An update on Gillian Gibbons and her encounter with Islamic hard-liners from our wire friends at AP.
She was convicted of insulting Islam and sentenced to two weeks in a Khartoum prison, nearly a third of which she’s already enjoyed. The prosecuters were attempting to inflict the harsher punishment of 40 lashes, a fine, and six months in jail for “inciting religious hatred”.
None of the parents had complained. Instead, a disgruntled office worker told the Ministry of Education that Gibbons had been actively insulting Islam. This brought the situation to the attention of some Islamic hard-liners who were delighted for the opportunity to thrash against the Great Satan.
The semi-official Assembly of the Ulemas, or Islamic clerics, said Wednesday that Gibbon’s action was “another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam.” They compared her action to the prophet cartoons run in European papers and to Salman Rushdie, the British author who was accused of blasphemy for his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses.” Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a religious edict calling for Rushdie’s death.
Gibbons herself tearfully denies any intention towards demeaning anyone, but they don’t really listen to what women have to say in Sudan. After her fortnight courtesy the Sudanese authorities, Gibbons will be unceremoniously drop kicked out of the country. One gets the sense that this was the compromise decision that truly satisfied no one.
This is an unfair story, with an unfair situation out of a episodic situation comedy. Once again, we’re impressed with the fact that when cultures collide, people would rather enforce their xenophobia than accept help from outsiders. That there was a fuss that lead to a court trial was bad enough. That it was started by a vengeful clerk (who was probably trying to take down the whole school) was even more appalling.
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