Fervent nationalist

By Sherine Bahaa

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Muntadhar Al-Zaidi

Call him the hero of the Arab world or man of the year: This is Muntadhar Al-Zaidi.

The "little-known Shia" Clark Kent from Al-Baghdadiya TV has transformed himself into a popular superhero thanks to his flying shoes. Al-Zaidi took out his frustration -- and that of Iraqis -- on US President George W Bush during a visit that was meant to be a celebration of achievement but which Al-Zaidi made a spectacle of humiliation.

The surprise visit to Iraq by Bush was meant to enhance his legacy as he approaches his last month in office. The real surprise was the pair of shoes tossed at him by an Iraqi journalist. Bush swiftly ducked the flying footwear. Hurling any object is a form of hostility, but in Arab culture, throwing a shoe or striking someone with one is the ultimate form of contempt.

Al-Zaidi, the shoe-thrower, is an Iraqi broadcast journalist and correspondent with the Cairo- based Iraqi owned Al-Baghdadiya TV. He first became internationally known for having been kidnapped and tortured in Baghdad in 2007, and was also arrested twice by the US Armed Forces. As he threw the shoes, Al-Zaidi said "This is a goodbye kiss, you dog!" and with the second one he shouted, "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq!"

Colleagues at Al-Baghdadiya TV, where he has worked since 2005, described him as a "fervent nationalist" who hated all things American. Al-Zaidi's brother said his sibling's actions were "spontaneous" and represented millions of Iraqis who want to "humiliate the tyrant". Dhirgham Al-Zaidi, who sometimes worked as his brother's cameraman, described the reporter's disgust for the "material American occupation" and the "moral Iranian occupation".

Muntadhar Al-Zaidi's feelings were surely influenced by watching the agony of Iraqis on a daily basis. Most of the reporter's stories focussed on Iraqi widows, orphans and children, said the brother. His coverage was anti- occupation; he sometimes went as far as signing his stories "from occupied Baghdad".

After the incident, Al-Zaidi was hustled out of the room and arrested. He remains in jail and has reportedly been tested for alcohol and drugs to determine his state of mind, according to an Iraqi government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Al-Zaidi's employer, Al-Baghdadiya, hasn't issued an apology for his act of protest. The station warned in a statement: "Any measures against Muntadhar will be considered the acts of a dictatorial regime." Headway seems to be building behind a movement to have Al-Zaidi freed as an embodiment of Iraq's suffering.

Opponents of the continued US presence in Iraq turned Al-Zaidi's detention Monday into a rallying cry. Support for the detained journalist crossed religious, ethnic and class lines in Iraq -- vaulting him to near folk hero status.

In Sadr City, thousands of marchers on Monday called for an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. Demonstrators burned American flags and waved shoes attached to long poles in a show of support for Al-Zaidi, chanting "Bush, Bush, listen well: Two shoes on your head!"

In Najaf, hundreds gathered in a central square to protest at President Bush's Sunday visit, and demonstrators threw their shoes at a passing American military convoy.

Whereas The New York Times referred to Al-Zaidi as a "folk hero", and Malaysia's The Star reported Al-Zaidi being referred to as a "national hero", one journalist said Al-Zaidi simply did what journalists should have done long ago.

Al-Zaidi has been honoured with a bravery award in Libya by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's daughter.

Fifty or more attorneys have offered Al-Zaidi legal representation in Iraq. His praises are being sung in Saudi Arabia, and opinion of Al-Zaidi on the street in Egypt is nothing but glowing. One man in Jordan said that Al-Zaidi "did what Arab leaders failed to do". Al-Zaidi's brother said the act "fills Iraqi hearts with pride". The Palestinian blog "Window into Palestine" praised Al-Zaidi, with the blogger's mother calling Al-Zaidi the new Saladin.