Shoeing, throwing shoes, showing the sole of one's shoe or using shoes to insult are forms of protest in many parts of the world. Incidents where shoes were thrown at political figures have taken place in Australia, India, Ireland, Israel, Hong Kong, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and most notably, the Arab world.[2][3]
Posters of George W. Bush's face have long appeared through the Middle East with shoes attached to them, and some people have called former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Kundara, meaning "shoe".[3] Shoeing received attention after Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at then U.S. President George Bush in a December 14, 2008 press conference in Baghdad, Iraq. Since the al-Zaidi incident, copycat incidents in Europe, North America, India, Hong Kong, Iran, Turkey[4] and Australia[5] have been reported.
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Shoes are considered dirty in the Arab World. Matthew Cassel of The Electronic Intifada in the context of the "Bush shoeing" incident has expressed the opinion that the Western media overplayed the phenomenon as being "Arab" in particular.[6]
On December 17, 2008, Queens resident and Amtrak employee Stephen Millies, a protestor at a meeting of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York City (MTA), tried to throw his shoe at the CEO of the MTA with the statement, "This shoe is for you!" Millies managed to shake off his left shoe before being stopped and detained by MTA Police.[7]
On December 20, 2008, protesters in Montreal and Toronto threw shoes at posters of George Bush in front of their respective U.S. consulates to support Muntadhar al-Zaidi, to demand his immediate release, and to celebrate his gesture. The shoe tosses took place in −24°C weather during protests against the U.S. military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and against Canada's involvement in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. At the shoe toss event in Toronto, Ahmed Habib, a refugee from Baghdad, said "We don't think of Muntadhar al-Zaidi as a criminal but, in fact, we think of him as a hero. The only war criminal is George Bush and his buddy Stephen Harper, so shame on the both of them."[8]
On December 20, 2008, Ukrainian reporter Ihor Dmitriv pelted a Ukrainian politician with a shoe when he became angered by the politician's sexist remarks. Speaking in NATO accession, Oleh Soskin, said NATO membership was more favored by the Ukrainian women as they were "the more intelligent" part of the body politic. Dmitriv said his attack was motivated by the Ukrainian leadership's "craziness" and said "a shoe is going to become a leading means (for common people) to influence their leaders."[9]
The anti-war group Code Pink pelted shoes at an effigy of U.S. president George W. Bush outside the White House on December 17, 2008.[10] Protesters presented their shoes at U.S. Embassies around the world to show their support for al-Zaidi.[11]
On January 12, 2009, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made fun of the incident and "threatened" to throw his shoes at reporters when visiting Couromoda 2009, a shoes event held in São Paulo.[12]
On January 20, 2009 protesters in the United States shoed an inflatable replica of George W. Bush in replication of al-Zaidi's shoe-throwing incident.[13]
On February 2, 2009, a German protester threw his shoe at Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao as he gave a speech at Cambridge University. The shoe landed on stage a few feet from the premier and the protester was quickly hustled away by security guards.[14]
On February 5, 2009, Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Benny Dagan was hit by a protester's shoe while speaking about the 2009 Gaza War, the shoe throwers reportedly chanted murderer!" and "intifada!".[15]
On March 17, 2009, Canadian protesters in Calgary used shoes as props during their demonstrations, even going so far as to create a "shoe cannon".[16]
The incident has also inspired several online shoe-throwing games,[17] and on the Late Show with David Letterman, the "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" segment included flying shoes aimed at other presidents (via digitally-altered stock footage).
On 7 April 2009, Union Home Minister of India P. Chidambaram was shoed by Jarnail Singh, a Sikh journalist during a press conference in Delhi. Singh, who works at the Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran was dissatisfied with Chidamabaram's answer to a question on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.[18]
On 16 April 2009, Indian Leader of Opposition and Prime Ministerial candidate of National Democratic Alliance, L K Advani was shoed by his own party member, Pawas Agarwal, a former district vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Katni Town in Madhya Pradesh.[19]
On 8 October 2009, a shoe was hurled at Clifford D. May by a student named Muhammad Hussain who is also the class representative of his class at Karachi University I.R. Dept. Pakistan.
On 23 October 2009, supporters of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threw their shoes at opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi as he visited Tehran during the 2009 Iranian election protests. A fight broke out between supporters of Ahmadinejad and Karroubi and one of the Ahmadinejad supporters threw a shoe at him, which hit him in the face and resulted in his turban falling off.[20]
In December 2009, al-Zaidi was himself ironically shoed by another Iraqi journalist in Paris, who accused him of "working for dictatorship in Iraq".[21] The incident occurred while al-Zaidi was speaking about his experiences during the Bush shoeing and its aftermath.[22]
In February 2010, a 26-year old Kurd with Syrian citizenship tried to shoe Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Sevilla, the shoes however missed Erdogan. While throwing the shoes the man called "long live free Kurdistan".[23][24]
On 7 August 2010, Shamim Khan Threw a shoe at the President Of Pakistan in his address to Pakistani community in Birmingham UK. Shamim Khan said that he threw the show on him because Pakistan is fighting with the worst flood and its aftermath in 80 Years and He (Mr. Zardari) being president of Pakistan has been enjoying a trip in Europe since last week. Mr Shamim Khan is being treated as National Hero in Pakistan due to ongoing hatred against Zardari in Pakistan.[25] The NBC series Kings imitated the shoe throwing incident in the episode The New King (Part 2).
On 6 June 2011, an attempt was made by a journalist identified as Sunil Kumar, a scribe from Nav Sanchar Patrika of Rajasthan to hurl a shoe at Indian National Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi after apparently upset with the way Congress handled using tear gas at peaceful demonstrations in Delhi on the night of 4 June 2011 against corruption.
On December 14, 2008, during a press conference at the Prime Minister's Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at United States President George W. Bush. "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog", yelled al-Zaidi in Arabic as he threw his first shoe towards the U.S. president.[1] "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq", he shouted as he threw his second shoe.[1] President Bush ducked twice, avoiding being hit by the shoes. Al-Zaidi was then pulled to the floor[26] by another journalist,[27] before being grabbed by Prime Minister Maliki's guards, kicked, and rushed out of the room. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino was hit in the face by a microphone boom sent flying by a presidential bodyguard resulting in a clearly visible black eye.[28]
Some Iraqi reporters present at the scene offered apologies to President Bush. "Thanks for apologizing on behalf of the Iraqi people. It doesn't bother me", Bush joked: "If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw."[29] When asked about the incident by another reporter, Bush said "It's a way for people to draw attention. I don't know what the guy's cause was. I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it."[30] When later asked to reflect on the incident, Bush said "I didn't have much time to reflect on anything, I was ducking and dodging." "I'm not angry with the system. I believe that a free society is emerging, and a free society is necessary for our own security and peace", he added.[31] "I don't think that you can take one guy throwing his shoe as representative of the people of Iraq", argued White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.[32]
The Turkish company that made the shoes thrown at Bush, Ramazan Baydan, experienced a surge in sales. Orders for 300,000 pairs were received in just 1 week.[33]
On 1 December 2009, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who first shoed Bush, got shoed himself in Paris by an exiled Iraqi journalist .[34] Zaidi later said "He stole my technique."[35]
On April 7, 2008, Arbab Ghulam Rahim former Chief Minister of Sindh, Pakistan was leaving the Sindh assembly building from back door after taking oath as newly elected member, was hit by shoe on his face by Agha Javed Pathan, a worker from Pakistan Peoples Party [36]
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was in London on February 2, 2009 speaking with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown about economic cooperation and trade relations between China and the United Kingdom.[37] That day Wen was scheduled to give the Rede Lecture at the University of Cambridge entitled, "See China in the Light of Her Development". As Wen came to the end of his lecture, a man, later identified as a 27-year-old German national Martin Jahnke,[38] stood from the audience, blew a whistle and shouted, "How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator here? How can you listen to these lies he's telling?" Jahnke then threw his shoe at Wen, although the shoe landed a few feet away.[37] Fellow members of the audience shouted at Jahnke, "Shame on you", as he was escorted out of the auditorium.[39]
Jahnke was promptly removed from the lecture by university proctors and then arrested by police on suspicion of breach of the peace and attempted assault.[40] After the shoe was thrown, Premier Wen commented, "this despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship between China and the UK."[37] University Vice-Chancellor Alison Richard commented, "I deeply regret that a single member of the audience this afternoon failed to show the respect for our speaker that is customary at Cambridge. This university is a place for considered argument and debate, not for shoe-throwing."
Premier Wen urged leniency for the German student. "Education is best for a young student, and I hope he will have the opportunity to continue his education. The return of a prodigal is worth more than gold", said the message from Wen, posted on the Foreign Ministry website.[41]
A district judge later concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove that Jahnke's behavior had caused harassment, alarm or distress to the Chinese leader or anyone else in the lecture theater. Human rights campaigners cheered him as he left Cambridge Magistrates' Court.[42]
"I didn't want to hit the premier personally. I thought just placing the shoe on the stage would be universally understood. What it was meant to be was a symbolic protest. I didn't intend to hurt people."[43]
During his trial Jahnke's lawyers alleged that his prosecution was being pushed forward under pressure from the Chinese government, and that there had been political interference in the trial, though this accusation was dismissed by the trial judge due to lack of evidence.[44]
On March 6, 2009, independent Iranian news sites reported that during a trip to the city of Urmia, someone threw a shoe at the motorcade of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. People had become angry after the president's convoy hit an elderly man but did not stop.[45] A shoe had previously been thrown at Ahmadinejad at Amir Kabir University in 2006.[45]
A student threw a shoe at the director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, as he addressed a university in Istanbul, Turkey on October 1, 2009.[46] The shoe did not hit Strauss-Khan but landed on the stage. The student, Selçuk Özbek, from the left-wing newspaper BirGün, was taken away by security as he shouted "IMF get out!". A female protestor was also escorted from the hall,[47] while others shouted "Go away IMF, you're stealing money."[48]
In April 2009 some shareholders in Fortis bank threw their shoes at executives in opposition to the decision to sell part of the bank to BNP Paribas.[49][50]
In October 2009, a shoe was hurled at Clifford D. May by a student named Muhammad Hussain who is also the class representative of his class at Karachi University I.R. Dept. Pakistan. Muhammad Hussain has committed suicide on Saturday September 10, 2011 by jumping from fifth floor of his apartment.
November 2009, a shoe was hurled at Gordana Čomić, Vice-President of the National Assembly of Serbia by a Serbian Radical Party MP Gordana Pop-Lazić.[51]
On 6 December 2009, Students for Palestine protesters threw shoes at Victoria Police during a protest of visiting Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom in Melbourne. Police used pepper spray against the protesters of which three were hospitalized.[52]
The sensation surrounding the shoeing of George W. Bush seems to have inspired a number of copycat incidents in India, where a general election was held from 16 April to 13 May 2009. Several Indian politicians of note were targeted during the very heated election season, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram was shoed on April 7, 2009 by Jarnail Singh, a Sikh journalist who works at the Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran.[18] Chidamabaram was asked a question by Jarnail Singh on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He said that CBI was not under the home ministry, and no ministry of the government had put any pressure on the CBI. He said that "It is for the court to accept or reject or ask for further investigation by CBI. Let us wait for the court decision". When Jarnail Singh persisted with his questions, Chidambaram told him "no arguments, you are using this forum...". Following this the journalist lobbed his shoe saying 'I protest'. Thrown underhand with little force, the shoe narrowly missed hitting Chidambaram. (there is a view that it was never intended to hurt him anyways) The action caused a flutter in the hall.[53]
Chidambaram responded to the situation in a composed manner and even said that the journalist should be removed from the press conference hall gently. Chidambaram appealed to the reporters, "let not the action of one emotional person hijack the entire press conference. I have answered his questions to the best of my ability."
After the incident, Jarnail Singh said that he was sorry for the method of protest he adopted, but issue is right. He added that he felt upset that the government had not done justice in the anti-Sikh riots. Singh also appealed to journalists and others not to repeat his actions. Asked if he could have used some other manner to protest..."For the last 25 years this has been happening. So what other method is left (to protest)", Jarnail Singh said.[54]
Jarnail Singh was let off without any charges on the insistence of Chidambaram. The whole incident set off a major media feeding frenzy with 24x7 TV coverage and snowballed into a major election issue which embarrassed Congress politically. The police said that no complaint was lodged with them, and Chidambaram said that the journalist should be forgiven.[55] A few Sikh bodies came out in Singh's support and even offered rewards. The shoe throwing incident also sparked off widespread protests by Sikhs against the CBI which had given a clean chit to Tytler.[56]
After the shoe throwing incident, Congress calculated politically that all the media controversy created could make it lose many seats especially in Punjab. Fearing further controversy, Congress dropped both Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as congress candidates from Lok Sabha 2009 elections.[57]
During an election rally, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came under a shoe attack in Ahmedabad on April 26, 2009. A 28-year-old man made an attempt to throw a shoe at the Prime Minister while he was addressing the rally. The shoe landed a few meters away from Dr Singh. Soon after the incident took place, the young shoe thrower was taken away by the police. Dr Singh asked the police not to file any charges. The incident was condemned by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and was called an "unestablished way of protesting against democracy."[58]
On 28 April 2009, a chappal was hurled at Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa at a Bharatiya Janata Party rally for the ongoing elections in the town of Channarayapatna, Hassan district. The slipper landed far from the dais, but the man who tossed it was arrested and charged with assault. The Karnataka State Police report that the man who threw the slipper, a vagabond named Chandrashekar, appeared to be drunk at the time.[59]
In April 2009, a schoolteacher hurled a slipper at Indian National Congress Lok Sabha candidate Naveen Jindal.[60]
In April 2009, BJP worker Pavas Agrawal hurled a slipper at BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani.[61] Agrawal was arrested for interrogation.
During a Paramore concert at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland, someone threw a shoe at Paramore's lead singer Hayley Williams.[62]
During a public meeting, a man threw a shoe at Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, which missed. The man was later detained by security forces, while the President's office denied the incident took place and said the man was arrested as he attempted to pass a letter to al-Bashir.[63][64] Witnesses described the man, whose reasons for throwing the shoe were unclear, was calm as he was detained.[65]
During a hearing on medical marijuana on 27 January 2010, 52-year-old Pinchas Cohen hurled his sneaker at President of the Supreme Court of Israel Dorit Beinisch. The shoe struck Justice Beinisch between the eyes, breaking her glasses and knocking her off her chair. Cohen, disgruntled over a family court decision four years prior, was arrested for the act. He later apologized to Justice Beinisch.[66][67]
On March 6, 2010 Henry Tang, Chief Secretary for Administration in Hong Kong, attended a youth summit in Chai Wan organized by the Home Affairs Bureau. A 31 year old jobless man threw a shoe at Tang and it landed on the stage meters away from him. The man was dragged away by police. The man was unemployed after getting fired by a computer company, and the government policies were not helping him. He said he was not a "post-80s" teen, but supported the highspeed rail protest connecting HK to Guangdong.[68] Before the summit, about 30 people from several youth groups gathered outside the building to wave banners and said the forum was a fake consultation and that young people's opinions were neglected.[69] As soon as Tang left the building, protesters tried to block his passage and demanded to speak to him. One protester laid on the road in front of Tang's car, and had to be forcibly removed by the police.[69] A protester said that the topics discussed in the summit are not those that any young person would be interested in.[69]
On August 7, 2010 Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari was targeted by a man who hurled a pair of shoes at him during his visit to Birmingham, England. The 50-year-old man was wrestled down by security guards after he threw two shoes and shouted ‘killer’ as Zardari spoke during a political rally at the International Convention Centre in the city. The shoes did not hit the president, who did not respond to the attack. The man who targeted Zardari was believed to be a Pakistani national from Derby who was sat in the front row at the rally. He was dressed in a traditional Shalwar kameez. Following the incident he was led away by police, questioned and later released without charge.[70]
On August 15, 2010 a police officer hurled his brown leather shoe at Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.[71] The chief minister was about to address a gathering organised on India's 64th Independence Day. The officer, identified as assistant sub-inspector of police, Abdul Ahad Jan later waived black flag shouting pro-freedom slogans against the Indian rule in the disputed territory. Abdullah's security men deported the officer out of the function venue.[72]
On September 4, 2010, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had one egg and shoes thrown at him at a signing for his book, A Journey, outside Eason's in Dublin.[73][74]
On September 11, 2010, a shoe was tossed against Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, while he was inaugurating the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. Stergios Prapavesis, a 50-year old radiologist and militant of the Patriotic Front (PAM), tossed the shoe shouting "You are not a patriot, you are a traitor", referring to the decision of the Greek government under Papandreou to accept IMF, ECB and EU austerity measures. The shoe missed him for inches while Prapavesis, along with his 15-year-old daughter and farmer Stavros Vitalis, who was with the pair at the time, was apprehended.[75] On its website, the group "calls upon the Greek people to express their displeasure by throwing their old shoes along the Prime Minister's journey from the airport to the Thessaloniki International Fair." Prapavesis described the shoe-throwing incident as "a political act against the government's austerity policies" and warned that "many more will follow."[76]
On 4 November 2009, John Howard, the former Prime Minister of Australia, was delivering a speech about leadership in the new century at Cambridge University when an Australian student called him a racist before taking off his boot and throwing it in his direction.[77]
On 25 October 2010, two shoes were thrown at Howard by an audience member, Peter Gray, live on the ABC Television program Q&A while he was defending his decision to commit Australian troops to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[5] Gray, 30, died of bowel cancer on 30 April 2011.[78]
On 6 February 2011, a man hurled shoe at Pervez Musharraf, the former Military Ruler, Dictator, and President of Pakistan while he was addressing Pakistani origin gathering at Walthamstow, a district of London in Britain.[79] The anonymous man threw shoe to protest against Pakistani citizens detention by USA.[80]
On 10 February 2011, Hosni Mubarak announced that he would not be stepping down from his position as President of Egypt.[81] Crowds gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square waved their shoes in protest.[82]
When Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (son of Muammar Gaddafi) appeared on Libyan state television on 20 February 2011 protesters threw their shoes at the projection of the broadcast.
On 26 April 2011, while arrested former chairman of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi was being led into the court premises, an attacker identified as one Kapil Thakur from Madhya Pradesh rushed up to him and hurled a slipper. The footwear, however, missed its mark.[83] Ironically, Mr Kalmadi had started his political career in the late 1970s by throwing slippers on Prime Minister Morarji Desai's car in Pune.[84]
On 6 June 2011, Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi was targeted at a press conference by a man who tried to throw a shoe at him. It was reaction after Delhi Police ordered dismantle act against Yoga Teacher Baba Ramdev's Protest against Corruption. The attacker, Sunil Kumar, posed himself as a journalist working with Nav Sanchar Patrika of Rajasthan. [85]
On 18 October 2011, RTI activist and member of India Against Corruption, Arvind Kejriwal was targeted in Lucknow, India when one Jitendra Pathak tried to hurl a shoe at him, but it missed. It was just a week after another member of IAC and senior Supreme Court of India Lawyer Prashant Bhushan was assaulted by some people in his chamber at Supreme Court. [86]
On 12 December 2011, 45-year-old textile worker identified as S.Rashid, hurled his shoes at Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in protest for not having received unemployement benefits. However, he missed, instead striking a banner behind the president. He was once jailed before for throwing eggs and tomatoes at former president Mohammad Khatami..[87]