Students at a UK university displayed a pineapple labeled "Mohammed" at a freshers' fair to promote discussion about blasphemy and free speech. Some Muslim students complained, and university staff told the students to remove the pineapple or leave. The students refused to remove it, citing freedom of expression. They were then forced to leave the fair. The incident sparked debate around balancing offense to religious beliefs and freedom of speech.

1. Pineapple named Mohammed causes row at university freshers’ fair 10/7/12 3:17 PM
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2. Pineapple named Mohammed causes row at university freshers’ fair 10/7/12 3:17 PM
+ Students at a UK university have responded
to claims that they “offended” the Muslim
prophet Mohammed by naming a pineapple
after him at a freshers’ fair.
The students who placed the exhibit there say
in a statement that it was to encourage
discussion about blasphemy.
This didn’t stop them from being given the
ultimatum: either the pineapple goes or you
do.
They took the latter option, and quit the
Freshers’ Fayre at the University of Reading.
One of the British papers that broke the story
last week was the Daily Mail, which says: “The Reading University Atheist, Humanist and
Secularist Society (RAHS) said they wanted to celebrate free speech and promote their
upcoming debate ‘Should we respect religion?’”
Students’ Union staff said the exhibit was causing “upset and distress” to Muslim students.
They were told to remove the pineapple.
“RAHS refused,” says the Mail, “citing that they had labelled the pineapple after the Islamic
prophet to ‘encourage discussion about blasphemy, religion, and liberty’.”
However, the RAHS is defending its actions in a detailed statement on Facebook.
“We spent several hours talking to other students and visitors, promoting the society and
encouraging people to attend our forthcoming discussion on the topic ‘Should we respect
religion?’,” the statement says.
“Among the material displayed on our stall was a pineapple. We labelled this pineapple
‘Mohammed’, to encourage discussion about blasphemy, religion, and liberty, as well as to
celebrate the fact that we live in a country in which free speech is protected, and where it is
lawful to call a pineapple by whatever name one chooses.”
The atheist students say that, towards the end of the day, a member of Reading University
Students’ Union (RUSU) staff said there had been complaints about the pineapple. Yet no
complaints had been made to anyone on the stall, say RAHS.
The statement continues:
Our commitment to freedom of expression meant that we refused to
remove the pineapple from our stall. After a few minutes, we were told by
another member of RUSU staff that “Either the pineapple goes, or you do”,
whereupon they seized the pineapple and tried to leave. However, the
pineapple was swiftly returned, and shortly was displayed again, with the
name Mohammed changed to that of Jesus.
Shortly afterwards, the second RUSU staff member returned and ordered
RAHS to leave the Freshers’ Fayre. At this point, a group of around five
students, some of whom self-identified as Muslim, approached the stall and
began to criticise us, asking and telling us to remove the pineapple.
Though these students mainly engaged in discussion, one removed the
label from the pineapple without our permission.
As the RUSU staff member merely raised his voice and shouted at the
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/334355 Page 2 of 4

3. Pineapple named Mohammed causes row at university freshers’ fair 10/7/12 3:17 PM
As the RUSU staff member merely raised his voice and shouted at the
RAHS president when he attempted to explain our position, we were
ultimately forced to leave the venue. However, several other societies at
the Fayre offered to continue distributing our leaflets, and we continued to
hand out leaflets outside the venue until we were again asked to leave by
RUSU staff members, this time accompanied by RUSU security staff.
The RAHS believes in freedom of expression. Our intent in displaying a
pineapple labelled “Mohammed” was to draw attention to cases where
religion has been used to limit this and other fundamental rights, such as
the imprisonment of Gillian Gibbons [a British teacher who allowed her
class of six-year-olds in a Sudanese school to name a teddy bear
Mohammed; see video above]. We did not expect to be forced out of the
Freshers’ Fayre because of a pineapple, and we are disappointed that
RUSU took this action.
The RAHS invites anyone who is interested to attend our Think & Drink
event on the topic of “Should we respect religion?” at 14:00 on Tuesday
16th October at Mojos, Student Union Bar.
The Daily Mail story quotes a blogger on the subject of student rights, who says the union was
wrong to censor the atheists. “Extremes of free speech should be limited to ensure that they
do not become hate speech,” says the blogger, Rupert Sutton.
“However, students do not have the right to impose their religious sensibilities on others and
they must accept that they may be offended by those who do not share their convictions.
“Whilst this action by the RAHS may have been provocative, they should have every right to
do it.
“Instead of closing down debate, Reading University Student Union (RUSU) should be
encouraging students to interact with one another rather than pandering to the hurt feelings of
the devout.”
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Social Comments () Digital Journal Comments (2)
1 subscriber Subscribe To Thread
4 hours ago by Steve Hayes #1
All they need to do is run a slate at the next student union elections and vote this lot out.
quote
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/334355 Page 3 of 4

4. Pineapple named Mohammed causes row at university freshers’ fair 10/7/12 3:17 PM
3 hours ago by Anne Sewell #2
I think I'll call my next pet Mohammed. Its a name, so why not.
quote
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