Anne Applebaum:
In a pattern that has also now become familiar, Western reaction to these events divided neatly along political and institutional lines. The British government, faced with a controversy involving a teddy bear, put on a straight face and began negotiations with Khartoum, gingerly using two Muslim members of Parliament as emissaries. The archbishop of Canterbury and British Muslim student groups regretted the “disproportionate” punishment, thus implying that a somewhat gentler one might have been more acceptable. Asked for its opinion on the matter by Fox News, the National Organization for Women said it was not taking a position at this time. Elsewhere, some criticized Gibbons as insensitive to Sudanese religion and culture.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/03/AR2007120301621.html?wpisrc=newsletter

See also:
http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/MuhammadTeddyBear/images/englehart.jpg