A couple of days ago, I commented on the preposterous arrest in Sudan of the English schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons, whose crime had been to allow her 6- and 7-year-old students name a Teddy bear “Muhammad.” At the time, it seemed as if poor Ms. Gibbons, a 54-year-old mother of two, might get 40 lashes or six months in jail for “insulting the prophet.” In the event, she was sentenced to a 15-day prison term, better than feared, though just think how much you would enjoy spending two weeks in a Sudanese jail. It was disgusting that she was arrested at all, of course, but today I see that the Sudanese racaille (if I may poach a French word from Nicolas Sarkozy) have taken to the streets in droves to protest the “lenient verdict.” According to an English paper,
“Thousands of Islamic fanatics wielding clubs and knives are marching through the streets of Khartoum demanding the execution of teddy bear teacher Gillian Gibbons.”
“Shame, shame on the U.K.,” protesters chanted,” as they called for Miss Gibbons’ execution, saying, “No tolerance: Execution,” and “Kill her, kill her by firing squad.”
Others shouted: “Those who insult the Prophet of Islam should be punished with bullets.”
Nice, eh? It used to be that British navy would intervene to protect its citizens. Earlier this year, when the Iranian navy kidnapped 15 British sailors, England showed the world that it no longer had the spine to defend even its military personnel, let alone civilians. I hope Gillian Gibbons survives her ordeal without harm. I hope that she then has sense enough to return home. Whitehall has made it clear exactly what they will do to protect British subjects: absolutely nothing.
I see this as orchestrated outrage and not too different from the whipped up outrage over the Danish cartoons.
Both brouhahas being stirred up some number of months (teddy bear incident was in September) after they originally happened.
British outrage (at the absurdity, at the miscarriage of justice, at whatever) plays exactly into the Islamist agenda.
Plus, I think foreign nationals inside Sudan (even innocent schoolteachers) are personas non gratas and any excuse at all to deport them will be used.
With deepest respect and admiration for your insightful comments, I’m reminded of several “Yes, Prime Minister” episodes in which we learned (through parody, of course) that the objective of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not to assert British authority, but to avoid upsetting third parties.
Greetings:
A couple of dozen B-52s loaded with teddy bears with Mohammed printed on their chests making a run over beautiful downtown Khartoum would seem to be appropriate under the circumstances.