What if al-Zaidi had actually hit Bush with the shoe?
Even if the shoe hit Bush in the head, I would still consider it a non-violent action. It wouldn’t have really hurt; at most Bush would have gotten a bump on his head. Remember, al-Zaidi’s intention was to insult, not hurt. And of course, the harm that could be inflicted by a shoe cannot be compared with harm inflicted by an unwarranted occupation that has resulted in the deaths and displacement of millions of Iraqis. US foreign policy is about killing, maiming, leaving orphans and widows, destroying infrastructure. Throwing shoe is violent, you say? No. War and occupation is violent. So you consider this action non-violent, but was it appropriate, especially for a journalist who is supposed to be objective? I have worked for an Iraqi NGO on peace-building. I, too, have felt the effects of the occupation — the violence that the invasion unleashed, the daily humiliations of being second-class citizens in our own country. Iraqi journalists have felt this as well. They have seen firsthan
