The Iraqi man who threw his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush last year was unapologetic for his act of protest after his release Tuesday.
“I got my chance and I didn’t miss it,” said Muntadhar al-Zaidi, speaking to reporters shortly after he was freed from jail.
“I am not a hero and I admit that,” he said. “I am a person with a stance. I saw my country burning.”
Al-Zaidi, who was serving a one-year sentence after the jail-throwing incident on December 14, was given a “conditional discharge.”
Under Iraqi law, a “conditional discharge” allows for the release of a prisoner after he serves three-quarters of his sentence, on good behavior.
Soon afterward, the 30-year-old journalist was led into the studios of his employer, Al-Baghdadia TV, where he spoke to reporters wearing a sash in the colors of the Iraqi national flag around his shoulders.
Al-Zaidi said he was compelled to act after witnessing what the U.S. invasion had wrought on his country: orphans, widows, refugees.
He said that he promised those affected by the war that should he get the opportunity, he would avenge their loss.
That chance came at a December 14 news conference when al-Zaidi threw both his shoes at Bush and called him a “dog” – two of the worst insults in the Middle East. Bush ducked the shoes and was not hurt.
During his remarks, al-Zaidi offered one apology: to fellow journalists who perceived his act as unprofessionalism.
“Professionalism does not preclude nationalism,” he said.
Al-Zaidi was sentenced to jail for “assaulting a foreign head of state on an official visit to Iraq.”
His original three-year sentence was reduced to a single year by an appellate court in April.
(Source: CNN)
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4 Responses
In the olden times, Shoes were a tactic to ridicule someone in public. That is how the Inyon of Chalitza came about, and is still done in many communities.
i think i found the shoe it was on wilson street near division in front of the pupa yeshiva
3, I think Harry Reid is on the phone for you, please answer it already.
My question is what one would toss at the president now? Hospital gowns? Stethoscopes? Medicine containers? Acorns? M’zonos? The list goes on.
Ader, you probably mean the “Mitzva” of Chalitza.
Since you seem to know where Hashem gets his ideas from, perhaps you can tell us from where he picked up the idea of Shabbos?