A Political Culture of Self-Righteous Fury -Jonathan Spyer
The flying shoes that greeted President Bush at his press conference in Iraq are the latest emblem of [a] political culture [that] sanctifies anti-Western fury, and continues, half a century after decolonization, to see the Arabs as hapless victims of the West. The tremendous popularity of Hizbullah's Hassan Nasrallah and even the non-Arab Mahmoud Ahmedinejad among broad masses of Arabs is a product of this political culture.
It is an undeniable fact that the individual more responsible than any other for the enfranchisement and elevation to power of the Shi'ites of Iraq is George W. Bush. The man who established a situation in which the Iraqi Shi'ite Muntadar al-Zeidi is able to work freely as a journalist, worship freely as a Shi'ite, and vote freely as a citizen was the same one at whom Zeidi chose to hurl his shoes. The peculiar political culture of self-righteous fury that bestrides the Arabic-speaking world constitutes perhaps the single largest barrier to its rational and mature development.
(Jerusalem Post)
UPDATE:
The Arab Sole -Tunku Varadarajan
A vast swath of people, from Morocco to Iraq, have found cultural and tribal, even civilizational, catharsis in a 20-second display of theater comprising the hurling of shoes at George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad.
Yet only a people who live under the boots of their rulers celebrate the throwing of a shoe at a guest.
Is this how their heroism is now defined? To me - to many - this is alarming proof of the depth of Arab impotence, of the Lilliputian self-image that drives Muslim Arabs to take to terrorism, to assault that which they cannot comprehend. The irony that has been lost on them is the fact that in the entire Arab world, only in Bushified Iraq could such an act of protest be possible.
(Forbes)
The flying shoes that greeted President Bush at his press conference in Iraq are the latest emblem of [a] political culture [that] sanctifies anti-Western fury, and continues, half a century after decolonization, to see the Arabs as hapless victims of the West. The tremendous popularity of Hizbullah's Hassan Nasrallah and even the non-Arab Mahmoud Ahmedinejad among broad masses of Arabs is a product of this political culture.
It is an undeniable fact that the individual more responsible than any other for the enfranchisement and elevation to power of the Shi'ites of Iraq is George W. Bush. The man who established a situation in which the Iraqi Shi'ite Muntadar al-Zeidi is able to work freely as a journalist, worship freely as a Shi'ite, and vote freely as a citizen was the same one at whom Zeidi chose to hurl his shoes. The peculiar political culture of self-righteous fury that bestrides the Arabic-speaking world constitutes perhaps the single largest barrier to its rational and mature development.
(Jerusalem Post)
UPDATE:
The Arab Sole -Tunku Varadarajan
A vast swath of people, from Morocco to Iraq, have found cultural and tribal, even civilizational, catharsis in a 20-second display of theater comprising the hurling of shoes at George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad.
Yet only a people who live under the boots of their rulers celebrate the throwing of a shoe at a guest.
Is this how their heroism is now defined? To me - to many - this is alarming proof of the depth of Arab impotence, of the Lilliputian self-image that drives Muslim Arabs to take to terrorism, to assault that which they cannot comprehend. The irony that has been lost on them is the fact that in the entire Arab world, only in Bushified Iraq could such an act of protest be possible.
(Forbes)
5 comments:
This article is a little silly. George Bush did what for the Shi'ites of Iraq? You mean. the ones he did not kill in the invasion. George Bush did for the Shi'ites of Iraq exactly what Iran wants to do for the Palestinians. With nuclear weapons they hope to kill the Israeli dictators, obviously take out an "acceptable" number of Palestinians in the process, leave a terrible mess behind, and wait for the glory that will---as for George W.---never come. The difference is of course, the Iraqis did not invite in America to help them, hence very few roses laid at the feet of our soldiers, but the Palestinians would clearly welcome Iran, or anyone, to "liberate" them. I guess that makes it even more okay for Iran to help the Palestinians then it was for George W. to "help" the Iraqis. Perhaps it was time for the Shi'ites of Iraq to help themselves, or move out. Perhaps it is time for the Palestinians to do more to help themselves. And fortunately, for Iraq, the rest of the world, and the United States, it is time for George W. Bush to move out.
By the way, because the Secret Service did such a poor job, but W. Bush did a good job dodging the shoes, does not mean this political protester should be made a martyr with a jail sentence. It is clear he was making a point and not an attempt at harm.
You should know that i thought of you [LHWrites] when i posted this...i almost edited out much of the last paragraph. But it was poignant and represents an unusual point of view that i wanted to highlight.
i disagree that the shoe jihadist should be free to walk. That would set a dangerous precedent for standing American Presidents. No one should be free to attack a US President, from any party...yes, even George Bush deserves the respect of the office.
I do think George W. deserves the respect of the office. I also believe that this was clearly a political protest and not an act of harm, or the shoes would have been filled with explosives. If you are going to tour the countries you invade, you have to accept the forms of protest that are culturally acceptable in those lands.
Harmless? A hard shoe travelling at that speed could have really creamed President Bush...i'm no expert in shoe to face injuries, but i'm fairly certain that it could have bloodied his face and done some serious harm.
No explosives...that's because they had good security...the shoes were easy to sneak in.
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