Shoe Throwing Incident Exposes Western Failure to Understand Arab World

Americans are the most educated people in the world but the least educated in the world. They can't tell the difference between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, and an Iranian and an Indian.

That might explain why the West is so outraged that an Iraqi, who is a journalist, threw his shoes at President Bush, while people in the Arab World view it as a moment of pride.

The case of the shoe-throwing Iraqi cameraman only serves once again to highlight the disconnect between what Americans do and do not know about the Arab World, which their leaders insist will bring "Democracy."

How can you bring Democracy to a part of the world that fundamentally few Americans can even comprehend?

The throwing of a shoe at someone is not an intended act of violence. In fact, if an Arab were to want to pursue an act of violence, throwing a shoe would not be a choice.

Throwing a shoe is a fundamental cornerstone of Arab culture, and it is the failure to recognize this and the bigger principles that it represents that explains why the United States and the West have been frustrated in almost every attempt to "change" the Middle East.

This week, the President of the Society of Professional Journalists asked me to remove a post from a blog that has been assigned to Arab American members, al-Sahafiyeen, in which I defended the shoe-thrower.

You might think journalists would be more willing to discuss these issues. The reality is this topic is being discussed more openly and with less inhibition in the "oppressed" Arab World than it is in the "Free" America.

Only because the SPJ is one of the only journalism organizations in the United States that truly respects the particular challenges that confront Arab Americans in journalism, I removed the post, replacing it with my letter of response.

Here are some facts that all trace back to the huge divide that exists between the West and the Arab World that I think the shoe-throwing incident symbolizes:

America claims to be the land of the free, yet an effort to make the Arab satellite broadcast al-Jazeera English available as a paid option on cable TV channels was rejected for political reasons.

The Arab World isn't even allowed to make its argument to the American people or to the West, and their efforts to do so are shrouded in defamation asserting that Arab journalism is "biased."

Although the Middle East is the number one topic in the World today, and in the United States especially after the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001, the fact is there isn't one major Arab American columnist who writes on a regular basis for a major mainstream American newspaper who is allowed to explain Arab culture and Arab thinking and Arab politics.

Even debates on such touchy taboo topics as "criticism of Israel" are oftentimes parsed out not between two opposites (One Israeli columnist versus one Arab columnist), but often between two Israeli columnists.

Arab Americans are excluded from the media at almost every level, and the coverage of the Arab American community is often restricted to controversy, violence and terrorism. Very few mainstream newspapers cover the Arab American community, the way they cover, for example, the Jewish American community.

The challenge of the media is not restricted to the news media, but also to the entertainment side of the communications profession, including in Hollywood where opinion is molded in the fictionalized bastardization of real worldly events.

Sometime in January, one of the first movies to explore the challenges facing Arab Americans will be released. It is called "American East." Although the movie, made by Hesham Issawi and Sayed Badreya, portrays the controversial topic in a balanced and fair manner, not one American theater would show it.

The reality is that Arab Americans are victims of this Western ignorance of the reality of the Arab World. Many Americans, including those with noble causes on their shoulders, discriminate against Arab Americans because it is politically correct to do so. They will champion the right of every ethnic group to express their views, but not when it comes to Arab Americans.

Muntandar al-Zaidi, the cameraman for al-Baghdadiya TV, threw his shoe at President Bush not as an act of violence, but because in Arab culture, that is in fact the ultimate form of protest.

Rather than see it in that light, Americans continue to bury their heads in the sand as they race across its deserts seeking to "Westernize" the "Arab" and to "bring Democracy" to the shores of the Middle East.

No wonder American and Western policies in the Middle East have and continue to fail. Until Americans take the time to understand the Arab mind, and to apply the same principles of free speech, justice morality and fairness to the Arab people, that failure will continue at breakneck speed.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist and Chicago radio talkshow host. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com and by email at [e-mail].)

Comments

[intriqued]

While insulted to see the shoe thrower disrespect my President and insult the thousands of men and women who have given their lives for these ingrates, I was heartened to think that Arabs might have progressed to a more non-violent manner of disagreement, throwing shoes instead of blowing themselves up and killing hundreds of innocents simultaneously. Let's hope this is a positive growth towards civil ways of disagreement with the Arabs' many enemies.

[CSCoon]

Nearly five years ago I commented on this business of ignoring the central feature of our national misperception of our interests in the Middle East. "The hole in the Doughnut", http://www.progressivehumanism.com/Holeinthedoughnut.html
Anti-anti-semitism started two generations or more ago for good reasons but it has long since passed its shelf life. It's time for a balanced, non-racist look at US national interests in the region, starting with a more balanced media coverage.

[AliMB]

Traditional Iraqi culture and customs also dictate the high importance of hospitiatlity and respect to guests; please note that Iraqi opinion on the shoe-throwing incident is not universal. My brother is currently in Iraq, and he wrote me recounting how a lot of the Iraqis he discussed the incident with found Mr. Al-Zaidi's behavior offensive, and some of these individuals equally despised President Bush. This was because the President was at a press conference as a guest of the Iraqi government, and offending a state guest is tantamount to offending the country and a poor reflection on Iraqi culture. During the anbar awakening, marines made a conscious effort to reach out to tribal leaders in order to exploit their revulsion with al-Qaeda"s brutality and to create support for their counterinsurgency efforts. So when receiving marines for talks, they would be treated with courteousness and respect e.g. offered tea and food. This was done in spite of the fact that some of these leaders had family killed by US forces, and even though some had American blood on their hands. To claim that shoe-throwing is a part of Arab culture and that is why westerners don't get it (the Arab World-American disconnect) is a highbrow and hauteur conclusion. I think most people understood why an Iraqi would want to throw his shoes at President Bush, but I wish Mr. Hanania would help his readers understand why maybe he shouldn't have.

[mattheweste]

I am always surprised at how US-positive Iraqis are when US soldiers, who have the "right" to shoot them dead, are asking them questions.

Oh wait. No that's the opposite.

[AliMB]

If your suggestion that an Iraqi cannot be candid on his feelings about a particular issue to an American servicemen because of an implied threat, I can see your point but I have to say I think it is incorrect... first, they are discussing a cultural issue/incident dealing with an Iraqi journalist, not on whether they have been laying IEDs. Second, many were rather candid on their feelings of bush and the war, so what would be the point of criticizing the journalist. Third, they were not being interrogated; it was a casual conversation from what I understand. You may be surprise that troops have daily contact with normal Iraqis in non-hostile situations. Also, the story was all over the newspapers and TV and thus a popular topic of conversation (btw, since the fall of Saddam there has been an explosion of free press in Iraq of all political stripes). Fourth, your comment that troops have the "right" to shoot whoever they want is completely false. They can only fire under certain strict conditions i.e. if there is a threat, not because someone gave them an answer they didn't want to hear. Finally, concluding that some Iraqis finding shoe-throwing improper because of Iraqi customs is equivalent to a "US-positive answer" is false; it has nothing to do with the United States.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

Besides Journalist are held to the same ethics as all others, "Report the story, don't become the story". So his frustration is justified some degree but he should have known better. On the other hand our Government, President never took into account that they were dealing with a different culture.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

Why is this a surprise to anyone?

[motoGpifupleez]

Americans do not care to understand the rest of the world. When "W" says "they hate us for our freedom" the average American has reached the limit of understanding world events and is ready to return to the game of the week. The only time Americans learn the name of another country (or even give a flip about it's existence) is when our military bombs/invades it or the new season of "Survivor" is being filmed there. Any way, thank you for the wonderful article.

[AliMB]

A lot Americans are ignorant and have "do not care" attitudes about the rest of the world, but may do not. From what I"ve read Americans are shockingly poor at geography, but I don"t know how much can be attributed to an indifferent attitude and how much to the poor public education systems that de-emphasize the subject on curriculums. When President Bush says that they (he refers to Islamic terrorists) "hate us for our freedom", I agree it"s a very simplistic answer. But he is not completely wrong. If you analyze communiqués of groups like Al-Qaeda, they often say their opposition to the US and the liberal democratic systems that it encourages is based on religious and moral principles; they hate the concept of freedom of religion, equality for women, and in fact democracy itself because it is not within the spirit of Allah"s teachings (so goes their interpretation). There are many more reasons why the hate us (chiefly foreign policy), but it doesn't make President Bush's comments off-base

[STParker]

but Al Queda and religious extremists are not the sum total of those who "hate" us. Many in Latin America hate us for our support of dictators, as do many in the ME.

Africans probably have the most reason to hate us which is why I find it astounding that more terrorists are not from Africa as opposed to the ME.

[Very Berry]

You see I don't care if the show throwing journalist was American, Iraqi or from Iceland. Journalist ethics are universal ethics. Journalists are impartial, they are not there to editorialise, show how smart they are, represent their government or throw shoes at anyone.

You can talk all you like about how different American and the Arab world are. But like law and medicice, their are universal doctrine for journalism that apply throughout the world and to anyone calling themselves a journalist.

What he did was a disgrace to his profession. In any other country he would be up before the ethics committee.

[AliMB]

excellent post... imagine the ABC white house reporter got up and threw his shoe at Bush one day because he was mad at his evasive answers. that reporter would be fired, and i doubt any respectable new organization would hire him again

[HeevenSteven]

I completely agree with you Ray. Bravo!

Of course humans tend to be xenophobic, but I put the biggest share of blame on our politicians, and the corporate media. What we have here is a failure, to communicate! Even our public news networks, been hamstrung by our political process.

[chaos4700]

Thank you for your insightful article. As an American, I've been astonished at how much of what I'd been taught about the Arab world was just outright false. The myth and outright propaganda is so pervasive that even Progressives often fall into those patterns of assumptions. I've always had seeds of doubt (kind of like how I've had seeds of doubt about what I was taught to believe about African Americans, or Hispanics) but I was truly shocked when I discovered the disparity between what we're lead to believe about the Islam and the Middle East and what things are actually like. For the most part, I had to go seek that information on my own -- sources on the Internet as well as talking to Arab Americans in my own community, the ignored and disregarded who truly are our best insight into what it really means to be Muslim.

[CamJam]

Mr Hanania,
By luck, I recently found your posts on Huffington, and I really enjoy reading them. Americans are really on their own to learn what is going on out there.
I knew of a great man as well as his son, that I'm sure would have enjoyed reading your articles as well.
Sadly they are no longer with us.
His name was Riad Taha, who was the Head of the Union of Journalists assassinated in July 1980. How I as an American, born and raised here in Oregon learned of Mr. Taha was through his oldest son, Jamal Riad Taha. His son came here to live as it was unsafe and his father sent him here to Oregon in 1977.
I may no longer have the Taha family in my life as I did but I will never forget how much I learned from them for as long as I shall live. It seems not much has changed since 1980. Riad Taha believed in freedom of speech and admired America and sadly he died for Freedom. What is also sad, America thinks she's free to think, live and learn, when it's not so true. We truly live inside our little box- some now afraid to even think outside the box.
I can only hope with our new President elect Barack Obama, that he might give us all back our voice, our dignity, our faith and more. But it's going to take ALL of us to make this happen.

[Michael Carmichael - Huffpost Blogger]

Ray Hanania is one of America's most astute analysts of the Middle East, and his columns offer a treasure trove for readers of the Huffington Post.

Hanania's observations that Americans are woefully uninformed about the rest of the world in general and the Arabic people and their Islamic traditions in particular are bang on the money.

Few Christians realize that Muslims regard Jesus as a prophet as well as the Messiah of the Jews. Few Jews and Christians realize that the Islamic world provided Jews with a sanctuary from brutal anti-semitic oppression meted out by Christians in Europe for more than a millennium and a half of crusades, pogroms and The Inquisition that targeted Jews in a wave of cultural hatred that led to the Holocaust.

Let us all heed the wisdom of Ray Hanania and work toward a deeper understanding of Arabic peoples and the history, tradition and culture of Islam. America can no longer afford the luxury of cultural misconceptions in the energetically transformational 21st century.

[alexa07]

Thank you for your thoughts on a very difficult topic. (1) The SPJ is at fault. Your article should NOT have been censored, but for all the reasons you stated, this response (sadly) was allowed to stand by journalists who should have known better, or at least been more courageous. I agree with you 100%--Americans need to understand MORE, not LESS about what is going on in the Middle East. We have been allowed only the same old, biased interpretation of events. We need to launch a major call for a change. (I would say this to the Israelis & their friends in Congress: If you are so sure of your arguments, why do you do everything in your power to prevent the other side from telling their viewpoint to the American public?)

(2) Al-Jazeera English is excellent also, & available only to Americans online (Jump TV) or at Link TV (Mosaic/Witness documentaries only). When will the entire broadcast become available on cable/satellite networks? While it will only be a matter of time before Americans finally gain access to Al-Jazeera/English on their televisions, what can we do to help speed up this process? Thank you again for your thoughts!

[RPLinNYC]

Great post. Thank you.