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007 · Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:24 pm Post subject: Shoes culture in the Middle East!

Well, may be it is a bizarre post for some, but for others, it is important to know the culture of the Middle East, especially the culture of shoes!

In the Middle East, it is very impolite to point the sole of the foot at the person sitting next to you (like putting one foot over the other knee towards that person).
If you are invited to some one's house, check his/her feet before you inter the seating/common room, if they have their shoes on, then it is OK to go in with your shoes otherwise take them off and leave them outside the seating room.

Now, what is the meaning of throwing shoes in the face of another person?
This is the most humiliating act and disrespect for a person in the ME, especially in Iraq!!

Well, it seems Uncle Sam did not seem to understand the significance of the �flying shoes� at him, and admitted he did not understand what the angry man was saying in Arabic as he threw the shoes! And commented by saying �If you want the facts, it was a size 10 shoe that he threw," and later added, "I didn�t know what the guy said, but I saw his sole."
Well, for the people of this region, the size of the shoes have no meaning, what is most important for them is the act of �flying shoes� and the humiliation of the sole! if a person wants to humiliate another person, he just throw his shoes at him!! Like it happed with Uncle Sam in Baghdad!

I think next time when Uncle Obama visits Baghdad, he will ask all journalists to take their shoes off before going in the press room!! Laughing

Never Ceased To Be Amazed

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

This article has a much better take on it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/opinion/17kenney.html?_r=1
In France, of course, it�s a waffle. Throw a waffle at someone and you have said, in essence: �I loathe you. You are scum. Your people are donkey traders.� It suggests that the target is even lower than a waffle, which is sometimes on the ground if it happens to fall off a plate, and the ground could be dirty, depending upon the ground.

Who�s to say why, exactly? Some say the waffle�s association with Belgium is enough to disgust any Frenchman.

For common sense:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2008/12/16/what-exactly-does-a-journalist-throwing-a-shoe-at-bush-mean.html

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

Though I disagree with W on many things, I must commend him for his reaction.

He didn't get pissed off
he didn't overreact
He made light of it.

Yes it was an insult (a big one in the ME, and a small one in the west), and what if he was throwing something dangerous? But instead of standing there shaking, angry, demanding apology he made light of it. That was classy IMHO.

Whether we agree or disagree on the war in Iraq, one must remember this journalist has the freedom to choose to behave in the manner he did without being executed for his actions. Had he thrown his shoes at Saddam he would have disappeared. If he threw them at the PM of IRAN, or in other places he would have disappeared. So he was demonstrating a level of freedom he never had before.

Personally, I think W should contact the Iraqi PM and ask for the man to be released as a token of good will to show that even though the action was in poor taste, that he (the POTUS) believes this man overreacted and should be shown that Freedom allows for us to disagree on issues. (an very alien concept in most of the ME)

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:43 am Post subject:

007 · Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:34 pm Post subject:

BobbyBan · Joined: 05 Feb 2008 Posts: 201

Where in the world is it not an insult to have shoes thrown in your face?

Let's not exaggerate the cultural differences here. Just because he chose that means to express his anger at seeing many of his countrymen killed it doesn't mean that he was using a specifically Iraqi or Arab form of abuse.

I suppose if someone called Tony Blair a W****r we could have a big discussion on what it means to be called a W****r in Britain but I think that would miss the point. It also misses the point to say that the guy couldn't have really thrown his shoes at Saddam Hussein and got away with it.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Mentioning Saddam in no way justifies the crimes of Bush. He is a war criminal little different from Saddam and deserves the same fate IMHO... along with Cheney, Rumsfield and all of the rest who created this debacle.

VS

bje · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 527

Likewise; I fail to see why Saddam Hussein should be invoked in this discussion. Surprised