A fantastic Dickensian Day was
held in Formby village to mark the start of the
village Christmas celebrations. The event comprised
many stalls, fairground rides, brass bands, choirs,
the Agarmoeles Clog Dancers and other dance groups
like the Southport Swords, a Grand Parade and
countless people dressed in the traditional
Victorian costumes. Even the weather relented with a
quieter period, which allowed the throng to enjoy
what was on offer. The event was a huge success and
a fantastic spectacle to see, attracting people from
all over Merseyside and beyond. If this event was
good, then the next one, a massive Nativity event,
to be held at 11:00am, in centre of Formby Village
on Saturday, 15 December 2007, will be just as
stunning... Click
here
to see our photographic coverage.
Gillian Gibbons to fly
home
THIS event has been seen by
many as a massive breakdown of common-sense and left
many questioning what happened when the simple act
of calling a teddy bear, Muhammad, turned into an
international situation.
It all started back in September
2007, when Gillian Gibbon's class voted to name a
new class teddy bear Muhammad and this action was to
have huge repercussions around the world, as a
fellow teacher had taken offence and reported it to
the police.
By the 25 November 2007, things were
set to go very wrong, as the 54 year old, mother of
two, Gillian was then arrested for allegedly
insulting Islam's Prophet.
On the 28 November 2007, Mrs. Gibbons
was charged with insulting religion and inciting
hatred. By now protesters were calling for her to be
killed!The following day, on the 29 November, a
Sudanese court found her guilty of insulting Islam
and sentenced her to 15 days in prison and then
deportation.
After even more international
protests on 1 December 2007, two British Muslim
peers pressed Sudanese officials to pardon her. The
fantastic news then came out on 3 December 2007 when
Mrs. Gibbons was officially pardoned by Sudan's
president and freed from prison.
Ibrahim Mogra from the Muslim Council
of Britain told BBC News 24 that the whole saga had
been very damaging for the image of the Muslim
faith. "It could now lead some people to feel
that Islam has no place in modern society".
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Right
Reverend James Jones, told the media that:-
"An encouraging aspect of this episode has been the
leadership shown by the Muslim community in this
country. This will go a long way to relieving any
possible tension between the two faith communities.
We look forward to welcoming Gillian Gibbons back to
Liverpool."
But now many are questioning what
long-term impact this incident will have on society,
here and around the world. Also, as any political
correspondents are saying, "This stage-managed
pardoning of Mrs. Gibbons by Sudan's President Omar
al-Bashir, will have satisfied few within his
divided government and people."
One UK Muslim Leader, who does not
want to identified, told us that:- "It is good
to see that President Omar al-Bashir has taken this
sensible line, but it is distressing that this silly
incident should have happened. I think the Prophet
would have thought nothing of it. In fact he would
have been pleased to think the children thought so
much of him, to name the new toy after him. The
prophet Muhammad, himself, in his lifetime, has been
insulted by so many people and he has forgiven them.
So this was not Sharia law? No, this was politically
motivated. We hope the world will not see the Muslim
religion as one and the same. Sadly, the incidents
of late are clouding people's views and this will
only make it harder for people to see the true
nature of our religion."
