Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Save the Iraqi Shoe Thrower



A Farewell for Bush in Iraq, photo posted by gravitywave on Flickr, Creative Commons


I just heard that the judge had to go to al-Zaidi's cell rather than have him appear in court. This is a strong indication the man has been beaten. Wow. How is that different than the Hussein regime? Please read below and sign the petition that United for Peace and Justice sent me this morning. And if you want to take a step further, contact Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. I sent them both an email this morning asking that they get involved in this case.

I heard yesterday that he may get up to 8 years. What? This is outrageous. Maybe he can be charged with attempted assault. Lets get this guy out of the Iraq prison. I hear he has a facebook page. Lets join his facebook page. Please click on the link below to sign the petition. Here is a passage from the email sent by UPJ:

What has not been so widely reported are the words Muntadar al-Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, shouted out. As the first shoe was thrown at Bush, he said:

"This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog." And with his second shoe, which the president also dodged, al-Zaidi said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."

This bold statement also has to be understood in its cultural context. Showing the soles of your shoes to someone, let alone tossing your shoes at them, is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

After throwing his shoes, al-Zaidi was wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away. According to Democracy Now! this morning, "Muntadar al-Zaidi has been held without charge for over twenty-four hours and has been reportedly beaten in jail. His brother said al-Zaidi has suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury. Earlier today, al-Zaidi was handed over to the Iraqi military command in Baghdad."

Link to sign petition for his release:
IraqsNuclearMirage.com/articles/Zaydi.html

If that doesn't work here is the URL:
http://www.iraqsnuclearmirage.com/articles/Zaydi.html

5 comments:

sas said...

It's absolutely shocking!
Considering freedom of expression one of the core values of democracy and this is the basis for Bush's justification for invading in the the first place.
Bush should step in and offer to participate in restorative justice...

Mary Cuevas said...

hi sas,
and i hope he does. i am watching msnbc right now and they are showing all the protests going on in u.s.

i only hope the momentum keeps up until this man is free.

one last thing, i noticed on your blog that you have the amnesty international logo. how did you get that? i'd like to promnote ai on my blog.:) love them.:)

thanks for commenting.:)
mary

IanAR said...

[a] Ta for the heads-up Mary.

[b] Reprehensible that al-Zaidi failed to wrap one shoe in Hanukkah gift wrap and the other in Il prepuzio del Papa. However, poor preparation does not deserve eight years, HMO.

[c] I fail to see the comic value of broken arms.

[d] Learn to put links in your posts, young lady. What's there is a URL, not a link :/

Salaams and kisses - Ian

IanAR said...

Two Last Things

[e] The link -> IraqsNuclearMirage.com/articles/Zaydi.html

[f] The soundtrack -> This Is Madness (The LastPoets)

Mary Cuevas said...

hi ian,
thanks for the heads up. don't know how to do that..the link thing. but will learn.:) unless you want to tell me.:)

bush is the one who should be in prison. he should be charged with crimes against humanity and for entering into an illegal war.

and thanks for stopping by my blog. do you have a blog?
mary