*********The pictures on TV told me all I need to know.*********


Many Canadians confused about teddy bear uproar
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...30eaf1db4c&p=1
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Sunday, December 09, 2007
The Embassy of the Sudan in Ottawa has received dozens of e-mails and phone calls
since the case of teacher Gillian Gibbons came into the news. Some of these e-mails
and calls are insulting and some are constructive and positive, but overall many
questions have been raised.

The embassy has tried its best to respond patiently to some of those e-mails and
phone calls, but it couldn't, of course, respond to all of them.

Although the case is now over, and has a happy ending, the embassy thought it might
be useful to give some explanations and answers to the various questions and concerns
of the public, with belief that public diplomacy is part of the embassy function.
From the beginning the case was considered as a legal case. The parents of the
children initiated the whole case, first by raising their complaints to the school
board so as to take action against the teacher, which in its turn decided to fire the
teacher from the school. Some of the parents went further and took the case to the
court because they assumed that the action is a criminal act against the faith of
Muslims. After investigating the case the the court found the teacher guilty under
article 125 of the Criminal Law, which criminalizes persons who disrespect or show
contempt for religions (any religion). According to the Sudan constitution in chapter
one, religion and faith are essential in the life of the Sudanese citizens, therefore
the state should protect them. The maximum penalty for this crime is six month in
prison, 40 lashes or a fine.

The defenders of the teacher (they are all Sudanese and well known lawyers) succeeded
in lessening the penalty to 15 days in jail and then deportation to Britain. She
received good treatment during her 11 days in jail (this was confirmed by Ms. Gibbon
herself and her lawyers and the British embassy staff). Responding to the appeal from
the British Muslim members of the House of Lords, the President of Sudan Omar Hassan
Al Bashir cancelled the remaining four days, and the teacher is finally back home.

Some of the Canadian public were confused about the case -- they couldn't
differentiate whether it's a legal or political case. Those who spilled out their
hatred (through e-mails and phone calls) towards the government of Sudan and its
embassy in Ottawa, did not give themselves the least chance to study the case
carefully before jumping into their unfair conclusions. Who demands justice from
others should apply that rule to oneself in the first place.

Although the Sudanese government must be fully aware of the political ramifications
of the case, it wisely left the justice procedures to take their place, in order,
first, to ascertain the independence of the legal system in Sudan, and, second, to
calm down the fury of some of the Sudanese public. The interference of the president
of Sudan was justified by the jurisdiction given to him under the constitution and
the law.

The debate about the Islamic law of Sudan, whether it reflects the true or the real
spirit of Islam, which was raised by some Canadian or British Muslims, is a common
and ongoing debate between Muslims, wherever there are differences on judgments.
These kinds of debates are going on even within a Muslim country. That is because
Muslims are always facing new challenges in their lives, especially when encountering
other cultures and religions, which demands sometimes reinterpretation of the
conventional (Fatawi), or judgments. This area is very sensitive and requires enough
knowledge and righteousness in order to participate in it.
The law in Sudan derives its legitimacy from Sharia laws and customs, according to
the constitution's chapter one. Of course, enacting of laws, or amending them
involves certain legal rules and institutions, and it's conducted through specialists
and experts both in law and religion fields.

The attempts of the West to classify Muslims into extremists and moderates is unfair.
Most of these classifications suffer from self-centrism and Western prejudices, and
sometimes lead to simplification of Islam.

My letter is meant mainly to explain things according to the sequences of the events
and according to the government perspective, but the words and some ideas are the
responsibility of myself as ambassador of Sudan. I hope this letter will put an end
to this case, and the embassy will not be obliged to respond to further letters or
phone-calls.
Faiza Taha, Ottawa

Ambassador of Sudan

On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:52:06 -0500, Paul Cox
wrote:


The attempts of the West to classify Muslims into extremists and moderates is unfair.
Most of these classifications suffer from self-centrism and Western prejudices, and
sometimes lead to simplification of Islam.


With of course, the occasional mass murder by suicide bomber to help
keep the old stereotypes alive, eh wot?

Gunner

Gunner wrote:
On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:52:06 -0500, Paul Cox
wrote:


The attempts of the West to classify Muslims into extremists and moderates is unfair.
Most of these classifications suffer from self-centrism and Western prejudices, and
sometimes lead to simplification of Islam.


With of course, the occasional mass murder by suicide bomber to help
keep the old stereotypes alive, eh wot?

Gunner

now now. There's plenty of Buddhist suicide bombings, oh wait, no there
aren't. My bad.

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:48:46 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

Gunner wrote:
On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:52:06 -0500, Paul Cox
wrote:


The attempts of the West to classify Muslims into extremists and moderates is unfair.
Most of these classifications suffer from self-centrism and Western prejudices, and
sometimes lead to simplification of Islam.


With of course, the occasional mass murder by suicide bomber to help
keep the old stereotypes alive, eh wot?

Gunner

now now. There's plenty of Buddhist suicide bombings, oh wait, no there
aren't. My bad.


And the Methodists....er..no..not them either.....

Anabaptists?....ah..erm...no


Gunner

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:30:46 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:48:46 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

Gunner wrote:
On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:52:06 -0500, Paul Cox
wrote:


The attempts of the West to classify Muslims into extremists and moderates is unfair.
Most of these classifications suffer from self-centrism and Western prejudices, and
sometimes lead to simplification of Islam.


With of course, the occasional mass murder by suicide bomber to help
keep the old stereotypes alive, eh wot?

Gunner

now now. There's plenty of Buddhist suicide bombings, oh wait, no there
aren't. My bad.


And the Methodists....er..no..not them either.....

Anabaptists?....ah..erm...no


Gunner


Bush and Bliar didn't even have the common decency to commit suicide :-(


Mark Rand
RTFM

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:02:07 +0000, Mark Rand
wrote:

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:30:46 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:48:46 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

Gunner wrote:
On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:52:06 -0500, Paul Cox
wrote:


The attempts of the West to classify Muslims into extremists and moderates is unfair.
Most of these classifications suffer from self-centrism and Western prejudices, and
sometimes lead to simplification of Islam.


With of course, the occasional mass murder by suicide bomber to help
keep the old stereotypes alive, eh wot?

Gunner

now now. There's plenty of Buddhist suicide bombings, oh wait, no there
aren't. My bad.


And the Methodists....er..no..not them either.....

Anabaptists?....ah..erm...no


Gunner


Bush and Bliar didn't even have the common decency to commit suicide :-(


Mark Rand
RTFM


Why should they? The war is going rather well in Iraq these days.
Even the Media has changed course...because "if it bleeds it leads"
and there is an ever decreasing amount of that, and the Iraqis
themselves are turning on the terrorists.

And the Leftwing Antiwar media simply cannot report on a war being
won, least of all by the US and Britian.

Gunner

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned
Gunner wrote on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:30:46
-0800 in rec.crafts.metalworking :
On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:48:46 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

Gunner wrote:
On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:52:06 -0500, Paul Cox
wrote:


The attempts of the West to classify Muslims into extremists and moderates is unfair.
Most of these classifications suffer from self-centrism and Western prejudices, and
sometimes lead to simplification of Islam.


With of course, the occasional mass murder by suicide bomber to help
keep the old stereotypes alive, eh wot?

Gunner

now now. There's plenty of Buddhist suicide bombings, oh wait, no there
aren't. My bad.


And the Methodists....er..no..not them either.....

Anabaptists?....ah..erm...no

Weirdness world: the first suicide bombers seem to have been Tamil
Tigers - they developed the vest bomb (including the packed bra.) Sri
Lanka is predominately Buddhist, but the Tamil seem to be Hindus.

reincarnation, a second chance. "Today is the first day of your new
life. But so was yesterday, and you didn't do anything then."


pyotr
--
pyotr filipivich
"Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. "
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD
(A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)