Sometimes small things unveil big truths. Iraqi journalist Muntazir al-Zaidi's shoe has unmasked everything. I have been trying to study the reactions and stances of all parties since it was launched toward President Bush's face and it was not difficult for me to realize that this small shoe (in spite of its being a 10) has drawn a very clear picture of the Iraqi and American peoples and indeed of all Arabs regardless of their social, intellectual and political belonging. It does not matter whether President Bush has won or lost. He knows he is very close to the point of no return. He also knows more than you and me that he has been the worst US president in history. Yet, he believes that what he has done was not for the sake of the American people, but in response to the extremist right-wing wave that has crossed the entire world. He is aware that his mission in the Oval Office has been religious and not political. Under this perspective, that shoe was thrown by a fanatic Muslim in the framework of that "crusade" which erroneously came out of his mouth after 9/11. The Lord will let him into Heaven, as he has stood against Muslims and killed hundreds of thousands of them in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, let that shoe be God's test to see how deep his belief is. The matter is not Bush, though. Al-Zaidi did what he did against a man he saw – like me and you – as an invader of his country and decided to pelt him with something (a shoe, a bullet or whatever)! At least, he has put out the fire of anger burning inside him and indeed inside all of us. Al-Zaidi, though, has been braver than me and you. By doing this thing, he knew he would risk his own life and although he missed the target, he is certainly feeling satisfied now. By the way, he wrote his last will to his family, as if he were going to carry out a suicide operation against the invaders. Al-Zaidi is now reconciled with himself. He went beyond the phase of moral resistance and acted against Bush with his hands. What about us, Arabs and Muslims? We deeply hate Bush, while we love al-Zaidi and all those who stand, not only morally, against the outgoing US president. Yet, we do not stand (even morally) against anyone else like Bush, both inside and outside our countries. All we did was to cry tears of joy without actually doing anything for al-Zaidi and those like him or without throwing even an old slipper against Bush or those like him. Al-Zaidi's shoe has unmasked what we really are like more than offending Bush. We stood in front of cameras and microphones doing what we are most good at, notably calling for God to help and protect this heroic journalist and hoping others like him will follow. Yet, where will other like him come from? From the womb of inability or the world of video clips and mobile phones? Do we have a quarter of what al-Zaidi has or is this man an exception in a Nation spoilt by passions which likes seeing victims suffering? The psychological analysis of the Arabs through the shoe episode reveals that our joy reflects our incapability and our chronic "dumbness". That shoe was not thrown only at Bush's face, but at all Arabs' as well. And do not get angry, as it was hurled at me, too. The shoe is the only winner; it has become a memorial of US brutality and Arab incapability.
