Much Ado About Something

Speaking of when religious conservatives attack, Sudanese officials jailed a British school teacher for her ghastly act of allowing the school children to name a teddy bear, Mohammad (gasp!).

Since there is not much else to worry about Sudan... right. It is hard not to see this as absurd, even from someone relatively non-judgmental as myself. However, there is a lot to learn about this, including the generally low state of mutual understanding in the world today -- one exacerbated by invasions, conflict and the irresponsible leaders stoking the flames.

There are glimpses of hope. BBC News asks in a quite sober way: when can the prophet's name be used? It finds that like almost everything else in Islam, opinions are divided depending on how strict the interpreter is. In short, Muslims cannot accuse the West of misunderstanding, and the West cannot accuse Muslims of acting as one unified, intolerant while, thanks to this BBC report.

Speaking of names, there is another way to look at this. The Teddy Bear is named after the 26th President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt -- an avowed imperialist who sought American colonies and ports around the world. I would not expect the offended officials and clerics to know this, but it signifies that historical context cannot be forgotten.

I wonder if part of the reason for her jailing is that she is British, an identity viewed in Sudan in light of Britain's own imperial aims, including the conquering and re-conquering of Sudan more than 100 years ago. Britain, as America's right-hand man in the War on Terror, is seen as invader junior throughout the Arab world.

It may be her cultural naivete, or this may be a form of historical recrimination. It may the mirror image of American policies towards foreign Muslims -- stick them with the law whenever you can. In the US, it is with "anti-terrorism laws." There, it is with "incitement to religious hatred" or "demeaning Islam" laws. It also hard not to see this in the context of the Mohammad cartoon fiasco in late 2005; something fresh in the minds of people on both sides.

Forces in both countries are not letting this be a small issue. CNN-International (the decent version of CNN) reported that leaflets distributed earlier this week by Muslim groups promised a "popular release of anger" at demonstrations called for Friday. It also said that British newspapers condemned this, and one called for sanctions and recalling the ambassador. It is pretty plain that the Teddy Bear incident is not just because of a Teddy Bear, nor about the 15 days in jail.