Of Teddy Bears and Cartoons The unspoken rules.   Victor Davis
Hanson   Her crime? She inadvertently committed the felony of
allowing her class to name a teddy bear “Mohammad.”  The
teacher, Gillian Gibbons, has been pardoned by Sudan’s president
(after initially being sentenced to 15 days in prison) and sent
home to England. Yet that happy ending doesn’t erase the
reaction in the streets of Khartoum. The tired story behind
irrational anger in much of the Muslim world remains the same.
Likewise, the reaction to this madness is now stereotyped. Often
apologies — not condemnation — follow from contrite Westerners.
To prevent a recurrence, Western writers, filmmakers, teachers,
and religious figures quietly edit their work and restrict their
speech — but only when Islam is involved.   Few, though, ever
explain why it is that Muslims — not Hindus, Christians,
Buddhists, or atheists — are in the global news threatening to
kill someone over a toy or a cartoon or an opera.     New
mosques and conversions to Islam