Shoe-throwing comes full circle

The latest victim of the international shoe throwing trend kicked off by Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi in 2008 is… Muntazer al Zaidi! Muntazer al-Zaidi – who became a national hero in Iraq after hurling his footwear at the then US president last year – was speaking at a press conference to promote his campaign for ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
576045_091202_zaidi2.jpg
576045_091202_zaidi2.jpg
Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi who hurled his shoes at then US president George W. Bush gives a press conference on December 01, 2009 in Paris. Zaidi repeated in this news conference that he was tortured in prison after being arrested. AFP PHOTO PIERRE VERDY (Photo credit should read PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

The latest victim of the international shoe throwing trend kicked off by Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi in 2008 is… Muntazer al Zaidi!

Muntazer al-Zaidi – who became a national hero in Iraq after hurling his footwear at the then US president last year – was speaking at a press conference to promote his campaign for victims of the Iraq war when a man threw a shoe at him.

Zaidi ducked and the shoe hit the wall behind him. Film footage showed that a scuffle then broke out in the audience. “He stole my technique,” Zaidi said afterwards.

French reports said the attacker was an exiled Iraqi journalist who spoke in defence of US policy and accused Zaidi of siding with a dictatorship.

Other victims of the shoe-toss include Wen Jiabao, Indian Home minister P. Chidambaram, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and (possibly) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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