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Iraq’s Farewell to George W. Bush
Paul J. Balles views the cultural significance of Iraqi journalist Muntather Al-Zaidi’s hurling of shoes at George W. Bush at a news conference in Baghdad.
By now, everyone has seen the spectacle of George W. Bush ducking shoes thrown at him in Iraq. Muntather al-Zaidi, a 28 year old journalist, stood up and threw not one but two shoes at Bush.
While throwing his shoes, Muntather shouted at the top of his voice “Ya kalb” (you dog), which is just about as insulting as one can get in Arabic. Not that Arabs don’t like dogs, but to reduce a man to a dog is about as low as a put-down goes.
To make matters worse, Muntather not only threw an insult that would be hard to ignore at a press conference, he threw shoes. Throwing shoes in the Arab world differs from throwing them in the West. In the West, a pair of shoes coming at you would be only slightly more hazardous than a couple of ripe tomatoes.
According to Wikipedia,
In the Arab world, shoe flinging is a gesture of extreme disrespect. A notable occurrence of this gesture happened in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. When US forces pulled down a giant statue of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, many Iraqi detractors of Hussein threw their shoes at the fallen statue.
One of the first traditional items I learned after arriving in the Middle East was that displaying or throwing a shoe at someone or something in Arab cultures denotes that the person or thing is “beneath them”.
Showing the bottom of one’s feet or shoes (for example, putting one’s feet up on a table or desk) in Arab cultures is considered an extreme insult. I once watched the shocked looks on Arab faces walking into an office where an unlearned American PhD sat at a desk facing the door with his feet atop the desk, with the soles facing anyone who walked through the door.
Bush dismissed the act that Iraqi officials considered “shameful”. He must have felt a certain amount of satisfaction at having ducked the footwear missiles. He has never demonstrated a broad cultural familiarity beyond Texas pride and White House arrogance.
It has always been interesting to me that the insults from one culture may have little effect in another. Shortly after my arrival in my first Arab country, I pulled ahead of an empty parking space getting ready to back my car into it. Much to my dismay, another car pulled head first into the space. I swore at the driver in English. He laughed.
As soon as possible, I learned how to express my dismay in Arabic. The next time someone pulled a similar trick, I responded with a close Arabic equivalent — Ibn kalb (son of a dog) — to Muntather’s insult. It worked.
Muntather is being held by Iraqi security. The Associated Press reported that he is being questioned as to whether he was paid by someone to throw his shoes and is being tested for drugs and alcohol. His shoes are being held as evidence.
Thousands of Iraqis gathered in Baghdad’s Sadr City demanding Muntather’s release. The TV station that employs him, Al-Baghdadiya, also called for his release. They said he was exercising his freedom of expression. There’s a delicious irony in that since Bush has attempted to justify the occupation of Iraq as bringing democracy to the people.
As he threw his shoes, he shouted in Arabic, “This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” There’s little doubt that Iraq’s widows and orphans will celebrate Muntather as a hero.
Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com.