Interesting case in Avignon, France.
35-year-old Bouchra Bagour (along with her brother Zeyad) could get up to five years in prison and fined £39,000 for sending Jihad (her 3-year-old son) to school sporting a T-Shirt inscribed with "I am a bomb" on the front, and on the back "Jihad, born September 11", which he was. Allegedly.
The charges: "apologie de crime" (condoning, defending crime)
Neither Bouchra or her 29-year-old brother Zeyad thought anything of sending a boy named Jihad to school in that T-Shirt. During her trial Bouchra said, yes it was "tactless", but not meant as a provocation. Zeyad, who purchased the shirt for the boy, said that he too had no ulterior motives, since the boy was born on 9/11.
"It's the day of his birth I wanted to highlight, not the year," he told the court, according to the BBC.
Prosecutors believe it's "..
a direct and scandalous reference" to terrorism.
It could be, or just two incredibly stupid people.
What mother in the West, Arab-Muslim or not, would call her son Jihad, knowing full well the current connotation of that word? An organization that has thrown its support behind Bouchra and Zeyad, the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP), has said Jihad is common in the Arab-Muslim world, and that it was all an "innocent joke", but Jihad is
not common in the West.
I'm not sure what I think about jailing someone for stupidity, considering there are extremists in that country who
do deserve to be jailed for truly condoning and inciting violence. We shall see how it all turns out on April 10, when the court is expected to rule in the judgement.
What I find interesting, is that one would expect a mother who calls her son Jihad to be conservatively dressed, which she's not. No hijab, niqab or burqa.
Does she deserve to be a parent, probably not. Who knows what else is going on in that home of hers. Hopefully, if they do get off, police will keep an eye on them. Just in case.
Sources:
TelegraphUK, MSN
