Related: Free Muntather al-Zaidi The 50,000 Signatures Campaign for Muntather al-Zaidi
"Shoe-hurling Iraqi becomes hero to many in Arab world" by Timothy Williams and Sharon Otterman, New York Times | December 16, 2008
BAGHDAD - A day after a little-known Iraqi television journalist threw his shoes at President Bush at a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday, his act of defiance toward the American commander in chief continued to resonate throughout Iraq and beyond.
In Sadr City, the sprawling Baghdad suburb that has seen some of the most intensive fighting between insurgents and American soldiers, thousands of marchers called for the journalist's release. In Syria, he was being hailed as a hero. In Libya, he was given an award for courage.
Across much of the Arab world, the shoe-throwing incident generated front-page headlines and continuing television news coverage. A thinly veiled glee could be discerned in much of the reporting, especially in the places where anti-American sentiment runs deepest.
Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, the correspondent for an independent Iraqi television station who threw his black dress shoes at Bush, remained in Iraqi custody yesterday.
Being TORTURED, no doubt!!!
While he has not been formally charged, Iraqi officials said he faces up to seven years in prison for committing an act of aggression against a visiting head of state.
So what does killing 2 million Iraqis like Bush has get you?
Hitting someone with a shoe is a deep insult in the Arab world, signifying that the person being struck is as low as the dirt underneath the sole of a shoe. Compounding the insult were Zaidi's words as he hurled his footwear at President Bush: "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!" While calling someone a dog is universally harsh, among Arabs, who traditionally consider dogs unclean, it's an even stronger slight.
The incident has been a source of embarrassment for the government of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki, who, in a statement yesterday, called the shoe-throwing a "a shameful savage act" and demanded a public apology from Al-Baghdadia, the independent satellite channel that employs Zaidi. "The act damaged the reputation of the Iraqi journalists and journalism in general," the statement said.
REALLY? Like this act?
FLASHBACK:
"String of bombs kills five Iraqi police; US ally killed in car in Baghdad" by Vanessa Gera, Associated Press | September 15, 2008
BAGHDAD - Also yesterday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki formed a committee to investigate the killing of four employees of the Iraqi television network Al-Sharqiya as they filmed an episode on the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began two weeks ago.
The Iraqi government has repeatedly accused Al-Sharqiya of bias, sensationalism and spreading anti-government propaganda. Owned by a former chief of radio and television for Saddam Hussein, the station is seen by many Shi'ites as pro-Sunni.
The employees of the station were abducted and killed Saturday in the northern city of Mosul. They included the head of the station's office in Mosul, two cameramen, and a driver.
Maliki's office said in a statement that he had ordered security forces "to chase down the perpetrators and bring them to justice for punishment."
And DOWN the RABBIT HOLE it went!! We ALL KNOW WHY: It was one of Maliki's U.S.-sponsored and funded death squads that did it!!!!!
As of last night, no apology from the station was forthcoming. Instead, the network posted an image of Zaidi in the corner of the screen for much of the day. Telephone callers were invited to phone in their opinions, and the vast majority said they approved of his actions.
Same here in America!
Opponents of the continued American presence in Iraq turned Zaidi's detention Monday into a rallying cry. Support for the detained journalist crossed religious, ethnic, and class lines in Iraq - vaulting him to near folk hero status.
I NEVER BELIEVED in SECTARIANISM to begin with!
Memory Hole: The Dream Vacation
Memory Hole: The Uniters of Islam
Occupation Iraq: Sectarian Saviors
Let's tweak that butt-head one more time:
"Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq's million or so Christians for the most part coexisted peacefully with Muslims, both the dominant Sunnis and majority Shiites (New York Times October 17, 2007)....
Sunnis, Shi'ites, and Christians lived side by side; many intermarried"
"I swear by God that all Iraqis with their different nationalities are glad about this act," said Yaareb Yousif Matti, a 45-year-old teacher from Mosul, a city contested by Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen.
In Samarra, one of the centers of the Sunni insurgency against American forces, Zaidi received nearly unanimous approval from people interviewed yesterday. "Although that action was not expressed in a civilized manner, it showed the Iraqis' feelings, which oppose American occupation," said Dr. Qutaiba Rajaa, a 58-year-old physician.
But they get a SOFA from our stoogesanyway!
Yeah, that's the SAME TRADITION that protects the dead man's grave up on the Hindu-Kush hills!!! So it is USED ARBITRARILY by the JEWSMEDIA of America, the Muslim HOSPITALITY and MANNERS?
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"Journalist derides roles of US, Iran" by Robert H. Reid, Associated Press | December 16, 2008
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi TV reporter who hurled his shoes at President Bush was kidnapped once by militants and, separately, detained briefly by the US military - a story of getting hit from all sides that is bitterly familiar to many Iraqis.
Translation: the guy is an IRAQI PATRIOT that REJECTS ANY FOREIGN OCCUPATION! You know, like YOU, Amurkn!
Over time, Muntader al-Zaidi, a Shi'ite, came to hate both the US military occupation and Iran's interference in Iraq, his family told the Associated Press yesterday. Zaidi's act of defiance Sunday transformed an obscure reporter from a minor TV station into a national hero to many Iraqis fed up with the nearly six-year US presence here, but also fearful that their country will fall under Iran's influence once the Americans leave.
Translation: WE AIN'T GOING ANYWHERE, (ten-hut, kids!)
A day after the incident, Zaidi's three brothers and one sister gathered in Zaidi's simple, one-bedroom apartment in west Baghdad. The home was decorated with a poster of Latin American revolutionary leader Che Guevara, who is widely lionized in the Middle East.
Oh, so the Iraqi is some commie-lefty, huh?
(Blog author shaking his head at the endless array of labels they will affix people with)
Family members expressed bewilderment over Zaidi's action and concern about his treatment in Iraqi custody. But they also expressed pride in his defiance of an American president who many Iraqis believe has destroyed their country.
But STAY!! And it is NOT ONLY IRAQIS! The WHOLE WORLD -- outside of Amurka and its shit-shoveling MSM -- KNOWS IT!!!
"I swear to Allah, he is a hero," said his sister, who goes by the name Umm Firas, as she watched a replay on an Arabic satellite station of her brother's act. "May Allah protect him."
He will need that protection where he is!
The family insisted that Zaidi's action was spontaneous - perhaps motivated by the political turmoil that their brother had reported on, plus his personal brushes with violence and the threat of death that millions of Iraqis face daily.
Zaidi joined Al-Baghdadia television in September 2005 after graduating from Baghdad University with a degree in communications. Two years later, he was seized by gunmen while on an assignment in a Sunni district of north Baghdad.
He was freed unharmed three days later, after Iraqi television stations broadcast appeals for his release. In January he was taken again, this time arrested by American soldiers who searched his apartment building, his brother, Dhirgham, said.You know, how to make friends and influence people.
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