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Last update - 00:16 16/12/2008
Arabs across Mideast hail reporter who hurled shoes at Bush
By News Agencies
Tags: Bush, Gadhafi, Israel news 

Iraqis and other Arabs erupted in glee Monday at the shoe attack on George W. Bush. Far from a joke, many in the Mideast saw the act by an Iraqi journalist as heroic, expressing the deep, personal contempt many feel for the American leader they blame for years of bloodshed, chaos and the suffering of civilians.

Images of Bush ducking the fast-flying shoes at a Baghdad press conference, aired repeatedly on Arab satellite TV networks, were cathartic for many in the Middle East, who have for years felt their own leaders kowtow to the American president.

So the sight of an average Arab standing up and making a public show of resentment was stunning. The pride, joy and bitterness it uncorked showed how many Arabs place their anger on Bush personally for what they see as a litany of crimes - chief among them the turmoil in Iraq and tens of thousands of Iraqi deaths since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
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The reaction explains in part the relief among Arabs over the election victory of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, seen as a repudiation of the Bush era. But it also highlights the task Obama will face in repairing America's image in the Mideast, where distrust of the U.S. has hampered a range of American policies, from containing Iran to pushing the peace process and democratic reform.

"Bush got what he deserves," said a Jordanian businessman, Raed Mansi, in Amman.

"I hope he got the message loud and clear: that he's loathed for his wrongdoing, for killing Muslim women and children in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine," the 52-year-old contractor said.

Some regional TV channels showed the footage from Sunday's press conference more than a dozen times in the space of several hours. The scene bounced around Internet networking sites like You Tube and Facebook, showing Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi standing, hurling both his shoes at Bush and shouting in Arabic, "this is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Zaidi, accused by the Iraqi government of a "barbaric and ignominious act", will be tried on charges of insulting the Iraqi state, said the Iraqi prime minister's media advisor, Yasin Majeed.


Shoes hold a special place in the Arab lexicon of insults as a show of contempt - effectively saying, you're lower than the dirt on my shoes. Even sitting with the sole of a shoe pointed at another person is seen as disrespectful.

The hurling of shoes at Bush on his last visit to Iraq as president made an ironic bookend to one of the first images after the 2003 U.S. invasion, when Iraqi opponents of deposed leader Saddam Hussein toppled one of his statues in Baghdad and hit it with their shoes.

Al-Zaidi attained instant hero status around the Arab world. At one Baghdad elementary school, a geography teacher asked her students if they had seen the footage of the shoe-throwing, then told them, All Iraqis should be proud of this Iraqi brave man, Muntadhar. History will remember him forever.

In Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City, thousands of supporters of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burned American flags to protest against Bush and called for the release of al-Zaidi, a 28-year-old Shiite who works for the private Iraqi TV station Al-Baghdadia.

What made al-Zaidi's defiance particularly resonant for many was their anger at autocratic Arab leaders who they have considered slavish followers of Bush's policies in the Middle East.

Abdel-Sattar Qassem, a Palestinian political science professor at the West Bank's An Najah University, wrote in an online commentary that "Bush wanted to end his bloody term hearing compliments and welcoming words from his collaborators in the Arab and Islamic world. But a shoe from a real Arab man summed up Bush's black history and told the entire world that the Arabs hold their head high."

The Iraq war is the most prominent cause of Arab resentment of Bush. Even many who were outraged at Shiite and Sunni militant groups for the killings of civilians and sectarian strife that tore the country apart ultimately blamed Bush for unleashing the chaos. Some accuse his administration of fueling Shiite-Sunni tensions across the region.

But more broadly, nearly every U.S. policy in the region became seen as part of a campaign to divide or subjugate Mideast nations, from Iran and Syria to Sudan and Somalia. His administration's war on terror was seen as a war on Muslims and Arabs in general, an image fueled by civilian deaths in Afghanistan and, in particular, the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

Bush was seen as heavily favoring Israel over the Palestinians. His administration's campaign to isolate the Palestinian militant group Hamas translated to the Arab public as an attempt to starve Palestinians in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The intense personal resentment of Bush may give Obama an automatic advantage in his attempts to repair the U.S. image.

Obama's race and his family ties to Islam have raised hope among some Arabs that he'll be more sympathetic to their views. Obama's aides have spoken of him delivering a major address in a Muslim capital early on in his administration to set a new tone.

But many in the Mideast say it will take more than symbolic gestures. The president-elect's promises to withdraw from Iraq and close Guantanamo have also raised Arab hopes. Another top demand is for a more balanced U.S. stance in the Arab-Israeli peace process.

But on Monday, Arabs were just glowing with pride over the farewell to Bush.

"I've watched the video over a dozen times on You Tube and was excited very time I see him [al-Zaidi] standing up and calling Bush a dog," said Tamer Ismail, 23-year-old art student in Cairo. "But I felt so bitter when he missed."



Libyan group gives courage award to shoe-throwing reporter

Meanwhile Monday, a Libyan charity group headed by the daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, bestowed an award of courage on Zaidi for the incident.

The charity group "Wa Attassimou" also urged the Iraqi government to release al-Zaidi from custody.

"Waatassimou group has taken the decision to give Muntazer al-Zaidi the courage award ... because what he did represents a victory for human rights across the world," the group, headed by Aicha Gadhafi, said in a statement.

The group said the Iraqi authorities should honor the journalist for his actions.

Aicha, a lawyer by training, was fiercely opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. She offered to defend Saddam Hussein after his capture by U.S. forces from an underground hideout at the end of 2003.

After years of tension between Libya and the United States there have been recent indications that ties between the two countries were warming.

Related articles:
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  • Gadhafi: Obama fears Israel will assassinate him like it did JFK
  • Libya's Gadhafi pitches tent, sets up barbecue in Kremlin garden
  • Libya accuses Israel of piracy for blocking Gaza aid ship
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      1.   In the meantime Gadhafi arrests journalists who disagree with him 19:12  |  Genuine Tosefta 15/12/08
      2.   Blind Fools 19:13  |  Jim 15/12/08
      3.   Courage Award? 20:27  |  Brad 15/12/08
      4.   Gadhafi`s Daughter Looks Okay 21:58  |  Yosemite 15/12/08
      5.   In Libya cyber-dissident charged with possession of a pistol 22:18  |  Genuine Tosefta 15/12/08
      6.   Someone saw it as courageous. 22:34  |  sandra chitayat 15/12/08
      7.   if someone threw a shoe at Gadhafi 22:40  |  David G 15/12/08
      8.   Where have all the lefty bleeding hearts to the rescue? 22:42  |  non-selective 15/12/08
      9.   Not only Arabs, all Humans suppot the shoe thrower 23:17  |  American 15/12/08
      10.   qadafi`s daughter intelligent and a hottie 23:28  |  zion losing fast 15/12/08
      11.   uncivilised behaviour 23:32  |  sWeis Melbourne 15/12/08
      12.   Alrighty then ... 23:50  |  Angel 15/12/08
      13.   I hated Bush till today! 23:56  |  sinalco 15/12/08
      14.   You Guys Really Know How to Praise Bush 23:59  |  Mark of Lewiston 15/12/08
      15.   #9 if u are really an american in NY ... 00:00  |  sinalco 16/12/08
      16.   Ingrates 00:00  |  Lee 16/12/08
      17.   Bush: A Real Shoe-In 00:04  |  eddie - Haifa 16/12/08
      18.   Holding heads high and flying shoes 00:06  |  allang 16/12/08
      19.   Stunned by the Bush reflex! 00:10  |  sinalco 16/12/08
      20.   @ 12 00:12  |  Kosh 16/12/08
      21.   Zaidi 00:20  |  Lola 16/12/08
      22.   To Sinalco in Beyrut 00:26  |  Uri 16/12/08
      23.   # 15 We all support him 00:26  |  Faris Zaidan 16/12/08
      24.   Shame 00:58  |  Sean 16/12/08
      25.   What an idiot!! 01:01  |  US CITIZEN 16/12/08
      26.   You Guys Really Know How to Praise Bush 01:13  |  Mark Lincoln 16/12/08
      27.   Not yet eddie 01:16  |  Mark Lincoln 16/12/08
      28.   Mission Accomplished 01:45  |  Capt Ahab 16/12/08
      29.   BUSH GOT OFF EASY 02:12  |  Arik Silverman 16/12/08
      30.   The Real Deal 02:21  |  guy 16/12/08
      31.   Gee, and then they wonder 02:29  |  utagawa 16/12/08
      32.   "Brave" journalist!? 02:40  |  Mojshe 16/12/08
      33.   Waist of Money throwing shoes 04:04  |  Fred 16/12/08
      34.   Shoes for Iraqis 04:10  |  A Shoe Phobist 16/12/08
      35.   should have left saddam insane in charge;wonder how many more 04:37  |  glenna 16/12/08
      36.   AMERICAN .Real Americans prefer the ballot box to resolve issues 04:43  |  PETER SM 16/12/08
      37.   Ah, but that`s the real shame of it all.... 05:30  |  Silvienne 16/12/08
      38.   Shame he did not try it against an Arab leader! 05:38  |  PETER SM 16/12/08
      39.   PETER SM - I vote for "dignified" protests, too. 05:54  |  PADDY 16/12/08
      40.   Bye, Iraqis 06:31  |  Jared 16/12/08
      41.   He should have thrown a bomb @ the bastard 06:31  |  Socialist 16/12/08
      42.   Fancy footwear and footwork 06:42  |  Morris Valentine 16/12/08
      43.   Funny show.. LOL 07:16  |  Efroim 16/12/08
      44.   austin powers 07:19  |  kivi 16/12/08
      45.   Netanyahu too deserves to be thrown by a pair of shoes 07:30  |  Aounist 16/12/08
      46.   Muslims: Always Blame Someone Else 07:36  |  RF 16/12/08
      47.   Shoe Throwing 08:37  |  Jeff 16/12/08
      48.   #40, RF... 09:08  |  Silvienne 16/12/08
      49.   #36, Morris Valentine... 09:09  |  Silvienne 16/12/08
      50.   real courage? 09:19  |  fish 16/12/08
      51.   Arabs should blame themselves 12:47  |  Sherlock Holmes 16/12/08
      52.   foot fetishes 13:02  |  bradgorm 16/12/08
      53.   Bush to the bush, Dear Holmes! 13:10  |  Dr Watson 16/12/08
      54.   US Citizen 13:51  |  Teresa-Maria 16/12/08
      55.   PADDY Sorry you missed the point in a democracy you have the righ 14:51  |  PETER SM 16/12/08
      56.   Either you`re with us or against us except for Israel 15:33  |  quote end quote 16/12/08
      57.   oing blonde and looking more like Westerners 17:14  |  Honesty 16/12/08
      58.   Zaidi a true hero 17:37  |  annie 16/12/08
      59.   #22 URI from astonia 18:27  |  sinalco 16/12/08
      60.   Gadhaffi`s Daughter - how come? 18:52  |  The Threadmill 16/12/08
      61.   If someone throw a shoe at Gadaffi, he/she will not need... 20:04  |  Israeli cititzen 16/12/08
      62.   #15 - Sinalco 20:54  |  Daniel 16/12/08
      63.   A coward man 20:55  |  Andrei 16/12/08
      64.   Maybe just maybe Bush will understand whom he`s dealing with 21:02  |  icue 16/12/08
      65.   shoe 21:57  |  dano 16/12/08
      66.   # 2 Jim 23:00  |  realistic arab 16/12/08
      67.   trowing shoes to a visitor is an insult to the host and his cntry 23:51  |  US from ME 16/12/08
      68.   PETER SM - Now you are just being silly! 00:52  |  PADDY 17/12/08
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