By now, most of you have heard about and watched the video of courageous Iraqi journalist, Muntazer Al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at GW Bush at a press conference in Baghdad this past Sunday.
After this incident, Bush has said "I don't know what his (Al-Zaidi's) beef is" and then, during an interview onboard Air Force 1, he continued to express his 'confusion' (excerpt)
Reporter: Well, not to belabour the point too much, on this man (Al-Zaidi), but I have a serious question about it. Obviously he's expressing a vein of anger that exists in Iraq, and —
Bush: How do you know? I mean, how do we know what he's expressing? Who —
Reporter: We had a translator who said he shouted about the widows and orphans.
Bush: I don't know. I've heard all kinds of stories. I heard he was representing a Baathist TV station. I don't know the facts, but let's find out the facts...
What Al-Zaidi said was:
"This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog. This is for the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
Bush is responsible for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, resulting in the deaths of over one million of Iraq's citizens - leaving many orphaned and widowed - and the displacement of nearly 5 million and yet he feins ignorance so
Let's Make Sure He Gets the Message!!!
ACTION: 'SHOO' BUSH OUT OF OFFICE
1) SEND YOUR SHOES TO BUSH Send a pair of your old shoes to Bush, first writing on their soles "This is from the widows, the orphans, and those that were killed in Iraq" with a personal note to indicate that you want to make it perfectly clear what Al-Zaidi was saying and that you share his anger.
***Note: If your shoes have dark coloured soles, you can use a White Out pen or white paint***
Mail to:
George Bush The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
OR
MAIL A PHOTO OF YOUR SHOES TO BUSH
You can write your message on your shoes, take a photo of them and mail it to Bush at the address above
OR
TRACE YOUR SHOES AND SEND THE DRAWING TO BUSH If you don't have a digital camera, you can trace around the soles of your shoes on a piece of paper and then write your message inside of the lines of your drawing and then mail it to Bush at the address above
OR (especially useful for International participants)
FAX YOUR SHOES TO BUSH Either take a photo of your shoes after writing your message on them OR trace your shoes and write your message on the drawing and then FAX it to Bush at this number:
202 456 2461 (if sending from outside of the USA, be sure to add the country code: 001 202 456 2461)
***NOTE: Do not use the e-mail address provided for contacting the White House. It specifically says it will not accept e-mails with attachments or graphics in them***
AND
2) SIGN THE 50,000 SIGNATURES PETITION TO DEMAND THE RELEASE OF AL-ZAIDI:
LINKS TO VIDEO & AUDIO REPORTS:
audio (MP#) report from Iraqi journalist at the press conference:
http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/podcast-an-account-of-the-shoe-throwing-incident/
raw video of press conference:
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4117786/11096193
interview with Bush quoted above:
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article5345331.ece
RELATED ACTIONS:
Contact: Jamilla El-Shafei , cell: 603.969.8426 email: jamillaelshafei@gmail.com
The Kennebunks Peace Department
EVENT: "Shoes for President Bush."
Jamilla El-Shafei, organizer for The Kennebunks Peace Department is organizing "Shoes for President Bush," in Washington DC on Tuesday, January 19th, which is President Bush's last day in office. Activists from across the country will be coming to DC for the inaugural and on the day before the event they will bring shoes to throw at the gates of the White House as a symbolic gesture of solidarity with the innocent Iraqi people whose lives have been torn apart from the war.
"In the Middle East throwing a shoe is a big insult, and we stand in solidarity with the journalist in Baghdad who was speaking for the people of Iraq, who are deeply insulted that President Bush would visit their war torn country and pretend that life is now better for the Iraqi people. If you could speak to one of the unembedded journalists, you would realize that innocent people are killed every day, people are not free of fear when they go outside of their houses, many of which are still in ruins, the country's economy is in shambles and there is still not reliable electricity or water, is this what victory looks like? President Bush seemed clueless when he told a reporter that he did not know what the journalist's beef was. Fortunately this presidency is coming to an end soon," says Jamilla El-Shafei.
Jamilla is asking people to collect old shoes and she and other activists will deliver them to the White House. She is also organizing a car caravan to Washington Dc, leaving on January 17th. To contact Jamilla email her at: jamillaelshafei@gmail.com
