Unexpected Hero in the Eyes of the Arabic World

Iraqi journalist Muntathar Al Zaydi, 29, witnessed the American invasion of his homeland.  He reported the war on Iraq with anguish and anger.

He hated what was happening in his country as he witnessed the daily death of many innocent Iraqis.

Montathar, a correspondent for the independent Iraqi TV station Al Baghdadiya, went to sleep every night praying and dreaming about his country’s freedom - and the freedom of all other occupied countries, such as my own.

He was against the American presence in Iraq and thought that it was the wrong path to freedom. Rather, he felt it was the path to violence and bloodshed.

We all heard about the American president’s visit to Iraq and the press conference that was scheduled. All the journalists were invited to hear George Bush - including Muntathar Al Zaydi.

The press conference aired live around the whole world.  We were all glued to our TVs, radios, or computers to follow it - including myself, a journalist in Gaza.

Suddenly — out of nowhere — we saw a shoe thrown at Bush, which made us all gasp in shock.  Was it real or fabricated?  All cameras moved from Bush to the Iraqi journalist who threw the shoe at America’s president.

I was very worried about the journalist when I saw the whole security apparatus grab him while he was cursing Bush.  I thought to myself, “Poor guy, he won’t see the sun rise again.”

As we all expected Muntathar was immediately jailed. We tracked the daily news for updates on his well-being.  One day we heard he was going to be released and we couldn’t believe it.

On the day of his release, my friends and I were happy.  We watched him, live, talking about his experience.  About how his emotions had built up during the conference until he felt he need to let out his anger by throwing his shoe at aggressor.

The shoe-thrower said he did not regret it, and that if time rolled back he would do it again.

Muntathar was released sooner than we expected.  Perhaps the election of a new American president allowed the Iraqis to do that?

Unexpectedly, this journalist is considered a hero in the eyes of the Arabic world today.  Everyone now loves him and respects him.

The shoe thrower was even offered money, gold, houses, marriage, and even employment from leading royal Arabic personalities and political personalities.

He was even offered an enormous sum of money for his shoe, but he refused to sell it, saying “You cannot sell dignity because it doesn’t have a price.”

Welcome back to freedom, Muntathar Al Zaydi.  The world needs more people like you to take a stand.

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About the writer: Omar is a 22-year-old journalist living in Gaza – Palestine.