Iraqi shoe hurler inspires art in Saddam hometown

Thu Jan 29, 2:05 pm ET

AP – Girls stand next to a sculpture of a shoe that serves as a monument to the shoes thrown at then-US president …

BAGHDAD – When an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at George W. Bush last month at a Baghdad press conference, the attack spawned a flood of Web quips, political satire and street rallies across the Arab world.

Now it's inspired a work of art.

A sofa-sized sculpture — a single copper-coated shoe on a stand carved to resemble flowing cloth — was formally unveiled to the public Thursday in the hometown of the late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.

Officials and visitors walked around the outdoor sculpture during the brief ceremony, pondering on its eccentricities — such as a tree poking up from the shoe's interior.

Its sculptor called it a fitting tribute to the shoe hurler, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, and his folk hero reputation in parts of the Muslim world and beyond.

The Baghdad-based artist, Laith al-Amari, said the work honors al-Zeidi and "is a source of pride for all Iraqis." He added: "It's not a political work,"

But its location in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, about 80 miles north of Baghdad, is a point of reference for prewar nostalgia among some Iraqis.

The sculpture also includes an ode to al-Zeidi and mentions the virtues of being "able to tell the truth out loud."

Al-Zeidi had shouted in Arabic as he pulled off his shoes and heaved them at Bush during the news conference. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq," screamed al-Zeidi, who was working for a Cairo-based television station.

Bush dodged both shoes, but the image was extremely powerful in Arab culture, where throwing shoes at someone is a sign of extreme contempt. Iraqis whacked a toppled statue of Saddam following the U.S.-led invasion with their shoes and slippers.

"This monument ... will remain a present for the forthcoming generations," said Fatin Abdul-Qadir al-Nasiri, director of a Tikrit orphanage whose children helped fashion the sculpture. "(They) will remember the story of the hero (al-Zeidi) who bid farewell to the U.S. president ... in such a way.

Al-Zeidi was scheduled to face trial last month on a charge of assaulting a foreign leader, but the court date was postponed after his attorney filed a motion to reduce the charges.

On Monday, Swiss lawyer Mauro Poggia said al-Zeidi planned to seek political asylum in Switzerland, but one of al-Zeidi's brothers denied the report.


They made of a sculpture of a shoe. Wow.

Personally, whether I am pro or anti the war in Iraq, regardless how I feel about everything...

....this was pathetic, even on the Iraqis part. I don't care how much they hate Bush...this is downright disrespect for anyone.

We don't have a Saddam monument do we?

Can you imagine a sculpture of a shoe in your neighborhood?

New information about it:

BAGHDAD – The director of an Iraqi orphanage says a sculpture honoring an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush has been removed.

Fatin al-Nassiri says Iraqi police told her the statue had to be removed from the orphanage in Tikrit because government property should not be used for something with a political bias.

She says the sofa-sized statue of a shoe was taken down on Saturday after being unveiled on Thursday.

Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi threw his shoes during a Dec. 14 news conference in Baghdad. Throwing shoes at someone is a sign of extreme contempt in Arab culture.

I don't care what a persons opinion of bush is

the person still assaulted a sitting President of the United States

I don't see that it makes it okay cause a bunch of people don't like the President

As far as I am concerned, he's lucky it was just a shoe, the puppet extraordinaire... the idiot... the murderer.... the egotistical incompetant fool.

Im betting the media was behind the whole thing somehow.

It was two shoes...not to split hairs.. and if that man had done that in Saddams time, he would have been gutted and duct taped and dropped from a second story building, or publicly tortured to show everyone how good of a man Saddam is....

Crap! Throwing a shoe or twelve at George Bush in Saddam's time would have earnt him a medal

hahaaha I guess you are right...but I guess now he has the freedom to throw it at anyone he wants now doesn't he..

I agree.

Our side's media or their side's media?

Which side is the media on????? there side our side???? aren't they the same???

Who owns what media first... and who pays for whose president's party first?

Ole Rupert Murdoch owned Bush's testes... so of course the media was slanted.

I agree that he's lucky it was just a shoe.

So who holds Obamas testes??? Everyone who holds that office is owned by someone, and none of them care about the average citizen...you are foolish to believe anything different..