Iraqi shoe thrower elicits mixed reaction among Arabs
The journalist who threw a pair of shoes at President Bush is seen as a hero and an embarrassment. Iraq's government faces a dilemma in deciding what to do with him.
Reporting from Baghdad — In the few seconds it took Iraqi journalist Muntather Zaidi to wing a pair of shoes at President George 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, 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. Whichever way his act is viewed, there's no question that Zaidi, like Wurzelbacher, is no longer just another Joe.
That is likely to create headaches for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government as it decides what to do with the 29-year-old satellite TV correspondent, who remained in custody tonight. To throw the book at the shoe tosser would fuel anger toward Maliki and elevate Zaidi to martyrdom among many 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, 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 today, 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 website.
Baghdadiya, the Cairo-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 Kadafi'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 Kadafi said.
