Meet the Man Who Threw His Shoes at Bush. Are We Getting It Yet?

From: Democracy Now!

In Baghdad, a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was interrupted when an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President Bush. The shoes almost hit Bush in the head.

The journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, screamed in Arabic, “This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”

From: CNN

Muntadhar al-Zaidi’s feelings were influenced by watching the agony suffered by everyday Iraqis. Most of the reporter’s stories focused on Iraqi widows, orphans, and children, said the brother.

Sometimes the 29-year-old journalist would cry. Moved by the tales he reported of poor families, he sometimes asked his colleagues to give money to them. On most nights, he returned to his home in central Baghdad after reporting from Sadr City, one of the country’s most violent slums and the epicenter of several of the war’s pitched battles.

Muntadhar al-Zaidi’s reporting for Egypt-based independent television Al-Baghdadia was “against the occupation,” his brother said. The journalist would occasionally sign off his stories “from occupied Baghdad.”

From: AlterNet

The AP also reports that al-Zeidi was kidnapped by gunmen while on assignment as a journalist in a Sunni district of Baghdad. he was also arrested by American soldiers. Al-Zeidi is a 28-year-old unmarried Shiite.

He was freed unharmed three days later after Iraqi television stations broadcast appeals for his release. At the time, al-Zeidi told reporters he did not know who kidnapped him or why, but his family blamed al-Qaida and said no ransom was paid.

In January he was taken again, this time arrested by American soldiers who searched his apartment building, his brother, Dhirgham, said. He was released the next day with an apology, the brother said.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYnMp-CnYNc]

Related: Media Distorts the News: CNN Omits the Most Persuasive Words the Shoe Thrower Said