Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Iraqi who threw shoe at Bush gaining fame
By Los Angeles Times
URL: http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BIKLRE58H84
BAGHDAD - In the few seconds it took Iraqi journalist Muntather Zaidi to wing a pair of shoes at President George W. Bush, the Middle East got its own version of Joe the Plumber.
Just as Joe Wurzelbacher’s gripes to Barack Obama during the U.S. presidential election catapulted him to fame, Zaidi’s burst of rage toward Bush during a Baghdad news conference Sunday has made him a household name across the Middle East.
To many people, Zaidi is a hero for engaging in the ultimate Arab world insult - hurling his shoes - at Bush, who ducked to avoid being slammed in the head. To others, Zaidi is an embarrassment for a society that prides itself on being hospitable to guests, even those who are not much liked. However his act is viewed, there’s no question that Zaidi, like Wurzelbacher, is no longer just another Joe.
That probably will create headaches for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government as it decides what to do with the 29-year-old satellite TV correspondent, who remained in custody Monday night. To throw the book at the shoe tosser would fuel anger toward al-Maliki and elevate Zaidi to martyrdom among many people in Iraq and the Middle East; to drop the case would amount to ignoring a security and social breach committed on international TV - and shown seemingly nonstop since - not only against Bush but also against his host, al-Maliki.
‘For anyone to behave that way ... is just too humiliating and unbelievable,’ said Tariq Harb, a leading Iraqi lawyer. He said there are laws against assaulting a foreign leader who is a guest in Iraq that would apply in Zaidi’s case.
By Monday, the burgeoning Arab online scene was bursting with positive commentary, poems and even an online fan club for Zaidi on Facebook, which quickly accumulated more than 280 members, with people weighing in from Tirana, Albania, to Fargo, N.D.
‘The famous shoes should be exhibited in a museum, as they resembled a rocket that talks on behalf of all Iraqis,’ a visitor named Zahraa wrote on another Web site.
Baghdadiya, the Cairo, Egypt-based TV channel that employs Zaidi, demanded his release from custody and urged other media outlets to do the same. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, called Zaidi a ‘hero’ during an interview on the satellite news channel Al Jazeera and offered to defend him in court. A charity group run by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s daughter Aicha said it planned to give Zaidi an award for bravery. ‘Because what he did represents a victory for human rights across the world,’ Aicha Gadhafi said.
But across the Arab world, the reaction was mixed. In Iraq many journalists said the act reflected poorly on them, and some Iraqis who consider Bush a hero for ousting Saddam were mortified.
‘This is a serious precedent, that a journalist expresses his own opinion, and it will have negative impacts on other journalists working in Iraq,’ said Iyad Malah, a radio reporter in Baghdad. ‘I think we will be asked to take off our shoes when we are invited to press conferences.’
‘I had to take two Valiums,’ said pharmacist Abu Ali, who called the shoe-throwing an affront to his people’s dignity.
The government’s National Media Center denounced the act, and the deputy director of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, which advocates for media rights, also criticized Zaidi for acting in nonobjective manner.
L.A. Times-Washington Post
¶ 12/16/2008 04:28:00 pm By Los Angeles Times
URL: http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BIKLRE58H84
BAGHDAD - In the few seconds it took Iraqi journalist Muntather Zaidi to wing a pair of shoes at President George W. Bush, the Middle East got its own version of Joe the Plumber.
Just as Joe Wurzelbacher’s gripes to Barack Obama during the U.S. presidential election catapulted him to fame, Zaidi’s burst of rage toward Bush during a Baghdad news conference Sunday has made him a household name across the Middle East.
To many people, Zaidi is a hero for engaging in the ultimate Arab world insult - hurling his shoes - at Bush, who ducked to avoid being slammed in the head. To others, Zaidi is an embarrassment for a society that prides itself on being hospitable to guests, even those who are not much liked. However his act is viewed, there’s no question that Zaidi, like Wurzelbacher, is no longer just another Joe.
That probably will create headaches for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government as it decides what to do with the 29-year-old satellite TV correspondent, who remained in custody Monday night. To throw the book at the shoe tosser would fuel anger toward al-Maliki and elevate Zaidi to martyrdom among many people in Iraq and the Middle East; to drop the case would amount to ignoring a security and social breach committed on international TV - and shown seemingly nonstop since - not only against Bush but also against his host, al-Maliki.
‘For anyone to behave that way ... is just too humiliating and unbelievable,’ said Tariq Harb, a leading Iraqi lawyer. He said there are laws against assaulting a foreign leader who is a guest in Iraq that would apply in Zaidi’s case.
By Monday, the burgeoning Arab online scene was bursting with positive commentary, poems and even an online fan club for Zaidi on Facebook, which quickly accumulated more than 280 members, with people weighing in from Tirana, Albania, to Fargo, N.D.
‘The famous shoes should be exhibited in a museum, as they resembled a rocket that talks on behalf of all Iraqis,’ a visitor named Zahraa wrote on another Web site.
Baghdadiya, the Cairo, Egypt-based TV channel that employs Zaidi, demanded his release from custody and urged other media outlets to do the same. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, called Zaidi a ‘hero’ during an interview on the satellite news channel Al Jazeera and offered to defend him in court. A charity group run by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s daughter Aicha said it planned to give Zaidi an award for bravery. ‘Because what he did represents a victory for human rights across the world,’ Aicha Gadhafi said.
But across the Arab world, the reaction was mixed. In Iraq many journalists said the act reflected poorly on them, and some Iraqis who consider Bush a hero for ousting Saddam were mortified.
‘This is a serious precedent, that a journalist expresses his own opinion, and it will have negative impacts on other journalists working in Iraq,’ said Iyad Malah, a radio reporter in Baghdad. ‘I think we will be asked to take off our shoes when we are invited to press conferences.’
‘I had to take two Valiums,’ said pharmacist Abu Ali, who called the shoe-throwing an affront to his people’s dignity.
The government’s National Media Center denounced the act, and the deputy director of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, which advocates for media rights, also criticized Zaidi for acting in nonobjective manner.
L.A. Times-Washington Post
