The teddy bear of doom
The Satanic plush toy and its evil paymaster.
Goddamnit.
By now you’ve probably heard about Gillian Gibbons, a British teacher in Sudan who’s facing up to 40 lashes for allowing her class of 7-year-olds to name a teddy bear Mohammed.
I’ve been hoping this idiocy would evaporate quickly and Ms. Gibbons would be released, but today the word is that she’s been formally charged with insulting Islam and inciting religious hatred.
In today’s piece over at the BBC, a spokesman from the Foreign Office is quoted as saying “the first step [is] to ‘understand the rationale behind the charge.’” Right. Because it sure as hell isn’t religious sensibilities.
I’ve been watching this case for a couple of days, and I simply don’t believe that it is really some kind of unthinkable offense in Islamic culture to name a stuffed animal Mohammed. Adel Darwish writes about his childhood in Alexandria, when Sudanese Muslim children routinely named their pets and toys Mohammed, Ali, Fatima, and so forth. At Comment Is Free, one of Gibbons’ colleagues in Khartoum writes that none of the parents at the school raised any objection at all to the children’s naming the bear Mohammed. And a seven-year-old boy in the class tells reporters that it was his idea to name the bear Mohammed (after himself, not the Prophet) and the other kids agreed.
Nevertheless,
.. Sudan’s top clerics have 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.
“What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam,” the Sudanese Assembly of the Ulemas said a statement.
Yeah, right.
As the Foreign Office would have said if it weren’t the Foreign Office and thus constrained to be all diplomatic and shit, “What the fuck is going on here?”
Sudan is ruled by a murderous theocracy that relies on Islamic fanaticism and xenophobia to prop up its regime — as well as to maintain its genocidal war on its own citizens in Darfur. Ten years ago the New York Times described Sudan’s National Islamic Front as “an ingenious hybrid, a cross between a theocracy and a Mafia syndicate.” More than one person has suggested that this business with Gibbons is essentially a kidnapping, with the British schoolteacher serving as hostage for something the Sudanese government wants from Britain (though what, I don’t know). Or maybe it’s just an opportunity for the clerics to stir up some anti-West paranoia, all the better to distract the populace from the fact that they’re being ruled by a bunch of corrupt homicidal maniacs.
Whatever the case, Gillian Gibbons is a pawn with the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Brits need to get her the fuck out of there.
18 Responses to “The teddy bear of doom”
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Adel Darwish says:
This is a political issue. The male teacher who started tish trouble and reported er, was alarmed by a woman, encouraging hildren to think for themselves, make choice ( outside te frame of the scripted text) and vote. She was teaching thema way of life and of thinking and having crictical minds which is a danger to the totalitarian ideology of the current regime ( amixture of Islamis and Ara nationalism).
This is the core issue.
In addition the Sudanese government found it a chance to pay back the criticism by British government of its violation of humanrights and ethnic cleansing in DarfurNovember 29th, 2007 at 5:58 am EST -
simply wondered says:
i think it’s not too hard to work out what they want - uk has been, along with some other nations, a tad upset about the refusal of the sudan govt to stop any of the shite in darfur. govt has reacted badly to the usual pusillanimous criticism of the state sponsored-murder going on there (not just by the state it’s true) and would rather they be allowed to put in place their own plan for sorting it out (which seems to involve some butt-sitting and err…..). bit of muscle-flexing with the usual innocent prawns getting barbecued alas - and the foreign office may or may not be effective about getting her out but youknow they ain’t gonna jump up and down too much about it lest it impact negatively on her and the other brits there.
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Infidel says:
The teddy bear arrest is not an isolated extreme, it is the law as interpreted and enforced by the leaders of a Muslim country. Let’s reason with them and once they have elections they’ll almost be a democracy, or let’s invade, then reason, then have elections- then they’ll almost be a democracy, or let’s villify and demonize them, invade them, reason with them, force them to have elections, then they’ll almost be a democracy and they can pass silly laws restricting the use of the word and image of (the name that cannot be written and only spoke by the righteous)((the righteous to be determined by “the righteous”))(((”the righteous”are just that, they are!, by God, and they know it, ask them.)))
[edited by violet]
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The Ghost of Violet says:
The news is that she’s been convicted and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation. Vastly better than a flogging and six months, but I fear for what could happen in the next 10 days.
Mr. Darwish, I do wonder if this originally started as a local vendetta against Gibbons or the school. By the way, the Guardian is reporting that the colleague who reported Ms. Gibbons is a female — though who knows who’s really behind it all.
Infidel, I had to edit your comment for my own sensibilities. I can only cope with so much on the scatalogical front.
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The Ghost of Violet says:
i think it’s not too hard to work out what they want - uk has been, along with some other nations, a tad upset about the refusal of the sudan govt to stop any of the shite in darfur.
So the message is, “stop nagging us about Darfur or we’ll arrest every single British teddy bear in the country?” Wonder what the U.K. will do. How about withdraw every drop of aid? But perhaps the thugs in Khartoum won’t mind about that anyway — make it easier to kill off all those people in the south.
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simply wondered says:
i imagine our aid will already be going through ngos as we probably don’t trust the regime to spend the dosh on humanitarian bullets errr baby food i mean
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Infidel says:
On behalf of all infidels everywhere, to all Muslims worldwide, I most sincerely apologize for the naming of the teddy bear.
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therealUK says:
The UK will most likely stick to a diplomatic approach - currently hoping that a private visit by two Muslim peers might lead to a “mercy” early release.
Of course the fact that there are stupid shitforbrains male thugs marching in the streets demanding death to the evil westerner has sod-all to do with any actual evil and everything to do with the shitforbrains male thugs and their pathetic machismo.
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Infidel says:
Gillian’s mind: I’ll get the kids to name a teddy bear and get them to write about having the teddy bear overnight, all the kids will get a chance, participation and interest will be peaked, this will be a great class project for these kids.
Gillian: Kids, what would you like to name the bear.
Mohammed: LETS NAME HIM MOHAMMED!
Gillian’s mind: Shit! -
The Ghost of Violet says:
When I went to bed Thursday night the last news on the situation was quiet, but by Friday the mullahs had worked their magic at morning prayers and the crowd was out chanting for death. I’ve read several reports from observers, though, that the protest was clearly cooked up — the banners and everything were pre-printed, and several of the protesters were identified as government employees. But of course their numbers were augmented by the shit-for-brains thugs who slaver at the chance to kill a woman for “insulting” their stupid ass religion.
Does religion actually rot the brain, or would people’s brains be equally rotted over something else if religion were gone? I think I feel a post coming on.
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kiuku says:
“But of course their numbers were augmented by the shit-for-brains thugs who slaver at the chance to kill a woman for “insulting” their stupid ass religion.”
hahaha. Exactly.
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kiuku says:
Isn’t that the majority of their numbers, though?
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simply wondered says:
i had assumed the perhaps contrary but equally bullshitty fact that the 2 people who may have been half-heartedly picketing were made into 47,000 ‘men in buckram’ by the daily mail (horribly tory uk newspaper) on the sound general basis that ‘them muslims is a bunch of bloodthirsty divils!’ just look at what they did to poor old general gordon.
the trouble is i just don’t know who to be more cycnical about any longer… -
The Ghost of Violet says:
My impression is that most Sudanese don’t care, but there are some — a hundred? a few hundred? — useful idiots in Khartoum who took the bait and are demanding that Gibbons be killed/flogged/whatever for her horrible crime. I particularly enjoyed a quote from one of the sword-brandishers to the effect that “this infidel lady can’t fool us! We know it was a deliberate insult on our Prophet!” Yeah, nobody’s gonna fool him. No flies on him by god.
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Infidel says:
That man’s tears mean nothing. However he came to be, whether by a charmed or tortuous life, whatever brought him to call for the death of a school teacher for engaging her students in a project whereby they might listen and tell of an experience similar but unique to each, giving each a chance to see and share experience with each other with a common object, whatever coerced him to ignore humanity and reason, whatever lead him to his bloodlust and mindless dangerous rants- HIS tears are meaningless, if he would like his tears to mean something, first he must apologize and drop his sword.
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The Ghost of Violet says:
I don’t think he was crying.
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Infidel says:
Insults to his prophet felt so deeply as to call for the death of a teacher? That one tear couldn’t be shed for the blasphemy, the consequences of which can shake the universe to its very foundation, the naming of God’s own prophet shared by a teddy bear?! and one lone tear only couldn’t be shed, and one lifes’ blood should soak the sands of that bleak Sudanese crust of Earth? one lousy tear? Ah well doesn’t matter anyway, his tears mean nothing.
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The Ghost of Violet says:
In my mind, Infidel, he’s in the same category as the Catholic Poles who would pour out of Easter mass to murder and rape the Jews, the “christ-killers” — did you know that Easter was prime pogrom time in the Pale of Settlement? I suppose we can feel some small compassion for the vicious delusional men who felt compelled to avenge Christ’s honor in such a fashion, but mostly I feel compassion for the innocent Jews they slaughtered.
