We’re off air now, but you can podcast the programme here.
Hi, Ros here. New WHYS Daily Email recruits today include Sarah in Hamburg, Thomas in Berlin and Uswege in Tanzania. We’ve two stories for you all to consider, and we’re also looking for volunteers to record Christmas messages that we’ll broadcast around the world. If you’re feeling inspired read on…
THE TEDDY CALLED MOHAMMAD
Two-thirds of all emails to the BBC today have been about the British teacher who’s been arrested in Sudan for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad. She’s now facing blasphemy charges for insulting Islam’s Prophet and if convicted could face six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.Do you think this kind of punishment matches the ‘crime’? Should she have been more sensitive to the laws of the country she was visiting? This is being described by the teacher’s friends as an innocent mistake, but has that got anything to do with it? If you’re Muslim, I’d be particularly interested to hear whether you think this law is fair? is it quite right to defend Mohammad in this way?
WHAT HOPE AT ANNAPOLIS?
Talks about talks is how they’re being described, something that some of you hail as a first step, and others dismiss as a pointless talking shop. A recent edition of the Economist called President Bush ‘Mr Palestine’ and claimed he alone has the power to drive the Middle-East peace process to its conclusion. Before his time in the White House is up, do you think he can do that? Your expectations of today’s talks are welcome…
YOUR ONE-MINUTE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO THE WORLD
On Christmas Day we’re going to be playing some of your Christmas messages. You don’t need to be a Christian to record one either – you just need something you want to say the people about the coming year. If you’re interested drop me an email.Speak to you later.
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The Teddy bear thing is absolutely insane. Not based in any rationality at all. It’s funny in the west how we have to “understand” and conform our behaviors to not upset the sensitivies of those who chose to leave their homes to come here, while where they come from they can jail and lash people for the name of a teddy bear. Unbelievable.. Next time someone says Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, I’ll just point to this as another example of them being a liar. Sorry, there are plenty of people named Mohammed alive today, how is that not offensive? And why are they so easy to take offense to everything?
Good Day All,
Many people give pet names to objects and animals; children often so do. This naming is usually a manifestation of love or affection. I trust when teacher asked for a favorite name, “Muhammad” sprang to each child’s mind. This seems to me an expression of love. I believe the blasphemers are on the accusatory side of this event.
later,
g
Is there anything this guy can’t do? He’s got a mind like a steel trap and an uncanny grasp of all the intricacies and details of the worlds major problems. Full grasp of the facts and figures plus he puts in 16 hour days. The only problem is there is only one of him. God bless all of the people that voted for him because he was “the guy you would most like to have a beer with”. If there’s a better way to pick a president I haven’t seen it. Our country and a lot the world now looks like every company he ever worked at. Looted and in the toilet. I have full faith that he will correct all of these things before he leaves. If only the gay marriage thing hadn’t taken up so much of his time.
GB
Hey Ros,
Jerry here, I would like to comment about the mohamed teddy bear. First of all there are many people out there with the name mohamed and no moral at all. I do not really care if they are muslims or not but the fact remains they are the ones that we see sniffing glue and taking drugs at the coastal town of Mombasa in kenya. What wrong with an innocent teacher not paying much attention to kid who wants her teddy bear to be called Mohamed. This could also be understood as appreciation of the kid for the prophet. Why can’t we take it that way? Come on, let’s be optimistic.
I’m intersted in the one minute Xmas message to world. I’ll be waiting eagerly for your feedback.
Jerry Nguwa from Nairobi
No, No, No! There are so many Mohammed’s in muslim community. If their prophet is so infallible, then, what about others using his name? Is it also not an “insult to islam?”. It seems now to “sneeze” even we need the permission of some of these muslim fundamentalists. Every thing is an “insult” to them these days. I think they need grow up from this “baby state.” If their prophet is so powerful would not he be able to defend himself?
Mathew
USA.
Sent from my BlackBerry®
Hi Ros,
You can give anything a name but my concern is morals and religous beliefs you be treated careful. Religion has been the source of many wars time in memorial. Interesting the muslims are not doing the same to christians or hindus or anyother beliefs. Why provock a situation which you know very that is very senstive. Look at the Mohammed caricators and the kind of hartrage it brought among lives. Mocking Gods servants has consenquences every educated person know about this. This teacher should just ask forgiveness from God or Alla. Its pity that things are going this ways in the 21century. People are expected to be more knowledge. But the question still remains what were her intentions of doing this?
Isaac in Germany
Hi Ros,
I’m constantly amazed at the punishments for “crimes” – mostly committed by women – in Muslim countries. OK, perhaps this woman should have been a bit more sensitive, but even so. It really makes me wonder if someone, somewhere, would take offence if I said “Good morning” to them. It seems to me that in some places, and in some people’s eyes, a woman’s crime is just that: being female. I really do wonder if the “Teddy-bear” incident would have been just as insulting if it had been a male teacher who had made the same “mistake”.
On the other hand, if this teacher was actually trying to undermine the religious teaching these children are being given, then she was just being stupid. But as I understand it – and I can’t open the web page with the address on your email – she actually allowed the children to choose the name themselves. In the children’s eyes, they were probably being extremely respectful, if the Teddy Bear meant a lot to them.
Cheers,
Chris in Namibia.
Re ‘Mohammed the Teddy Bear’ – why shouldn’t she be punished for this?
Every country is entitled to make and enforce its own laws. If calling a teddy Muhammed is an offence under Sharia that should be the end of the matter. To object that is is barbaric, extreme, absurd and unchivalrous is beside the point: it is how things are done over there. Western liberals need to understand that their standards – wonderfully humane and civilised though they are – are not universal. They should also stop trying to have their cake and eat it: multiculturalism is a wonderful thing and all cultures should be equally respected, except those that are based on intolerance, cruelty and brutalising a woman for the most frivolous of offences.
this incident should be a wake-up call to certain people about the nature of Islam, but probably won’t be. But there’s no need to worry. There’s a racial and national hierarchy that applies in cases like this. Ms Gibbons is white and a citizen of one of the world’s leading countries. the Sudanese will huff and puff but are very unlikely to touch a hair on her naive head. If she had been a person of colour from a third world state she would have had real reason to be afraid (how many Westerners have been flogged or executed in Saudi Arabia?).
In terms of standards, values and civilised habits the Western and muslim worlds are poles apart. We should accept and respect those differences, neither attempting to Westernise the East or Islamicise the West.
I am outraged at the infantile and unjust reaction over the Teddy Bear named Muhammed. Surely the parents are to blame for not properly brainwashing their children from hurting their alleged prophet. Gillian Gibbons was simply trying to help these unfortunate children use free thought. An overreaction like this paves the way for far more hurtful and angry insults from outside of Islam… I suggest Muslims buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Ken in Cleveland
Dear Ros: Hi, how are you my good friend?! I’m a practicing Muslim, and the Prophet Mohammad is the most important man in my life! You know what dear Ros?! When you love someone, and you claim that you actually belong to him, then you must behave in a way that honours him name and makes him proud of you, you have to make other people realise that you’re behaving in such a noble and marvellous way only because He Himself is inspiring you to do so and to continue on doing so on daily bases! Isn’t that what true love all about?! Making you a better person?! That’s my interpretation of the LOVE AFFAIR between me and the Prophet Mohammad, and I don’t think that any lashes, jail sentences, or fines will protect or defend the Prophet Mohammad! Only our true love as Muslims to the Prophet Mohammad will make Him holy name immune to any insults(innocent or on purpose). How can we proove that we truely love the Prophet Mohammad?! In my opinion, by trying to behave in such a way that ho!
nours His name and makes the whole world realise that He’s the one that inspiring us to be better humans! As for dear James’s story: I adore cats, and I hate dogs alot, but I do believe that if dogs are to be rented, then there must be rules that organise this process and prevent dogs from being treated in an unhumanitarian way! As for Christmas messages: Dear Ros, do you think that the world would be interested in hearing a Christmas message from Baghdad?! With my love! Lubna!
The punishment does not fit the “crime”. Turning something innocent like a teddy into the agent of Muslim blasphemy says more about the punishers than the offender. I think Allah would want education over punitive actions. This is too much!
Michael in Portland, Oregon
People who want to live by the letter of their religion need to shun all contact with the outside world. They should barricade themselves and live in seclusion, deny themselves the advantages of interacting with the rest of the world.Then, we can atleast give them the credit for their true devotion.
It is not fair to mingle with people from other cultures who are no longer in habit checking their every little action for religious sanction, scrutinise them minutely and punish them harshly for their unwitting slips.
I think it is wrong to hold peace talks concerning the Palestinians and exclude the Palestinians in Gaza, all of them, the Hamas are Palestinians too and are as much a part of Palestine as anyone else in that area. I find it, frankly, strange that Bush is referred to as “Mr Palestine”, he`s ignored the plight of the Palestinians for seven years and is responsible for the fact that Israel has been allowed to continue with their unlawful policies toward the Palestinians. If the Palestinians had been allowed to live their lives normally, develop their own gas feilds, there would be no need for aid. I could go on but it probably wouldn`t help much.
I Mørk.
Norway.
Great site with facts, short movies and stats. Please Share.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
Zaz Mam
The reaction of muslims to a dead “teddy bear” toy forces me to mistrust their religion. I tend to think now, “Is islam a peaceful religion” as it claims to be?” I think these kinds of actions will lead the world to think the whole of Islam is based on terrorist ideals. They need to prove it other wise. To me, anything that does not give a door to a proper debate is, authoritarionism and hateful fundamentalism; just plain and simple.
Mathew
USA.
This is nothing more than discrimination. Is Sudan going to kill every child named Mohammed and jail their parents for blasphemy? I doubt it. If you can’t name a teddy bear after the most common name on the planet, what’s next? This madness needs to stop.
Jason Campbell
I am not a Muslim but I think that even though this teacher should have been more weary of the fact that “Mohammad” is a name not to be trifled with in such a Muslim country, one has got to admit that “Mohammad” is a very common name there. In fact, probably every Muslim male there has that for a surname. Its just like using “Mary” for a name.
Regards,
Yudhishthra Nathan of Singapore
Like its a crime to deny the Holocaust,then calling the prophet of islam a teddy bear should be a punishment,insulting him is insulting a billion followers.If you called me a teddy bear i would fight.
mubaraka ssesanga in kampala uganda
As with so many events in life, only half the story makes for ‘better news’.
When I heard the first snippets of Gillian’s story, I wondered how she could be so naive. But as a teacher of 35 years, I am full aware how selected snippets from the classroom can paint a wholly different reality than what took place.
Further details as to the children’s project, their choice to name the Teddy after a kind classmate, etc. provided the perspective and also the reminder that ‘Mohammed’ is a name that Islam not only revers as its greatest Prophet, but invites as a very common name for its children (like ‘Jesus’ in Hispanic countries). There is no ’story’ here … but for the fact that it was a British teacher who headed the children’s project and those adults who prefer the snippets to the facts in order to vent against their choice to perceive an insult. I fault the leadership of the Imams who apparently prefer snippets that manipulate, rather than facts. It is clear that the ‘fact oriented adults’ are in the minority in this case, since they chose to close the school in the face of retribution. We depend on our teachers to open minds, not close them. The Imams, in this case, are doing a great disservice to their devotees … a sad comment on the state of adults in our world today.
Jodie Felice
Midlothian, VA
USA
There gets to be a point where you got to let Mohammed speak for himself. It there truly is such of a thing as this Mohammed, and he exist to judge in the afterlife, why not just shake your head when people violate “his laws” and accept that when the violator dies “he/ she is going to have to explain that one to Mohammed.”
I am a pretty tolerant person. But it is hard to keep defending a religion that produces reactions that are like a spoiled child. If Mohammed is going to grow up and be a man one day, his protectors are going to have to let him get hurt and insulted from time to time. The world god created is cruel and unforgiving, if he wants to be a proper example for mankind, he needs to learn to be kind and forgiving.
Hmmm – so you don’t have to be a Christian to record a Christmas message?
If the BBC were recording ‘Ramadan messages’ to the world (which may very well happen one day – if it hasn’t already) I’m quite sure that they wouldn’t have Jews, Christians, Hindus or other non-muslims sharing their thoughts. Muslims would be ofended to hear non-muslims giving such messages, regardless of their content, and for once they’d have grounds for their offence. But no such consideration for Christians on their second most important day.
If the point is really to say something about the coming year then shouldn’t the BBC have a New Year’s Day Message and broadcast it either on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day? A Christmas Message from a non-Christian seems to me inappropriate and tactless and displays an insensitivity that the BBC would probably not show in the case of any other faith.
mubaraka ssesanga in kampala uganda
If you called me a teddy bear, I wouldn’t care. You would fight? It must such to be that insecure. Why don’t you seek psychiatric help for your insecurities?
Good Morning Ros,
The Annapolis talks are aimed mainly at attempting to dress up George W’s final short time in Office, in the hopes that it may help with the contributions to his Presidential Library.
The Jewish/Israeli Lobbyists in the US and Britain are the most powerful in the world. It is well known that any MP or Senator who does not support issues which aid the Israeli cause, will be be out of work within short order and may find themselves in even deeper trouble.
The two irrefutable facts which we should all understand are:-
1) In 1916 the Sykes-Picot agreement between Britain, France, Russia and The League of Nations, allocated to the three countries above influence and Mandates over the Ottoman Arab territories.
Britain accepted the Palestine Mandate and in 1918 issued a “Special Message” from the British Government, delivered by Commander David George Hogarth to the Indigenous peoples of Palestine saying :-
“The Entente Powers are determined that the Arab race shall be given full opportunity of once again forming a Nation in the world and that so far as Palestine is concerned, we are determined that no people shall be subject to another”.
Six months later via General Allenby came the following statement:-
“It is the wish and desire of His Majesty’s Government that the future government of of these regions should be based upon the principle of the consent of the governed, and this policy has and will continue to have the support of His Majesty’s Government”.
It is interesting that five years before these statements were made the British Government had given assurances to the Zionist Organization regarding the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine.
2) In 1918 US President Wilson implemented the ” King-Crane Commission” ( Henry King and Charles Crane) to look again at the events in Palestine since the British Mandate took effect and to make recommendations based on his “principle of self determination for Palestine”
The Commission’s report, which sided with the right of Palestinians to have self determination, coincided with Wilson’ death in 1921 and hence the report was suppressed and not publicized for twenty years. Wilson’s death was a disaster for the people of Palestine.
Every effort made by Britain France and the US to reach agreements which would give some respite to the Palestinians was thwarted, in the main by Lord Balfour and Winston Churchill, who had both been party to the original commitments to their Jewish constituents and the Zionist Organization in 1912.
Now lets get back to today’s question ” What hope at Annapolis?” NONE
Regards
Pat. Dowling
Edmonton, Canada
Dear Ros,
This “issue” about a teddy bear named Mohammed shows the ridiculousness of these religious tenets.
The idea that an allegedly loving,all-powerful God would feel insulted by the use of his Prophet´s name for a child´s toy shows just how immature and instable these people really are.
Since all people are under the biological essentiality of (even eventually) growing up, I think that such ideas and tenets are embarrassingly childish, and show me nothing more than the childish, frightened attitudes of the religious “thinkers”.
steven feld
Annapolis strikes me as a lose-lose meeting for the USA and Israel.
Nothing will be accomplished or it will be a disaster.
Nothing accomplished is simply not giving away the farm.
Disaster is giving away the strategic Golan Heights or other concessions to stage more attacks against Israel.
With the highest possible target of the meeting nothing, I do not sense it to our advantage.
I am optimistic; an end of meeting announcement of “Nothing Accomplished” with fanfare and a drum roll.
George
Susan Blatt
Portland, Oregon, USA
No matter what deal is signed, Mahmoud Abbas can’t deliver it, his power ends at the door to his office, it’s the Fatah and Hamas gangsters who own the streets. That is why, no matter what Israel offers, Abbas will have no choice but to reject it. He can’t admit he can’t deliver, so he’ll pretend that what they offered wasn’t good enough.
Quote
Does calling a teddy Mohammad deserve pubishment?
Unquote
Dear Oh! Dear Mr. Atkins!
Is that a faux pas or what?
Pub-ishment in place of Pun-ishment.
Reminds me of an English saying:
“A slip of the tongue is the false of the mind
and those who correct it are very unkind!”
Cheers! I am going have some beer & enjoy my pubishment!
Yogesh Raja, UK
Why don’t they appreciate in Sudan that the British teacher is promoting name of Mohamed rather damage it because she is not claiming that the teddy represents Mohamed. Since she wants children to love Teddy she probably loved them to give the best name of their choice. in other words it is obvious that children and also the teacher is promoting name Mohamed rather than harming it and yet gets punished is wrong.
I hope this makes sense in proving that an innocent person is getting punished when in reality she has done a good deed.
Stories like this give insanity a bad name.
John in Salem
FRANK in Italy
At the Middle East conference I hope political leaders put into practise their overwhelming desire of peace!
Waswa. Uganda
What’s wrong with that? Mohammed is just a name and anything can be named Mohammed. Muslims should stop fighting for a name, instead fight for the values of Islam.
IYASELE , NIGERIA
What’s all the furore over this teacher’s case? Is it because she is British? I didn’t hear any international outcry when a Saudi woman was sentenced to be whipped for being a victim of rape.
Iyasele, there was tons of outcry for that rape victim. It was on all the talk shows here in the US, and people are absolutely dumbfounded by the barbarity in muslim countries. Rape victims get jailed and whipped, teahcers get arrested for teddy bears. I cannot understand why the lefties defend such intolerant people.
Ahmed from Merka,Somalia.
It is unfair the detention of the British teacher in Sudan because she might not have allowed the kids to name the teddy bear Mohamed if she had known that such a move would create a controversy and offend Sudanese and Islamic values.
Ros and other beautiful listeners,
I don’t have a lot of experience with this concept, but it’s an honest one. Why can’t the greater good in society, have an effect on the ignorant and misguided? I don’t know if that has anything to do with religion, but it should be a simple point that all of us listeners in the world of this broadcast should understand. Any comments are greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Joey
Colorado, USA
Dr Khan
It’s evident from history that God has always destroyed the people and their empires who insulted the Prophets or the revealed religions.
Is there a Really a law in sudan that says teddy bears should not be name Mohammed???
Hamid from Kabul.
I don’t know why these people have problem with profit Mohammed, and I say she should be punished to be a leston for the others in the future.
… this …this is a joke right?
people named Mohammed strap bombs to their chests and murder people in the same name of Mohammed and yet they turn around and feel justified at being ticked off that some little kids named a teddy bear after him??!?
where’s the perspective!
flog her… you’re kidding, right?
i’d choose stuffed animals over bombs any day!
let the woman get back to her job of educating children.
people, get over yourselves.
Ayleen
Portland, Oregon, USA
This is crazy. So she made a MISTAKE, she wasn’t being intentionally rude. Kids likely chose the name because it’s a name that means a lot to them. kids often name animals after people they know and love and want to honor.
This was not criminal. Maybe naive but definitely not criminal. The government is being overreactive.
Your guest laments that it is ‘open season’ to insult Islam in the world today. Perhaps Islam would not invite such pointed criticism if it did not condone and inspire such ridiculous and obscene behavior as we witness today. If religious-based law has ANY place in the modern world (a proposition with which I do not agree) then it can only be imposed against members of its own faith.
If Britain were to imprison a Muslim woman for failing to baptize her children in the Church of England, or for eating meat instead of fish on a Friday, the Muslim world would consume itself in a paroxysm of riot and murder.
Travis in Ghana
I know several Mohammeds whom I would variously describe as stupid, lazy, or poor Muslims. Shouldn’t this be much more of an insult to the prophet than giving the name to a teddy bear (whom I generally know to be comforting and/or adorable)?
Yvonne from Ghana.
Don t they see that their Prophet is very important for someone to name a teddy after him! It was choice of the children,why should the teacher pay?Sudan should not start a war when there is no cause for one.
Ogoto Juba,Sudan
What’s wrong with naming animals after people or vice versa? Arab &Islamic culture have a lot of this.Could it have been an issue if the bear was lion?
Eseosa Nigeria
It’s so funny, Mohammed is a name. People are given such name.The name doesn’t mean the prophet. If it’s so sacred, then reserve it for the prophet only.
Uswege Mwaipyana
Dar Es Salaa. Tanzania
The best way to defend Mohammad is to do good deeds he commanded. What is of more concern bombing and killing people (like what is happening in Dafur) or calling a teddy bear Mohammed?
Laws to protect everybody in Sudan?? would that include the people in Darfur??? Or is this not the same country???
Listening to this show, has made me thank my lucky stars I live in a secular country. Even facing the possiblity of getting flogged for the name of a teddy bear while that same country is committing genocide in Darfur, is simply unbelievable. We in the west are truly blessed to not live in countries like Sudan and any place where they have Sharia.
Steve
USA
This is absolutely ridiculous!!!! I respect the peaceful tenants of Islam, as I respect the peaceful tenants of all religions, but Muslims need to stop this, it shows how backwards and archaic the religion is for a majority of its followers. It is a NAME! This is as useless as rioting because there were pictures of Muhammad in a Dutch paper. Islam and the Muslim world need to step into the twenty first century, and leave the 7th century in the past!!!! Christians have acted this way in the past, and it took several hundred years to overcome the backwardness that dominated Christianity and led to the pointless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people!!!!
Mason
Some Muslims abuse Islam everyday by allowing fanatics to make a mockery of the tenents of the faith through the mass murder of innocents and suicide, and by allowing the abuse of women’s rights and oppression of freedom of speech and thought. I am not persuaded by the outcry of some of the speakers on this program that this example of an innocent incident involving the Prophet’s name is worthy of this kind of punishment. It is indicative of a schizofrenic view of the world. If a man names his child after the Prophet, and then the child goes on to commit blasphemy, should the parent be punished for referring to his child by name? It is the same logic here used to punish the teacher. Further, it is only the foreign teacher being punished, and not the children who actually named the toy? It is tortured logic that would allow this kind of ruling to exist in the first place.
Zachary
Houston, Texas
Andy Robinson
Yet again we have zealots abusing Islam and insisting that children are not allowed to call their teddy Mohammed but vilifying a teacher for this. First – who was the person in that school who reported the teacher? Second – perhaps he/she would like their child/children to go to a madrassa (Arabic for school) and be taught to be a suicide bomber!
Banks, Amsterdam
Forget Annapolis. Pure grandstanding by Bush administration. Nothing whatsoever will come of it.
When this story first broke it struck me as a reaction typified by those who attempt to deny freedom of speech. That is to say the question is qualified by whether this teacher had the right to let the children name the teddy bear according to the law rather than what the name was. So who has the right to deny those children the freedom to name the teddy bear? If it’s the government the issue cannot be over the ‘name’ but it has to be the right ‘to name’. So at that point the principles causing national disaster are those of the governing power in this case.
The exact reason why there is no freedom under this type of government is the same reason those who deny history are given a platform of speech. Isn’t it time to stop denying children’s rights in favor of rhetorical statements of rule?
Muhammad is the most common boy’s name in Muslim countries. Where I live, at least a quarter of all boys are named Mohd something-or-another (Mohd is just a different spelling of Muhammad).
We do not know that the kids were even thinking of the prophet when they voted on the name. Perhaps they were thinking that the teddy bear reminds them of the boy down the hall, or their father, or brother, friend, teacher, etc, who coincidentally were called Muhammad.
craig portland oregon
This teddy bear issue is symptomatic of the petty squabbling that keeps the middle east in conflict….
Given that Sudan is currently engaged in unbelievable atrocities in Darfur, it’s hardly surprising that an ignorant and savage regime would seize upon any distraction from this situation. If the children voted to name the bear Mohammed, it seems it’s the children that ought to be punished.
Richard Posner
Portland, Oregon, USA
The real issue is why religious nuts (Islamic or otherwise)are given audience in such matters. What a waste. Hitchens was right.
Bradley Zane
Morro Bay, Ca
islam as a religion will have a hardtime in this world if they react to such issues,I wanted to join islam but it scares me .
brando keabilwe
Syria couldn’t come to the table before because Bush wouldn’t let them! How is finally let them come a success on Bush’s part?
Kim Olson, USA
I’d like to believe there is hope for a settlement and I think there can be if both sides are truly willing to compromise. I have no hope at all that Bush can help achieve this. He doesn’t have a coherent foreign policy and has damaged our reputation in the world so much that we have no moral standing to broker this or any other conflict.
Mary Knocke
Oregon, USA
Phil Emery, USA
I cannot help but feel that it is time to come to the realization that our country (USA) can no longer be the police of the entire planet. It seems that Bush wants to make his cabinet look good, but how can we be the platform for peace when we are causing havoc in Iraq and the middle east? It just doesn’t make sense.
Nothing will come out from this get-together. As far as there is occupation. if Israel is serious , why not jus get out of all Palestine lands. America is the only country can help make pease there, but, UNFORTUNATELY SHE WON’T.
From Ousman Njie Cairo Egypt
Cliff Boehm, USA
Truthfully it is very hard for even us Americans to swallow the image of Bush as a peacekeeper. Many Americans including myself see him as a blood and oil thirsty man. I feel that what he is doing is akin to the idea of carbon offsetting… making peace in one place to offset all the war and violence he has created in another.
Your Palestinian guest’s silence when asked if not the US than who could help the peace process along in the Mideast sums up your discussion, and the summit in Annapolis.
Silence. How sad, despite all the talk, the words, the hopes.
Thomas Marzahl
Berlin, Germany
Doug Whyte, USA
I can’t believe I am sitting in Portland, Oregon USA listening to a story about what a teacher named a Teddy Bear across the world. It is comical. To me, a religion’s house of cards is pretty shaky if something like this stirs up so much controversy.
Would the prophet Mohammad object to children using his name for a teddy bear – something that children hug, love and feel comfort with? And if Mohammed would not object with children loving something with his name then why would his followers object?
Mark Pike
Streetsboro, Ohio
Hi…
Im an indian muslim…and i think its absolutely ridiculous that the poor woman is getting 40 lashes for something like this. First of all.. if this incident is offensive to certain muslims, how dare they name their children ‘Mohammad’…how dare they give their children the privilige of being called “Mohammad”. Ridiculous. I have no idea why muslims are creating such hassles and issues for themselves. As if we arent already being scrutinized everywhere we go. Islam is a beautiful religion…but unfortunately because of those who preach it..its become one of the most infamous religions in the world.
No. I don’t think Bush is doing anything other than trying to have his terms in office end on a positive note so that he will be remember for something other than the war in Iraq and turning our country into a disgrace.
Heather Mann
Houston, TX
This a sham! This is just Condi Rice trying to get her Nobel Peace Prize! The Bush Group has absolutely no credibility in working for actual Peace anywhere!
Tom D Ford, USA
I am happy the President Bush is taking the steps to gain a more peaceful environment in the Middle east however I worry that he has alternative motives. Any good that can come from this no matter at what capacity is a positive step towards peace.
Kent
Iowa(US)
Has the world gone mad? HOW, HOW, can this be seen as an insult. Teddy bears are a symbol of a childs love and affection, beyond that it is merely symbolic of a soft play-thing for a child to care for.
We all see so many murderous, terrorizing men killing innocent people and preaching death and destruction, who go by the name of Mohammed.
Yet the outrage is at a woman who names a childhood symbol of love and innocence by this name…not the murderers or terrorists who use it.
Any muslim who see’s this as an insult really needs to look at the world through some rational and logical glasses, because anger at this woman is not only unfounded and ridiculous, it is one of the single greatest threats to stability and peace.
People need to calm down and realize it is the murderers and the preachers of hate (who do so in the name of Mohammed) who are the problem, not those who utilize the name for love and a childs happiness.
Any childhood fantasies I might have harboured of renaming my old Teddy M******d have for years been shattered by Latter-Day Islamist extremists.
I only hope like hades that Edward-the-Bear wasn’t a Follower of that Other Faith…. the Religion based on The Execution
Precept Vs Practice!
Think about it!
The entire issue of the teacher whose charges named a Teddybear Mohammed brings up two important points that BBC conveniently overlooks.
1. When you are in another country, you behave according to their laws, their cultural paradyme, not your own. If you do not obey their laws whether you violate them knowingly or not, you must face the consequences. Therefore, know before you go and if you don’t know or don’t like their laws, don’t go there but don’t complain after the fact. It’s too late for her now. How do you like it when they violate the laws of Britain with acts that are perfectly accepted in their culture and nation like sexual mutilation of little girls (female circumcision) or arranged child marriages. What do you say about it when those acts are committed in Britain? These are our laws and here you must obey them. For that woman, the shoe is now on the other foot. In their eyes, she is the criminal
2. Islamic laws are irrational, barbaric, not fair, not reasonable, and skewed towards imposing Islam on everyone and anyone. They are inconsistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrined in the Charter of the UN but often ignored by its members. They are incompatible with modern civilization many Moslems say they want to share with the rest of the world. They do exactly what you are doing right now, trying to justify the imposition of your values on their country. If you really want to do that, educate your audience so that they won’t go there on the possibility of being punished for violating a law they don’t understand or agree with until it is repealed and made safe for civilized people like us to visit.
I understand and respect the rights of a country to enforce the laws of its land. But the issue at hand is intent; did the British school teacher intend to insult the Prophet Mohammed by naming the teddy bear Mohammed? From all that I have heard, it seems that the students choose the name Mohammed and not the teacher. If you want to blame anyone, blame the students.
>Why so much scepticism?
Why not? The Palestinians have yet to seriously fullfill any of their obligations in all the agreements since Oslo.
The Palestinians have indoctrinated their youth since Oslo to desire to kill Jews and Jihadi maryters.
Yassir Arafat told his people in Arabic that the treaties he makes with Israel are in the example of the prophet.. referring to the Islamic doctrine of hudna , which means a false truce whose purpose is to allow the Muslim side of a confict to regroup and then attack the other side once strong enough.
The Palestianians have been firing rockets at Israel nearly EVERY DAY since the end of the occupation in Gaza.
By any objecive measure, because of the Palestinian obsession with war, occupation brings peace, concessions bring war. This is the result of the twisted mindset in the Palestinians.
My words are harsh, but they are the truth. If they are wrong then please correct them directly… not by analogy or comparsion or references to other things.
Syria couldn’t come to the table before because Bush wouldn’t let them! How is finally let them come a success on Bush’s part?
Kim Olson
Portland, Oregon, USA
Truthfully it is very hard for even us Americans to swallow the image of Bush as a peacekeeper. Many Americans including myself see him as a blood and oil thirsty man. I feel that what he is doing is akin to the idea of carbon offsetting… making peace in one place to offset all the war and violence he has created in another.
Cliff R. Boehm
I cannot help but feel that it is time to come to the realization that our country (USA) can no longer be the police of the entire planet. It seems that Bush wants to make his cabinet look good, but how can we be the platform for peace when we are causing havoc in Iraq and the middle east? It just doesn’t make sense.
Phil Emery
1) Inreview site quote…
‘King David established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel around 1000 BCE. King Solomon built the Jewish Temple about 960 BCE. This was almost 1000 years before the beginning of Christianity and 1600 years before the rise of Islam. As Prime Minister Barak has noted, “When Jesus came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts, he didn’t come to a church or a mosque, he came to the [Jewish] Temple.” It is not the Church Mount or the Mosque Mount that is fought over, it is the Temple Mount. It was the Temple Mount centuries before Christianity tried to make it the Church Mount and Islam tried to make it the Mosque Mount.’
2)Zechariahs Warning to Bush & Condy – by Hal Lindsay (USA)…
Zechariah 12:3 “And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
You know, I fear for both President Bush and Secretary Rice. I also fear for my beloved country. They must be ignorant of a prophecy God made 2,500 years ago through the Hebrew prophet Zechariah. It applies to this precise time and situation in history. God said, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. …” The people surrounding Jerusalem are all the current Muslim nations. As predicted, they have become intoxicated over possessing Jerusalem. Like drunken people, their emotions, inflamed with religious zeal, are causing them to do unwise, reckless and violent things. The truth is hardly any Muslims travelled to visit Jerusalem before the Jews returned to it. Now you would think there is no other holy place on earth as important to them.
These are the exact conditions Zechariah predicted would be part of the last stages of this age. He continues, “And it shall happen in that day that I WILL make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for ALL PEOPLES. …” – meaning the entire world. Now here’s the punch line:
“ALL WHO WOULD SEEK TO HEAVE IT AWAY WILL SURELY BE CUT IN PIECES.”
The original Hebrew makes the meaning of this even clearer. It reveals that everyone who tries to remove the heavy burden of the Jerusalem crisis will be utterly destroyed for getting involved with it. Isaac and Ishmael’s fight over possession of Jerusalem has drawn the whole world into it – just as the prophets predicted. It is the culmination of Ishmael’s 4,000-year-old hatred of his half-brother Isaac, the forefather of the Israelites.
I pray that somehow this message will get through to President Bush and Secretary Rice. This prophecy applies to this very moment in which we live. And in light of what they are forcing on Israel, it applies to them personally.
While Bush and Rice strive to create legacies for themselves – just as most presidents have tried to do with the Middle East conflict for the last 40 years – they not only endanger themselves, but also endanger this nation with the divine curse promised above. Mr. President, there is nothing on this earth worth what you are doing. In the power of God’s Spirit, I warn them both, “Stop, before it’s too late!”
Will Davies
The Sudanese jail sentencing of the schoolteacher over the Mohammed Teddy Bear incident is based on the same logic as the sentencing of the Saudi rape victim to 200 lashes, or indeed the systematic mutilation of young girls’ genitalia.
You might say that such logic is not for Westerners to understand, as they are dealing here with a way of thinking irreconcilable with their own Western values. In fact, Islamic logic is reminiscent of Christian logic of the Spanish Inquisition in the Middle Ages. It is as if the Middle Ages were allowed to coexist with modern times.
Teddy Mohammed
I just think that they are over reacting.
Having said that , I obviously don’t know sudanese culture.
Her being english( if I heard correctly) I would suggest should warrant for leniency given that she is from a country where such a thing might not have caused the problems it does in sudan.
Claudio
thanks for the tip, zak. the video about the 70-year-old female holocaust survivor being strip-searched by israeli soldiers (just because she’s a palestinian sympathiser) was harrowing.
also check out this interesting blog:
http://sleepercellayearehcue.blogspot.com
today’s post title seems a bit strong, but the content is good. the “thanksgiving day in palestine” post from 11/22 is also interesting. leave comments and pass the word about this blog. it’s semi-cool.
Ahmed Shaikh
If Mrs Gibbons had known better what will be the outcome,when she decided to ask young children in her own classroom to draw a Teddy bear and then call it Mohammed, she would have abstained from it.May be she didnot know for sure the sensation that died away on the Denish CARTOONS in 2005 and still there are some that are coming back.She never noticed the growing anti-Western sentiments in Sudan nowadays over the on going crisis in Darfur.It is there where Mrs Gibbons foud herself caught up in the middle due to her bad mistake that she has already made.Now,she has put her family and friends into a total nightmare.Although,Sudan has no Islamic law(Sharia),they will rather use the drawing as a pretext to punish her and be able to raise awareness to the Musilm world about how the West is against Islam.It will be a tricky business if a lone gun-man on hearing the news entered the compound and snatched her away to an unknown location,but thanks be to Allah the authority had to step in and arrest her quickly.I think Mrs Gibbon does not deserve such punishments at all like-6 months in jail a fine and 40 lashes.She must be forgiven for what she had done by offending the Muslims.The children only said Muhammad not Prophet(P.B.O.H).Mrs Gibbons was not the first person to insult Islam and will not be the last.Iam very much pre-occupied about some people who feel that because they live in a free and democratic world they will use their freedom of speech to insult others.Freespeech without a limit according to my understanding is like crossing a railway line while the red lights have turned red.
Pat Dowling of Edmonton, I can’t let your comments pass without noting that you are ignoring many other irrefutable facts that are just as or more important than the two you mention. One example: The United Nations gave the Palestinian people a country with defined borders after WWII, which they rejected in favor of war.
I see in the news today that the Japanese are working on technology which will translate brain waves into readable language. Why do they bother when so many people on this blog are such good mindreaders that they already know exactly why world leaders like Bush do the things they do, such as holding a conference aimed at promoting peace in a highly volatile area of the world?
When one travels or lives in a country not her own, it is prudent to understand that while in that country, its laws apply, not those of her country of origin. Even so, it is not unusual for countries to be reasonably tolerant toward the stranger in their midst. Why This wasn’t the case for the teacher in Sudan, I can’t imagine. Perhaps it is because she was working in the country rather than just there as a tourist.
The people who make these rules cannot understand respect if it is not accompanied with fear.
Cheating in sports by enhancing drugs to win is not good and are suppose to be criminals that should be punished severely.It will be quite unfortinate for athlets to behave in such an unacceptabe attudes.This,however,tarnishes the good image of the country they represent.It is anutter shame to think that when some one is found guilty of taking illict drugs to beat their opponents in a race.
“innocent” is not a word applicable for an act of a teacher. and more over for the name of prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) every body need to respect and before using it in such manner, need to be ready for the consequences that could happen. please note name of prophet jesus is never misused by any, including muslims and jews, then why the name of prophet Mohammed(P.B.U.H) be misused. and regarding punishment may be u feel its too much, but always there is a door of mercy open, so she can plead for mercy and forgiveness by the court, and InshaAllah she may be forgiven. i only mean to say that atleast we the edcated need to respect each other’s religion and sacred things.
Islam has once again shown itself to be a religion of foolish old MEN.
How can the Muslim world expect us to respect them?
This is very wrong!!!!! The teacher should NOT be punished! This is not in accordance with Islam which is a religion of peace and teaches kindness to all.
I understand Muslims being offended at the action, BUT this reaction is cruel and inhuman.
In all fairness, a code of conduct regarding respect for all faiths should be issued to prevent such future issues because many people might be unaware of how emotional people can get regarding their religion.
the title of this blog is true! no she didn’t deserve a
punishment…..
Dennis ~~Madrid, United States of America