What a Shoe Attack Means in the Middle East

In 2003 when the US invaded Irag and toppled Saddam Hussein, news networks showed irate Iraqis climbing Saddam's giant statue and hitting its head with their shoes and sandals minutes before it was toppled. I wondered what that meant to Middle Eastern culture.

Now in 2008, an irate journalist threw both shoes in quick succession and with unbelievable accuracy at US president George Bush! According to Al Jazeera news, "Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East." Now we know.

How angry are the Iraqis against the US? It seems from many international news sources and from reliable government analysts that the verdict is the US-led effort to to reconstruct Iraq failed. Why would anyone go so far as to insult the most powerful political figure on earth?

In Luke 10, Jesus instructed his disciples to shake the dust off their sandals if the good news was not received by a particular town. Was that the same cultural gesture? Did the US bring good news to Iraq, the Middle East, and the rest of the world? What really is the good news?

President Bush caught in shoe attack in Iraq

An Iraqi journalist has thrown his shoes at Bush in his last visit to Baghdad, shouting: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog."

One of the shoes narrowly missed the president's head and slammed into the wall behind him.

Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, tried to block the second with his arm.

Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East.

From Al Jazeera

The video is also available here on YouTube. If the videos have been taken down by authorities, try to google for "Bush shoes".