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Infamous Shoe Attack on Bush by Iraqi Journalist Sparks a Tidal Wave of Shoe Assaults

 

Ancient Bizarre Shoe Throwing Rituals Exposed

 

 

News of the attack on George Bush by Iraqi journalist Muntadher al-Zaidi spread like wildfire and popularized “shoe-icide” attacks. This act of Middle Eastern contempt triggered a global outbreak of crazed assaults on an elite roster of shoed national leaders and villains. Many protestors have decided to let their shoes do the talking. However, shoe throwing has a long, bizarre history that involves ancient Romans, disturbing church rituals, fortune telling and more.

 

 

Shoe-Gate Bush Incident That Kicked Off a Trend

 

 

 

In case you missed it, here’s a slow motion video of the shocking shoe attack on George Bush which was heard around the world. In Arabic culture the bottom of a person’s foot is considered distasteful and vulgar. Striking anyone with the sole of your shoes is considered to be the ultimate act of contempt.

 

Despite having 17 defense attorneys, Iraqi journalist Muntadher al-Zaidi was sentenced to 3 years in prison. That’s a mild punishment compared to the certain beheading the journalist would have suffered had iron fisted Saddam still been in power.

 

The Istanbul-based Baydan Shoes claims they have 300.000 orders pouring in for the Model 271 which has been aptly nicknamed the “Bush Shoe.” The majority of the orders came from U.S., Iraq and Iran. Iran’s main shoemaking federation also offered to supply a lifetime of shoes to Zaidi.

 

 

 

 

Soul-less Swindler Madoff Pelted by Stylish Soles

 

 

 

In an ironic twist, both the Iraqi shoe-throwing journalist and mega-swindler Bernie Madoff were both sentenced on the same day. Satire site peacemoonbeam drew the obvious connection and published a story that many victims would fantasize about playing a role in. In this fantasy, a disgruntled CEO ponzi victim pelts Madoff with his size 11 Johnston & Murphy designer dress moccasins with deadly accuracy. One moc in the face and other in the groin! The enraged victim is hailed as a hero and a stud. There’s also a game site, readyaimvote, which lets you do your own venting and use Madoff for shoe target practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not Even Satan is Spared from a Shoe Beatdown

 

 

 

In the name of spiritual warfare, outside of Washington DC, on New Year’s Eve 2008, Pastor Anthony G Maclin and the congregation of The Sanctuary at Kingdom Square begin a heated session of shoe throwing at the Devil.

 

 

 

 

Saddam’s Statue Replaced with a Stat-Shoe

 

 

 

On April 9, 2003, a crowd of liberated Iraqis let their shoes do the talking as U.S. Marines toppled the 40-foot state of the ex-tyrannic leader. The statue was erected to mark Saddam’s 65th birthday and was one of the symbols of his iron-fisted rule over Iraq. The crowd pelted his statue with shoes and slippers to express their contempt and disdain for the fallen leader.

 

Little did they know that a stat-shoe of a different shape would be erected ironically in Saddams’s hometown of Tikrit in honor of their future unlikely hero. The Iraqi journalist, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who stunned the world by throwing his size 10 Baydan shoes at President Bush quickly became an instant national folk hero. A sofa-size fiberglass and copper statue was unveiled as a tribute to al-Zeidi and children orphaned by the war helped construct it. It has since been removed by the government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iranian President Ahmadinejad amBUSHED in Shoe Attack?!

 

 

 

The Iranian government and state-run TV clearly had a propaganda field day with the infamous George Bush shoe attack. However, when the shoe Mahmoud . Ahmadinejad was en route to an election rally when his motorcade injured an elderly man and failed to stop to help him. An outraged disident hurled a shoe at his the despot’s head while he was waving from an open-top vehicle. The shoe pitcher clearly risked his life since even portrating a carricature in his country results in jail time.

 

As reported by the DailyBeast, the scandalous toss caused seismic waves throughout the underground Iranian blogosphere and was elevated to the “hot news” section. As summed up by one Iranian blogger: “All political leaders have dissidents. All dissidents wear shoes.”

 

 

 

 

Chinese Premier Not Impressed with Britain’s Pitching Talent

 

 

 

Yet another world leader has joined the ranks of the elite shoed politicians. During a global economy speech at Cambridge University, a human rights protester threw a sneaker at Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier. The protestor shouted “How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator? How can you listen to these lies?” Although the inaccurate tosser missed hitting the Premier by 30 feet, he was escorted out by security and questioned by police. A second man took off his heavy shoe and hurled it at the stage. China today denounced the British and declared his visit to the UK as a success.

 

 

 

 

“Shame On You, Have My Shoe”

 

 

 

As part of a global wave of protests against Israeli’s air strikes on Gaza, over 12,000 people took to the streets of the London, including singer Annie Lennox and former model Bianca Jagger. As reported by the Washinton Times, in the spirit of the latest Muslim symbol of disgust, over 1,000 pairs of shoes were hurled at the tall iron gates at the British prime minister’s residence on Downing St. Demonstrators chanted “Shame on you, have my shoe.”

 

One of the protesters from Beirut stated “People can talk about the numbers who attended, but if there’s a physical representation of all of the shoes, then it sends a louder message.”

 

 

 

 

Hecklers “Just Do It” and Hurl Nikes at Israeli Ambassador

 

 

 

In early February, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Benny Dagan, became yet another victim in the outbreak of politically charged shoe-based protests. While delivering a lecture at the University of Stockholm on upcoming elections, a 35-year old man and 25-year old woman threw a red Nike running shoe and a book at him. The two protestors shouted “Murderers!” and “Intifiada” while pelting Dagan and were quickly apprehended and escorted out by police. The motive was believed to be a protest against Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians.

 

 

 

 

Does Size Make a Difference?

 

 

 

In the Philippines, over 100 members of the militant group Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) staged a rally in front of the Israeli embassy in Makati city. The group was condemning the increased attacks against the populations of Gaza and Palestine. Using the new universal protest symbol, the group threw a giant shoe against the embassy.

 

 

 

 

Six-Hour Marathon Shoe Attack

 

 

 

On, January 19, 2009, the day before the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, a protest was organized by arrestbush2009.com to re-eact the scene when shoes were thrown at President Bush’s head by an Iraqi journalist. Over 1,000 smelly pairs of shoes were donated for the “cause.” A two-story-tall inflatable doll of a Pinocchio-nosed Bush with a sign reading “Give Bush the Boot” was setup. Over 1,000 smelly pairs of shoes were donated.

 

For six hours, the giant Bush doll was under siege by thousands of shoes tossed by crowds of people in town for the inauguration. A variety of hurling methods were used: some people tied laces together to try to get the shoes to hook on the outgoing president’s nose. Others threw the shoes so hard that they sent passersby scattering, arms covering their heads. You can read more about the event and the group that coordinated it at shoebush.org

 

 

 

 

Reagan official Gets The Boot for Tossing His Shoe

 

 

 

A Reagan official learned a lesson in Arabic etiquette the hard way. About five years ago, the unnamed official was enjoying a belly dancer perform with a group of 15 friends at a very popular Moroccan restaurant in Washington D.C. In trying to unwind, he loosened his wing-tip shoes. He got so excited by the belly dancing performance, he impulsively tossed one of his shoes on the stage.

 

A well respected Washinton lawyer, who also requested to remain anonymous remarked “He thought he was being funny.” However, the instant the shoe landed near the belly dancer, the music instantly stopped, the dancer stormed off stage, and the entire dinner party was thrown out of the restaurant.

 

“They were screaming at us, ‘Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!’ pointing their fingers to the door. We didn’t know it at the time, but we learned later that night that throwing a shoe is an extreme insult. We all got a quick lesson in Arab culture.”

 

 

 

 

Public Arts Projects Sprouting Up All Over US

 

 

 

Shoe tossing has sprouted a phenomenon called shoe trees which can be found in over 100 unexpected locations across the United States. They have also been found in Canada and places as far away as Sweden and Israel. It is a form of spontaneous public art that simply starts as a result of someone finding a pair of lost shoes alongside the road, and putting them up into the tree. Once a tree receives its christening shoes, random people develop a compulsion to discard their old shoes with a shoulder fling and a grunt to add to the work in development. Shoe trees can last for generations and have the added advantage that special equipment is required to unravel them. Local authorities don’t bother with them, so they take on a life of their own and are destined to become local landmarks.

 

There are many theories about the origin of shoe trees. The most prevalent one involves a newlywed couple camped under a tree in Nevada and quarreling. The wife threw her husband’s shoes in the tree to keep him from walking away. They managed to patch up their differences but were unable to retrieve his shoes. They returned years later to the site of their bridal spat and added their children’s shoes to the tree. In the movie scene from “Wag The Dog,” a political spin doctor throws shoes into trees as part of a campaign for Sergeant William Schumann, whose nickname is “The Old Shoe.”

 

You can find a directory of shoe trees on the roadsideamerica site. They even encourage people to contribute shoe tree sightings to the site. To qualify as a shoe tree, it must have at least 50 pairs hanging, be publicly accessible and be known as a “shoe tree” by the local residents. There is even a section on the roadsideamerica site which rates shoe flinging techniques for making your contribution to a shoe tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ancient Romans Threw Shoes Instead of Rice

 

 

 

There’s actually a tradition of throwing shoes at a just married couple as they depart from the wedding. In ancient Rome, a father would toss his sandal at the chariot carrying his daughter and new son-in-law. The meaning of this curious tradition is related to bringing wishes of prosperity to the new couple. Since barefootedness is associated with poverty, by tossing the paternal shoes or sandals at the bride and groom, it symbolizes a wish that they never be without shoes or in a state of poverty. There is even some speculation that this is where the custom of tying old shoes to back of the car may have originated.

 

 

 

 

Fortune Telling Shoe Toss for Single Women

 

 

 

The Czech Republic has Christmas traditions that are deep rooted and even followed to this day. One of the more interesting customs involves predicting whether an unmarried woman has wedding bells in her future. The woman tosses a shoe over her shoulder. If the shoe lands with the heel pointing to the door, then she will remain single. However, if the shoe is positioned with the toe of the shoe facing the door, then her parents knew to get a wedding dress ready.

 

If the shoe toss resulted in no impending marriage, not all hope was lost. A second tradition would enable her to discover how long she may have to wait for her future husband to show up. She would need to cut off a strand of her hair and tie a ring to it. By holding the ring next to a glass, she could foretell the number of years she would have to wait. The number of times the ring clinked against the glass would be her answer.

 

 

 

 

Raise Our Fares and I’ll Raise My Shoe

 

 

 

A furious fare-hike protestor was arrested from a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board meeting after taking off his size 10 1/2 black oxfords and appearing to fling his shoe at the MTA CEO. The board’s proposed budget plan would raise subway fares by 28% and also cut services. As reported by NYDailyNews, the disgruntled man, Stephen Milles, was shaking his left shoe while ranting when he was swarmed by poice and led out in handcuffs. Milles admitted that his planned attack was inspired by the similar actions of the courageous Iraqi journalist who hurled his footwear at President Bush.

 

 

 

 

Who throws a shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!

 

 

 

In one of the more memorable scenes from the 1997 comedy “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”, Austin is attacked by evil henchman Menial Task’s shoe. This attack scene is a spoof on the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger. One of the legendary Bond villains was Oddjob who used a steel rimmed bowler hat as a deadly weapon and could throw it with deadly accuracy. After Austin gets beaned off the head with Menial Task’s shoe, his response is: “Who throws a shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!” Wouldn’t a historical quote from George Bush have been for him to tell the Iraqi journalist that he throws like a girl?

 

 

 

 

Where Do The Discriminating Iraqi Shoe Throwers Shop?

 

 

 

Ever wonder where the discriminating Iraqi show throwers find their lethal footwear? One of the more popular and funny comedy skits to circulate the net was this spoof of an Iraqi shoe store ad titled: “Iraq’s #1 Discount Shoe Emporium offers the most elegant shoes for throwing at world leaders.”

 

 

 

 

Even Mom is More Accurate than that Iraqi Journalist!

(Contains Some Profanity)

 

 

 

Ever wonder where the discriminating Iraqi show throwers find their lethal footwear? One of the more popular and funny comedy skits to circulate the net was this spoof of an Iraqi shoe store ad titled: “Iraq’s #1 Discount Shoe Emporium offers the most elegant shoes for throwing at world leaders.”

 

 

 

 

Make Your Own Shoe Statement!

 

 

 

As featured in Time magazine, within three days of the shoe attack heard around the world, an interesting website was launched. The site, Thank You For Throwing Your Shoe, sole purpose was to encourage its visitors to contribute images of themselves raising their footwear in a launch sequence pose. The intent is to enable site visitors to display their footwear in protest of the Iraq war. Within the first 36 hours of being live, several hundred photos were published. In addition to pictures collected from the U.S., photos were contributed from all around the world including such cities as Beijing, Paris, Dublin, Sydney, Mumbai, and London.

 

In the Time interview, the site’s creator wished to remain anonymous and attempted to be politically correct by not condoning violence. However, there is a disclaimer on the site which states “”We do not condone shoe-throwing, but we prefer it to war.”

 

 

 

 

Human and Machine Wellie Wanging

 

 

Boot throwing is actually a competitive sport for many years in New Zealand. Most outdoor and farm workers wear a heavy rubber boot known as Gumboots or Wellington boots. There’s an annual competition in Taihape called the Gum Boot Throwing Capital of New Zealand. The objective is to see who can throw their boots the farthest in order to claim the Golden Gumboot trophy. Tiia Koskelo (featured in the Youtuve video) was the winner of the women’s 2008 series of the World Champiomships with an impressive throw of 45.50 meters.

 

The sport has also been practiced competitively in Germany who hosted the 2005 World Championships with teams from Sweden, Estonia and Russia appearing. In Britain, the sport is referred to as Wellie Wanging. The boot must be hurled from a running or standing start and kept within boundary lines. A full description of Wellie Waning actually can be found in Wikipedia.

 

A team of scientists from Aberystwyth University were commissioned in 2006 by the popular TV show “Scrapheap Challenge” to construct a robotic welly wanger. Their solution was so impressive that is was written up by the BBC. Their mechanical wanger involved hooking a homemade propeller up to an engine from a concrete mixer and a gearbox from a Citroen 2CV, with the whole contraption controlled by three computers calculating such vital variables as wind speed and the propeller’s RPMs. The robotic welly wanger is capable of hurling a boot as far as 242-feet!

 

 

 

 

 

So, as you can see, even though the infamous George Bush shoe-icide attack made shoe hurling a trendy protest statement, footwear tossing already had a varied and rich history. However, over the next year, while the recession deepens you can expect human sentiment towards authority and government to get worse. Will this lead to more flying footwear? Favorable sentiment about President Obama around the world makes it hard to fathom that such a shoe attack would happen to him.

 

 

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