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Article: The real moral of poor Mrs Gibbons's ordeal ; Sudan's release of English teacher Gillian Gibbons cannot disguise the intolerant nature of much of modern Islam, says one leading historian
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- December 4, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Evening Standard - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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BRITISH teacher Gillian Gibbons arrives back today. She was
pardoned by the Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, after being
jailed because the majority of her seven-yearold pupils voted to
call a teddy bear Mohammed. Children at Khartoum's Unity High School
are said to be delighted. A relieved Gibbons, who had been in Sudan
only four months, is reported as commenting: "I have great respect
for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone. I am
sorry if I caused any distress." All's well that ends well, then. We
can continue to regard events like those in Sudan as some barbaric
aberration.
Several aspects of this saga deserve comment. The least of these,
although it is ...