rssThrow Your Shoes at the Detention of Muntader al-Zaidi
Monday, December 15, 2008 at 9:54 am
- 19 Comments
According to the Associated Press, Muntader al-Zaidi’s shoe-throwing display of anger at George W. Bush is becoming a signal moment in the Middle East. The AP reports that Palestinian journalists are asking each other who’s going to throw their shoes at Condoleezza Rice. A jokey text message going around Saudi Arabia tells recipients that yesterday was the International Day for Shoes in Iraq.
What’s not funny is that back in Baghdad al-Zaidi is being interrogated, which probably means he’s being tortured. Iraqis are demanding his release, and for good reason: he’s not been charged with anything. Citing official sources, the AP reports that he’s being “tested for alcohol and drugs,” and I’d guess that the Maliki government is floating such un-Islamic behavior on al-Zaidi’s part as a way of preventing Iraqis from venerating him into a national hero while the government puts the screws to him.
The New York Times elegantly captured Bush’s repulsive response to the incident:
He also called the incident a sign of democracy, saying, “That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves,” as the man’s screaming could be heard outside.
Remarks like that make it easy to understand why al-Zaidi is getting reactions in the Middle East like this one:
“Al-Zeidi is the man,” said 42-year-old Jordanian businessman Samer Tabalat. “He did what Arab leaders failed to do.”
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19 Comments
Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 9:25 am
I prefer to throw smelly stinky socks at a image of mohammad.
Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 10:31 am
Fantastic! Al-Zeidi is a hero!
Free Al-Zeidi!
Free Al-Zeidi!
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Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
The man is a hero with a backbone. Unlike the American press, he stood up to a tyrant. Remember a few years ago at the Press Club dinner Bush “pretended” to look for the WMD in the oval office? The press sat there and laughed. Laughed while people were dying in Iraq, our soldiers and innocent men, women and children. The American press laughed. They should have walked out in protest. THAT is what a FREE SOCIETY does!
Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
I figure he'll be tortured by the Iraqi authorities and convicted on terrorism charges, because we can't let freedom of the press exist in the alleged Iraq democracy. I figure there are millions in the Mideast who wished they had done it first.
Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
Poor man, though a real man… a shame he will die in a terrible car crash or some weapons or drugs will be found in his house
Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
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Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
Free Al Muntader al-Zaidi, he is hero showing his real expression.
Comment posted December 15, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Petitions, don't just admire him, help him-
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/montather/
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m49604
Comment posted December 16, 2008 @ 7:07 am
Victor Raul Sotelo Tamayo, abogado
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=_SEoOXph7BA&featu…
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=00OXMzoWlVU&featu…
Comment posted December 17, 2008 @ 1:39 pm
al-Zaidi should be freed immediately, and given a gold medal by the billions of people around the world who would bury Bush in the shoes they would like to throw at him as well. I have a pair of Wellies, a pair of winter boots, two pairs of sneakers, four pairs of sandals, four pairs of dress shoes, a pair of slippers, and some flip-flops. That makes 14 pairs. In support of al-Zaidi's perfectly reasonable action, I symbolically throw 28 items of footwear at the same canine.
Comment posted December 18, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
Join the Facebook group “Free Muntader al-Zaidi” at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61837982904
Comment posted February 1, 2009 @ 10:02 am
Yea he is the man. Im feeling very sorry about him, here in Germany many ppl supported him. I did not knew that bush has gotten such a bad reputation in his own country?
Comment posted February 20, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
this somewhat absurd and isolated act speaks to the rage that has been focused on bush ever since he stated he would hold out against the will of the american people (with no other company than his dog) with regard to the iraqi occupation or any other issue, including the systematic gutting of wall street (oops)….leave george to his dog, let zaidi go, and be done with it.
Comment posted February 24, 2009 @ 12:17 pm
I hope everything works out ok for him
Comment posted February 24, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
I hope everything works out ok for him
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