Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly.
He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
He’s going to have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. Short of hauling him before a war crimes tribunal, that’s at least some small consolation.
Oh yeah, you know, those Iraqis are soooooo different from “us”. I mean, to Americans throwing shoes is considered a big compliment, but not to those wacky Iraqis! They also don’t like having their doors broken down at 3 AM by heavily armed foreigners who then rampage through their houses, yelling and screaming and breaking things. Of course, in the U.S. that is considered polite behaviour.
How can you EVER understand those Ayrabs?! They are so different.
The journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi from Al-Baghdadia channel which broadcasts from Cairo, was frogmarched from the room by security staff, an AFP journalist said.
Soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture. After Saddam Hussein’s statue was toppled in Baghdad in April 2003, many onlookers beat the statue’s face with their soles.
Calling someone a dog is considered a compliment in American culture? And if you call a woman a dog she will take it as high praise of her beauty? And if you call someone a son of a bitch (kelb ibn al kelb – dog son of a dog – is the Arabic exact equivalent expression) it is a sign of deep respect?
And in American culture throwing shoes at someone is a sign of affection, I guess? And beating someone or something with your shoes is the ultimate sign of respect? And if you reach out and rub the sole of your shoe on an American they will be flattered?
And tell me, since you know so much about Arab culture, is it only an insult to an Arab if you beat him with the sole of your shoe. So, it is OK to beat him with the top part of your shoe?
And what is it about Arab culture that makes it such an insult to show someone the sole of your shoe? Does it make a difference if you show him the sole of your shoe whether you are wearing it or not at the time?
Colonel Qaddafi insulted Tony Blair by pointing the sole of a shoe towards him, Arab experts said yesterday.
They spoke of their shock and claimed it was a “deliberate act”, as images of the historic meeting in Tripoli flashed around the world. Close watchers of the talks in a tent on Thursday between Mr Blair and the reformed Libyan leader noticed Qaddafi’s foot pointing towards Mr Blair.
Yesterday, as more photos of their encounter were studied, influential Arabs said Qaddafi was offering the worst of all insults.
In the Arab world, shoes are considered unclean – signifying the lowliest and dirtiest part of the body.
Arabs understand anatomy well enough to consider shoes as articles of clothing, not parts of the body.
The soles of shoes are, I believe, considered by everyone to be dirty and unsanitary since they come into contact with everything that is on the ground. I know several Americans who almost seem to have a phobia about the soles of shoes.
There are certainly areas of the body that Arabs very correctly consider more unsanitary than the soles of their shoes, and those are pretty much the same areas of the body that Americans consider most unsanitary.
Look, I hope I have not been unkind, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves. The American military teaches “what insults to avoid” while preparing people to commit the biggest insult of all, and then they are shocked – SHOCKED! – when their wonderful “cultural sensitivity” does not cause “the locals” to fall in love with them.
Look, there are underlying reasons I get worked up about stuff like this, and they have a number of facets, some more important than others. I admit I went a bit overboard here and reacted more than was warranted under the circumstances, and I apologize that I was impolite to people who did not deserve it.
In a nutshell, the Arabs and shoes thing is a bigger deal to Americans than it is to most Arabs. In all my involvement in Arab culture I, personally, have never witnessed a serious incident involving shoes until today. I have heard stories – always from American sources – about Arabs being thrown into a tizzy by seeing the soles of someone’s shoes, but I have never seen it happen with my own eyes. It is just not something Arabs think about a lot, at least not in the circles I move around in.
It is true that Arabs may sometimes use shoes as a weapon, and the word shoe can be used in various contexts as an epithet, but to suggest that anything to do with a shoe is the “ultimate insult” in Arab culture ignores several classes of insults that are far more serious than anything you can suggest or do with shoes.
And while we are at it, let’s compare the negative use of footwear in American versus Arab culture. There is a very serious American tradition of using footwear as a weapon and an insult. The idea of using a shoe as a projectile, or an in-hand weapon may be more prevalent in the Middle East than in the West. However, the main cultural difference regarding shoes-as-symbolic-weapon seems to be that in Arab culture the shoes are usually removed from the feet before being used, whereas the American cultural norm is to use the foot and the shoe together.
And I cannot for the life of me think of an Arabic example of a type of shoe that is both named after and sometimes used as a weapon as is the stiletto heel. And then there is the common American insult that they will “kick the crap” out of someone, or “stomp someone to death”, which presumably involves some sort of footwear as it would be difficult to do with the bare foot. And I have also noticed an American obsession with the “steel toed boot” as a threat.
And isn’t it kind of insulting to say you are going to stick your boot up someone’s – well, you get the picture. And Americans even have popular songs about the insulting use of shoes. Isn’t there a song about a pair of boots that was custom made to walk all over someone? That might not be the ultimate insult, but it sure doesn’t sound like a nice thing to say.
And the bottom line for today’s incident is that it just seems to me that throwing a shoe at someone like George Bush is a pretty clear insult in any culture, which brings us back to our commonality as human beings.
Oh god! Please don’t take this personally, but somehow I had the feeling that your expertise in Arab culture was a product of the great “cultural awareness” training the imperial forces receive.
So, pointing the sole of your shoe at someone is the worst possible insult? And that is what leads people to conclude that when you throw a father on his stomach in front of his family and neighbors and force his face into the dirt by putting your boot on his neck, the outrage he and the witnesses feel is based on that odd cultural peculiarity about shoes, and not on the fact that all human beings have a need to have their dignity and humanity respected.
You know, it’s the oddest thing, but in all my years the only people I have ever heard make a big deal about this shoe thing are Americans – the same Americans who do not seem to realize that all Arabs REALLY want from you is to be understood and treated with the respect they deserve as fellow human beings.
The reason Americans make a big deal when they do see it? Because it is a very different reaction than you would normally see around here.
I can’t help it if you seem to want to blame me for things I did not do, nor the fact that I do seem to have a grasp on some of the differences in culture that you are implying don’t exist.
They do exist.
In some of countries men – just friends – will kiss when they see each other sometimes, and hold hands as they walk down the street and talk.
There are differences. You are trying to make it seem bad that I actually understand some of the differences.
You are right, of course, that there are differences, and I do not mean to suggest that it is a bad thing at all that you are aware of some of them. In my zeal I was careless and insensitive about the message I was sending, and that is impolite in anyone’s culture.
I am particularly sorry that I gave the impression that I blame you for anything you did not do, and that I seemed to discount your cultural awareness. Nothing I said was intended to be personal, and I absolutely understand why it seemed that it was.
I apologize for getting absorbed with what was in my head and generalizing without remembering that there was a real person on the other end of the conversation. That is, unfortunately, all too easy to do in this medium. I was very insensitive, and it is my bad.
In subsequent reports, some Iraqi news men also admitted that they thought al-Zaidi spoke for them, and for most Iraqis.
The attack highlighted the contempt felt by many Iraqis for Mr Bush, whose presidency will be defined by his decision to invade Iraq, a move that brought down Saddam Hussein but also destroyed the lives of tens of thousands.
And also from the Times.co.uk article:
“This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” shouted the journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi, before he was bundled from the room by security staff.
Any man who can tell at a glance of a man’s shoe for less than a second and name its size, spends WAYYYY to much time pondering the size of other men’s feet.
on December 14, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Too bad they weren’t double Es. The second one might have hit him.
[By the way, the infamous Bruno Maglis were supposed to be size 12 but they were Italian shoes in Italian sizes and actually were more like 11&5/8, or 11&3/4. So the shoes and the gloves both didn’t fit.
[However, if OJ were in the audience he may have landed one of those shoes on Dubya’s kisser.]
What a fucking heel.
Going over there to announce “We`re winning”.
I bet he`s the “sole” of the visit.
Too bad he didn`t get stomped with the bronze feet from Saddam`s statue. A shoe volley or shoe storm would have been great.
My dad would have asked a little bully like bush, if he was born upside down, cause his nose runs & his feet smell. You can`t say his shoes are on the wrong feet, cause those are the only feet he has.
He’s not really IN Iraq. The Green Zone is not Iraq, it is the imperial citadel. Bush has never really seen Iraq – but of course even if he actually entered it he would not see it.
when the BushCo™ historical revisionists get through with this in a few years, the shoes will have magically transformed into a shower of rose petals and chocolates in appreciation of his efforts.
And ya want your So Called Liberal Media? There it is in Iraq… 99% of our right wing corporate owned and controlled media don’t have the balls to editorialize like that. Most of them have problems just telling the plain truth. Bush is lucky the irate Iraqi journalist wasn’t playing horseshoes with hand grenades… Because that was close enough.
There was a time when I might have felt at least a little insulted by something like this. Now all I can think is, “who wouldn’t?”
I’d like to throw a left and a right.
n/t
agree!
He’s going to have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. Short of hauling him before a war crimes tribunal, that’s at least some small consolation.
Isn’t this one of those “ultimate insult” thingies from around those parts?
Ya know? Like showing them the bottom of your shoe? Up close and personal like…
Oh yeah, you know, those Iraqis are soooooo different from “us”. I mean, to Americans throwing shoes is considered a big compliment, but not to those wacky Iraqis! They also don’t like having their doors broken down at 3 AM by heavily armed foreigners who then rampage through their houses, yelling and screaming and breaking things. Of course, in the U.S. that is considered polite behaviour.
How can you EVER understand those Ayrabs?! They are so different.
:o}
Seriously. There is a cultural difference. Calling someone a dog around these parts is a good thing. There… Not so much. It is a huge insult. Do you get insulted when someone shows you the soles of your shoes?
Calling someone a dog is considered a compliment in American culture? And if you call a woman a dog she will take it as high praise of her beauty? And if you call someone a son of a bitch (kelb ibn al kelb – dog son of a dog – is the Arabic exact equivalent expression) it is a sign of deep respect?
And in American culture throwing shoes at someone is a sign of affection, I guess? And beating someone or something with your shoes is the ultimate sign of respect? And if you reach out and rub the sole of your shoe on an American they will be flattered?
And tell me, since you know so much about Arab culture, is it only an insult to an Arab if you beat him with the sole of your shoe. So, it is OK to beat him with the top part of your shoe?
And what is it about Arab culture that makes it such an insult to show someone the sole of your shoe? Does it make a difference if you show him the sole of your shoe whether you are wearing it or not at the time?
Inquiring minds want to know.
insult:
PS
Look, I hope I have not been unkind, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves. The American military teaches “what insults to avoid” while preparing people to commit the biggest insult of all, and then they are shocked – SHOCKED! – when their wonderful “cultural sensitivity” does not cause “the locals” to fall in love with them.
so worked up about. The fact that showing the soles of ones shoes in the Arab world is an insult is well documented – just Google it.
But is it that big a deal?
Look, there are underlying reasons I get worked up about stuff like this, and they have a number of facets, some more important than others. I admit I went a bit overboard here and reacted more than was warranted under the circumstances, and I apologize that I was impolite to people who did not deserve it.
In a nutshell, the Arabs and shoes thing is a bigger deal to Americans than it is to most Arabs. In all my involvement in Arab culture I, personally, have never witnessed a serious incident involving shoes until today. I have heard stories – always from American sources – about Arabs being thrown into a tizzy by seeing the soles of someone’s shoes, but I have never seen it happen with my own eyes. It is just not something Arabs think about a lot, at least not in the circles I move around in.
It is true that Arabs may sometimes use shoes as a weapon, and the word shoe can be used in various contexts as an epithet, but to suggest that anything to do with a shoe is the “ultimate insult” in Arab culture ignores several classes of insults that are far more serious than anything you can suggest or do with shoes.
And while we are at it, let’s compare the negative use of footwear in American versus Arab culture. There is a very serious American tradition of using footwear as a weapon and an insult. The idea of using a shoe as a projectile, or an in-hand weapon may be more prevalent in the Middle East than in the West. However, the main cultural difference regarding shoes-as-symbolic-weapon seems to be that in Arab culture the shoes are usually removed from the feet before being used, whereas the American cultural norm is to use the foot and the shoe together.
And I cannot for the life of me think of an Arabic example of a type of shoe that is both named after and sometimes used as a weapon as is the stiletto heel. And then there is the common American insult that they will “kick the crap” out of someone, or “stomp someone to death”, which presumably involves some sort of footwear as it would be difficult to do with the bare foot. And I have also noticed an American obsession with the “steel toed boot” as a threat.
And isn’t it kind of insulting to say you are going to stick your boot up someone’s – well, you get the picture. And Americans even have popular songs about the insulting use of shoes. Isn’t there a song about a pair of boots that was custom made to walk all over someone? That might not be the ultimate insult, but it sure doesn’t sound like a nice thing to say.
And the bottom line for today’s incident is that it just seems to me that throwing a shoe at someone like George Bush is a pretty clear insult in any culture, which brings us back to our commonality as human beings.
Wat up?
We learned many of the insults to avoid before we deployed there (Middle East and Egypt for peacekeeping) in the military. 🙂
Oh god! Please don’t take this personally, but somehow I had the feeling that your expertise in Arab culture was a product of the great “cultural awareness” training the imperial forces receive.
So, pointing the sole of your shoe at someone is the worst possible insult? And that is what leads people to conclude that when you throw a father on his stomach in front of his family and neighbors and force his face into the dirt by putting your boot on his neck, the outrage he and the witnesses feel is based on that odd cultural peculiarity about shoes, and not on the fact that all human beings have a need to have their dignity and humanity respected.
You know, it’s the oddest thing, but in all my years the only people I have ever heard make a big deal about this shoe thing are Americans – the same Americans who do not seem to realize that all Arabs REALLY want from you is to be understood and treated with the respect they deserve as fellow human beings.
The reason Americans make a big deal when they do see it? Because it is a very different reaction than you would normally see around here.
I can’t help it if you seem to want to blame me for things I did not do, nor the fact that I do seem to have a grasp on some of the differences in culture that you are implying don’t exist.
They do exist.
In some of countries men – just friends – will kiss when they see each other sometimes, and hold hands as they walk down the street and talk.
There are differences. You are trying to make it seem bad that I actually understand some of the differences.
That is your problem, not mine.
You are right, of course, that there are differences, and I do not mean to suggest that it is a bad thing at all that you are aware of some of them. In my zeal I was careless and insensitive about the message I was sending, and that is impolite in anyone’s culture.
I am particularly sorry that I gave the impression that I blame you for anything you did not do, and that I seemed to discount your cultural awareness. Nothing I said was intended to be personal, and I absolutely understand why it seemed that it was.
I apologize for getting absorbed with what was in my head and generalizing without remembering that there was a real person on the other end of the conversation. That is, unfortunately, all too easy to do in this medium. I was very insensitive, and it is my bad.
Some Iraqi journalists stood up to apologise.
In subsequent reports, some Iraqi news men also admitted that they thought al-Zaidi spoke for them, and for most Iraqis.
And also from the Times.co.uk article:
This may show a picture of al-Zaidi when he threw the shoes.
as a size 10?
Were the Bruno Maglis?
Any man who can tell at a glance of a man’s shoe for less than a second and name its size, spends WAYYYY to much time pondering the size of other men’s feet.
Too bad they weren’t double Es. The second one might have hit him.
[By the way, the infamous Bruno Maglis were supposed to be size 12 but they were Italian shoes in Italian sizes and actually were more like 11&5/8, or 11&3/4. So the shoes and the gloves both didn’t fit.
[However, if OJ were in the audience he may have landed one of those shoes on Dubya’s kisser.]
What a fucking heel.
Going over there to announce “We`re winning”.
I bet he`s the “sole” of the visit.
Too bad he didn`t get stomped with the bronze feet from Saddam`s statue. A shoe volley or shoe storm would have been great.
My dad would have asked a little bully like bush, if he was born upside down, cause his nose runs & his feet smell. You can`t say his shoes are on the wrong feet, cause those are the only feet he has.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7782774.stm
He actually shrugs and says “I don’t know what the guy’s cause is.”
Does he even know that he is in Iraq?
Whadda maroon!!!
My Pet Goat as a way of life.
Unbelievable.
AG
He’s not really IN Iraq. The Green Zone is not Iraq, it is the imperial citadel. Bush has never really seen Iraq – but of course even if he actually entered it he would not see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmt2_wyDKJI
“You can only imagine the fate if Saddam Hussein was still in charge …”
What does THAT mean?
This is hilarious. Of course from now on the American Secret Service will require all reporters to attend press conferences in their socks.
Or add another thirty feet distance between Bush and any hostile shoes.
He would have been made a national hero. Much as today. Fixed news is crazy.
Perhaps if the target was Saddam, and Saddam was in charge is what they meant.
Buwahahaha.
Where are a good pair of steel toed boots when you need them?
Hey, the outgoing Prez has pretty good reflexes. He ducked twice to avoid being hit. At lest he can do something right.
Perhaps the Secret Service has trained him to duck and cover. ;-)They figured someone would throw something at him eventually.
when the BushCo™ historical revisionists get through with this in a few years, the shoes will have magically transformed into a shower of rose petals and chocolates in appreciation of his efforts.
really is in its last throws.
Ouch. That hurt.
And ya want your So Called Liberal Media? There it is in Iraq… 99% of our right wing corporate owned and controlled media don’t have the balls to editorialize like that. Most of them have problems just telling the plain truth. Bush is lucky the irate Iraqi journalist wasn’t playing horseshoes with hand grenades… Because that was close enough.
I liked this idea…
Too bad it wasn’t one of Condi’s spiked 3 inch heeled boots.