Bush and the shoe-thrower of Baghdad
 |
| Muntazer Al - Zaidi |
America's five-year presence in Iraq has been disastrous when measured in terms of losses. Those who recommended the attack, had expected that Americans landing in Iraq would be welcomed with flowers. Five years later, they are being pelted with shoes and anti-American sentiments run deeper across the Arab world. America itself appears stranded: what was meant to be a quick, scientific operation in search of "weapons of mass destruction" has turned into a war of attrition with the United States cast most ironically, in the role of a colonial force of occupation. Sadly, "the weapons of mass destruction" have not been found. George Bush was on a farewell visit to Iraq, but he got more than a full dose of the impact of his legacy in that country and the rest of the Arab world.
At a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, a correspondent with the Cairo-based Iraqi satellite television station, Al-Baghdadia, Muntazer al-Zaidi, removed his shoes, and hurled it across the hall, targeting President George Bush, 12 feet away. The shoe missed its target as Bush ducked and dodged. The furious journalist threw a second shoe, which again missed its target, calling Bush "a dog" and telling him "this is a farewell kiss from the widows and children of Iraq". Apart from Obama's election as American President, this qualifies clearly as the most extra-ordinary event of the year, 2008. Throwing a shoe at a person, showing a person the sole of one's shoe is regarded as the ultimate insult in the Arab world and some parts of Asia. The shoe is considered the lowest part of a person, and its sole, making permanent contact with earth, a symbol of dirt. Moslems usually do not wear shoes inside a mosque (this is forbidden) or even inside a home.
Choosing this symbol of dirt and contempt and throwing it at the President of the most powerful country in the world is an act of defiance that takes a top prize. A dog is also considered unclean by Arabs. President Bush has tried to make light of the incident, joking that the shoe thrown at him was a size 10 and that el-Zaidi's act of aggression is an "expression of democracy".
The matter is far more serious, and precisely, how serious it is can be seen in Arab reactions to al-Zaidi's rebellion and his celebration in other places where anti-Americanism thrives. For insulting George Bush, al-Zaidi is suddenly a hero of the Arab world. The office of the Iraqi Prime Minister has spoken of his "shameful and savage act that is not related to journalism in any way". But al-Zaidi's shoes have nonetheless united both Shiites and Sunnis, the Fatah and Hizbollah, and has become a symbol of Iraqi patriotism. Shoe-wielding protesters imitating his act are on the streets in Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian territory, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, calling for his release.
A Libyan charity led by Ghaddafi's daughter, Aisha has given him an award titled "order of courage". The Hizbollah in Lebanon, the Fatah and al-Zaidi's fellow Shiites have called him a "hero", and a group of Sunni Muslims describe him as "an icon of the resistance against the occupation". In Israel, 50 Palestinian journalists have staged a protest, barefooted, to express solidarity. Saddam's former lawyer, Khalil-al-Dulaimi is putting together a legal team to defend al-Zaidi in court. In Saudi Arabia, someone is offering $10 million to buy one of the shoes. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, a Bush-hater was said to have watched the video-clip of the incident, beaming with smiles and describing al-Zaidi with admiration as "courageous".
Why is America so hated? America's presence in Iraq is a major issue in the Arab world, but even more so in the United States. Americans condemn George Bush on the Iraqi question out of self-love, especially as their president has now admitted that the trip to Iraq was based on "wrong intelligence." In Iraq, Bush is not only hated by the majority, American presence on Iraqi soil evokes deep feelings of nationalism. Al-Zaidi's shoe-throwing protest may be symbolic, but it could become a catalyst for something worse. America is planning to pull out of Iraq between June 2009 and the end of 2011. If it is possible to leave much earlier, the in-coming Obama administration should consider doing so. The longer America stays in Iraq, the bigger the shoe-sizes thrown at its men and other foreign soldiers, could become.
Al-Zaidi is said to be an admirer of Che Guevara and according to his brother, he had been looking for an opportunity to hit Bush with a shoe. For him therefore, Sunday, December 14 was truly a dream come true. But it was also a fulfillment of the dream of many ordinary Iraqis and Arabs. The biggest danger that America faces is that before President Bush's departure on January 20, Saddam Hussein could have resurrected in popular Iraqi imagination as a hero. It is instructive that certain elements are seeking to revive the Baath party which was outlawed in 2005. A nostalgic return to Saddam Hussein would be a much bigger insult to the United States, and the memory of its 4,200 soldiers who died in Iraq. Al Zaidi's protest and its popularity is invariably a comment on the al-Maliki government. al-Maliki is seen as a stooge of Washington. The insult from the flying shoe was not only for Bush and the United States, but also for the local authorities and a rejection of the prevailing order.
It is an expression of frustration. The United States and its allies went to Iraq as a liberating force, as saviours of the Iraqi people from a brutal dictatorship. But what the people feel and see, five years later, is how this has brought them greater hardships. The country is firmly in the grips of sectarian violence, worse than it has ever experienced. Greater numbers of Iraqis have no access to potable water or electricity. Continued American presence can only further exacerbate tension and strengthen the resolve of al-Qaeda, the ethnic militias and mythical solo actors like al-Zaidi. The solution to Iraqi woes lies within, not outside.
Average Americans expect gratitude from the Iraqis. They'd never get that. And rather than attract nation-wide sympathy, President Bush's humiliation can only reinforce the opposition of those who consider the use of American tax-payer's funds and the loss of American lives in Iraq, a needless waste. George Bush shouldn't join the cartoonists in making a joke out of this incident, he clearly faces the prospect of going down in history as a failed President at home and abroad, even if for different reasons. A more popular President would have drawn sympathy and support from his own people, under circumstances such as this, but not President Bush.
The Iraqi Prime Minister's office was right in stating that al-Zaidi's protest is "not related to journalism in any way". This is a matter of professional ethics. Journalists are human beings and citizens, with their own passions and beliefs, but when they are on duty, should they descend into the arena and join the fray? al-Zaidi was at a press conference where he was required to use his pen and paper but he abandoned his tools, and turned his shoes into a weapon. According to his brother, he deliberately wore "Made-in-Iraq" shoes. Such extremism.
Journalists ought to draw the line between professional obligations and personal fantasies. This may be textbookish in places such as in Iraq where it is difficult to draw any lines and every individual is required to make an ideological and historical choice. Last year, and now in 2008, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) rated Iraq the "deadliest place" in the world for journalists.
Nonetheless, a journalist is more effective throwing words, not shoes. But the more interesting aspect of the Iraqi incident is the support that al-Zaidi has received from his employers. The management at Al-Baghdadia, an independent television station, has opened a notebook for al-Zaidi's supporters to express their views. His immediate boss has described him as "a proud Arab and an open-minded man". The TV station has also refused to issue an apology instead it is calling for al-Zaidi's release. Thus, Al-Baghdadia considers this a matter of press freedom. I don't think so. Al-Zaidi's conduct is likely to promote a certain stereotype about journalists. It is not his journalism that has brought him fame but his shoes.
He faces between five to 15 years in jail if convicted for "insulting a visiting Foreign Head of State". If he were a Nigerian journalist, he could have been shot immediately for threatening national security! Iraqi and American security have since destroyed al-Zaidi's famous shoes after checking them for explosives. The evidence of his protest, however, cannot be erased: it lies in the strong lesson that no man (or a people) can be dominated against his will, and for the United States, the only way forward in the Iraqi mission is: exit. Al-Zaidi may well end up as Man of the Year in the Arab media. But let all Iraqi journalists keep their shoes on. They will still need them long after the Americans and the British have made their exit.
By Reuben Abati
Chairman, Guardian Editorial Board