisoned for 15 days in Sudan - a country with some of the world's worst prisons, according to campaigners.

Justice Africa, a UK-based research group, said even a Sudanese person, used to the hardship of daily life, would find conditions hard.

A US State Department report described the jails as "harsh and overcrowded".

However, the Sudanese authorities have not confirmed where Mrs Gibbons will serve her sentence. >>>

Mark Alexander

The Barbarians of Khartoum Call for Gillian, the Teddy Bear Teacher, to Be Killed by Firing Squad!
BBC: Thousands of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for UK teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot.

Mrs Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was jailed by a court on Thursday after children in her class named a teddy bear Muhammad.

She was sentenced to 15 days for insulting religion, and she will then be deported.

The marchers took to the streets after Friday prayers to denounce the leniency of the sentence. Shoot UK teacher, say protesters >>>

THE GUARDIAN:
Protesters demand execution of 'blasphemy' teacher

TIMESONLINE:
Mob calls for execution of teddy teacher as peer launches rescue mission

DAILY MAIL:
Thousands of Islamic fanatics wielding knives demand jailed teddy bear teacher is executed

Mark Alexander

Jail and Deportation for Gillian Gibbons
Britain humiliated yet again! Humiliating subjects of the Queen must surely STOP! Isn’t it time to bring back ‘gunboat diplomacy’?

Photo of Gillian Gibbons courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A British teacher has been found guilty in Sudan of insulting religion after she allowed her primary school class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, has been sentenced to 15 days in prison and will then be deported.

She had been accused on three counts of insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.

The Foreign Office said it was extremely disappointed by the verdict after a day-long hearing in Khartoum.

The Sudanese ambassador is being called back to the Foreign Office to explain the decision. Officials there say the mood has changed as a result of the verdict.

Staff complaint

Earlier, Foreign Secretary David Miliband had met the Sudanese ambassador to discuss the case, stressing it was an "innocent misunderstanding".

In September, Mrs Gibbons allowed her class of primary school pupils to name the teddy bear Muhammad.
The court heard that she was arrested on Sunday after another member of staff at Unity High School complained.

Sudan's top clerics had called for the full measure of the law to be used against Mrs Gibbons and labelled her actions part of a Western plot against Islam. UK teacher jailed over teddy row >>>

Mark Alexander

Kidnap Fears for Teddy Bear Teacher as Islamic Fanatics Demand Execution
DAILY MAIL: A major security operation was under way today as a British teacher charged with inciting hatred and insulting religion was brought before a court in Sudan.

Trucks protected by armed police transported Gillian Gibbons from her cell at the CID headquarters in Khartoum where she had been kept in custody following her arrest on Sunday for allowing pupils to name a school teddy bear Mohammed.

Security was also tight at the city's court building as fears that extremists might stage a kidnap attempt ran high.

Mrs Gibbons, looking tired and distressed and wearing a dark blue jacket and blue dress, was not handcuffed.

Before the hearing began the public and press were cleared from the court room but only moments later the case was adjourned for two hours.

The prosecutor-general said Mrs Gibbons, whose case has drawn international condemnation, can expect a swift and fair trial under Sudanese law.

Mrs Gibbons faces 40 lashes and a year in jail after after being charged with insulting Islam.

She was charged after behind-the-scenes political moves to avoid a court case collapsed amid growing Islamic anger in the east African country.

A Sudanese official said it was "unlikely" that Mrs Gibbons would be convicted.

A powerful Sudanese newspaper urged authorities to call a hardline Islamist leader linked to Osama bin Laden to give evidence at her trial, to stress how offensive the case was to Muslims.

Extreme Islamic groups said Mrs Gibbons "must die" and urged Muslims to hold street protests after prayers tomorrow. >>> By Olinka Koster, Liz Hull and Rob Grilly

Mark Alexander

No Mr Johnson, We Are Not Wrong, the Real Problem Is Islam Itself!
The was a time when the British government - the prime minister, his cabinet ministers, and the MP’s - had balls. Alas, those days are long gone! - ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Oh come off it, I thought yesterday afternoon, when I heard that the Sudanese authorities had actually gone ahead and charged her. Surely they are out of their minds.

When the news broke yesterday teatime that poor Gillian Gibbons was facing prosecution in Khartoum for inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs, I am afraid my normal good humour momentarily deserted me.

How dare they! I spluttered, and for a brief undignified moment, I had fantasies of a return to the age of Palmerston.

Here is an innocent British citizen, a good and patently well-meaning 54-year-old British teacher. She has decided to make a new life for herself by giving instruction to children in one of the poorest countries on Earth. She has got herself into a muddle over the name of a teddy bear - and now she is facing 40 lashes or six months in jail.

There was a time when Britain would have sent a gunboat to rescue her. There was a time when MPs would have been holding furious debates on the matter, and bandying phrases such as "civis Britannicus sum".

In the old days there would have been démarche from Britain to Sudan, warning that His Majesty's government would not suffer a hair on her head to be disturbed. British Muslims should protest teddy lunacy >>> By Boris Johnson

MY COMMENT TO BORIS JOHNSON:

Boris, you obviously live in cloud cuckoo land! Islam is the problem, and it always will be, for it is a politico-religious system (90% politics, 10% spirituality) based on barbarity and Arab hegemony. Get with the story!

If they harm that poor teacher, then we should have a national 'name your dog Muhammad week' in retaliation. Better still, call for an 'international name your dog Muhammad week'!

I am sick of reading stories from the politically correct, stating that Islam is really a noble, loving and peaceful religion. Don't you naïve people realize that the Jihad is being waged against the West?

Wake up BEFORE it is too late! - ©Mark

Mark Alexander

If Britain Will Stand for This Nonsense, Then It Deserves All It Gets! Countries Used to Go to War for Less Than This! A Country Must Protect Its Citizens!
THE TELEGRAPH: The British schoolteacher who allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed has been charged in Sudan with insulting religion and inciting hatred.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, was also charged with showing contempt for religious beliefs.

"Khartoum north prosecution unit has completed its investigation and has charged the Briton Gillian (Gibbons) under Article 125 of the criminal code," the Sudanese news agency SUNA said, quoting a senior justice ministry official. 



The Foreign Office confirmed the charges in the case which is now set to go before the court on Thursday. Teddy bear row teacher charged in Sudan >>> By Katie Franklin, Caroline Gammell and Blake Evans-Pritchard

YAHOO NEWS (UK & IRELAND):
Teddy Row Teacher Charged in Sudan

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Teddy Row Teacher Charged

Mark Alexander