Shoe Tossing - In the Arab World: A Gesture of Contempt

[ddeclue]

From the wikitubes:

In the Arab world: a gesture of contempt

In the Arab world, shoe flinging is a gesture of extreme disrespect. A notable occurrence of this gesture happened in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. When U.S. forces pulled down a giant statue of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, many Iraqi detractors of Hussein threw their shoes at the fallen statue.

This may be an ancient gesture from the Middle East; Psalms 60:8, speaking of some of the traditional enemies of Judah, says that "Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe...." (KJV)

The shoe represents the lowest part of the body (the foot) and displaying or throwing a shoe at someone or something in Arab cultures denotes that the person or thing is "beneath them." Showing the bottom of one's feet or shoes (for example, putting one's feet up on a table or desk) in Arab cultures is considered an extreme insult. Examples include Iraqi citizens smacking torn-down posters of Saddam Hussein with their shoes, and the depiction of President of the United States George H. W. Bush on a tile mosaic of the floor of the Al-Rashid Hotel's lobby, forcing all visitors entering the hotel to walk on Bush's face to enter the hotel.

During President George W. Bush's surprise visit to Iraq in December 2008, an Iraqi man threw shoes at him during a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki.<1>

[HereSince1628]

1. Where in the world is shoe-tossing a sign of something else?

Just wondering about how a person could think that a shoe thrown at another person's head wouldn't involve contempt.

[ddeclue]

2. Yeah but I think it has more significance there...

We shoot you the bird or give you the up yours fist in this country (which Bush referred to after the show throwing was over) but I can't recall any one getting shoes tossed at them here.

Doug D.

[grantcart]

3. In Thailand the normally peaceful Thais would become almost homicidal if

someone threw a shoe at them.

President Kennedy caused a little bit of a stir when he met the King and crossed his leg and showed the King the bottom of his shoe, also an insult.

It goes beyond disrespect and enters the world of "FUCK YOU".

[Billy Shears]

4. sadly, Bush is incapable of understanding the Metaphor well enough for it to really get to him

He was chuckling like a moron afterwards.

No, he needed to actually be hit for it to take a toll on his mind. Embarrassment like that might have actually gotten to that cocky fucker. Now he can joke about how quick he was, etc.

So close yet so far away.