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December 02, 2007
Prediction: Teddy Bear Thing Started As Spite
This sentence is in one story: "The row erupted after a secretary at the school complained to the Sudanese authorities about the naming of the bear." I cannot find it but somewhere I came across a reference to the Teddy Bear Teacher as having apologized to a faculty member who was offended. Prediction: this will turn out to have started as a spite attack by someone in the school staff who, for whatever reason, did not personally like that teacher and found an issue to attack her on that would get the dopey and the offenderati riled up. Could be wrong here, but the spidey senses are starting to tingle as this kind of information trickles in.
Posted by Matthew Hogan at December 2, 2007 09:38 PM
Filed Under: Islam & Politics
, Islam General
, Islamism
, North Africa
, Political Development
, Religious Minorities
, Society & Culture
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Comments
Having worked in a variety of educational institutions at different levels and positions your intuition strikes me as remarkably spot on.
Posted by: zenpundit at December 2, 2007 10:23 PM
To be fair, most reports in the UK have referenced the fact that it seems to be a disgruntled administrator at the school who first raised the alarm. I think one paper even stated that she was noe the 'most reviled person in the school'.
Posted by: Meph at December 3, 2007 11:56 AM
others have suggested as much - http://www.blogistan.co.uk/blog/mt.php/2007/11/27/insult_what_insult#more
and what has been reported suggests that there's also tax and theft reasons behind the Sudanese gov't playing up the case
quote: Khartoum's Bishop Ezekiel Kondo, who is also chairman of the school council, said: "This is such a sensitive issue. I feel so sad that something so small could be built up into something so big. I feel the school is being targeted." The school, he said, was currently caught up in a dispute with local authorities over council tax. Other teachers suggested that some people wanted to get their hands on the school grounds.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2217664,00.html
Posted by: dawud at December 3, 2007 02:43 PM
