Here is UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE Petition
The 50,000 Signatures Campaign for the release of Muntadhar Al-Zaydi
This signature campaign demands of the release of the Iraqi Journalist, Montadhar Al-Zaydi who hurled a pair of shoes at George Bush on 12/14/2008 in Baghdad in reaction to Bush’s immoral invasion of Iraq and the war-crimes committed by the occupying forces with the aid of local warlords.
We hereby sign below to demand the immediate release of the Journalist Montadhar Al-Zaydi, without any constraints or conditions. We also hold Al-Maliki’s government and the Bush administration accountable and responsible for his life, dignity, and well-being.
للتوقيع اضغط على الرابط ادناه To add your signature, click on below link Everyone can sign
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/iwffomuntatharalzaidi
Here is a Care2 petition!
To Iraqi embassy in the U.S., Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch
We, the undersigned, sympathise with Mr. Montather Al-Zaidi’s action in throwing a shoe at George W. Bush. It was well deserved and symbolizes the sentiment of many people not only in Iraq, but around the world.
Bush’s policies have reaked havoc all over the world, and the Bush administration is responsible for unprecedented levels of violence worldwide, resulting in the death of large numbers of innocent civilians in Iraq and around the world. Instead of working towards peace and stability, the United States has become a rogue nation and has created
Everyone can sign
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/9/in-support-of-the-iraqi-shoe-throwing-journalist%20
Here is the Code Pink Petition!
Sign-up below to support Muntadar al-Zaidi! Your signatures will be delivered to the Iraqi Embassy this week!
We, the undersigned, understand and sympathize with the sentiment expressed in the action of Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at President Bush, shouting, “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.
” We, too, feel for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq, thanks to the policies of the Bush administration.
It’s outrageous that al-Zaidi could get two years in prison for insulting George Bush, who is directly responsible for the deaths of 1.5 million Iraqis and 4,200 U.S. troops, and for the displacement of 5 million Iraqis. The one who should be in jail is Bush, not Muntadar al-Zaidi.
We call on the Iraqi government to immediately release al-Zaidi without charges.
Canada and Us Only
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/signUp.jsp?key=3909
You can sign all three if you wish to.
By now, you’ve all seen the footage of the Iraqi journalist hurling his shoes at George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad this past Sunday.
What has not been so widely reported are the words Muntadar al-Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, shouted out. As the first shoe was thrown at Bush, he said: “This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog.” And with his second shoe, which the president also dodged, al-Zaidi said: “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.”
This bold statement also has to be understood in its cultural context. Showing the soles of your shoes to someone, let alone tossing your shoes at them, is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.
After throwing his shoes, al-Zaidi was wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away. According to Democracy Now! this morning, “Muntadar al-Zaidi has been held without charge for over twenty-four hours and has been reportedly beaten in jail.
His brother said al-Zaidi has suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury. Earlier today, al-Zaidi was handed over to the Iraqi military command in Baghdad.”
Call for leniency for Muntadar al-Zaidi after shoe throwing protest
December 16 2008
Reporters Without Borders today called for the release of Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi, of al-Bagdhadia television arrested after hurling his shoes at George W Bush at a Baghdad press conference during a surprise visit by the US president on 14 December 2008.
“We obviously regret that the journalist used this method of protest against the politics of the American president”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “But for humanitarian reasons and to ease tension, we call for the release of Muntadar al-Zaidi who has been held by the Iraqi authorities for two days.”
“Given the controversy surrounding this incident, we urge the Iraqi security services to guarantee the physical wellbeing of this journalist, who was clearly injured during his arrest”, it added.
“While we do not approve of this kind of behaviour as a means of expressing an opinion or convictions, the relaxed way in which George W Bush spoke about the incident afterwards, should give the Iraqi authorities all the more reason to show leniency”, the organisation concluded.
Head of operations at the interior ministry, Abdel Karim Khalaf, told Reporters Without Borders that Muntadar al-Zaidi had been caught red handed and that he faced proceedings under Articles 223, 225 and 227 of the Iraqi criminal code. The journalist could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison for “insulting a foreign head of state”. Muntadar al-Zaidi is being examined by judges in connection with the investigation. Abdel Karim Khalaf said the he had not been subjected to any ill-treatment before concluding, “A journalist’s only weapons are words”.
Muntadar al-Zaidi achieved instant notoriety as a result of his gesture seen on television screens around the world.
Angry Iraqis call for shoe thrower’s release
BAGHDAD
December 17 2008
Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W.Bush. ! The protests came as suicide bombers and gunmen targeted Iraqi police, and US-allied Sunni guards and civilians, in a series of attacks that killed at least 17 people and wounded more than a dozen others, officials said.
An Iraqi official said the journalist, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, was being held by Iraqi security yesterday and interrogated about whether anybody had paid him to throw his shoes at Mr Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on Monday.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, the official said.
His brother said the reporter had a broken arm and ribs after being struck by Iraqi security agents. Durgham Zaidi was unable to say whether his brother had sustained the injuries while being overpowered during the protest against Mr Bush’s visit to Baghdad or while in custody later.
Showing the sole of your shoe to someone in the Arab world is a sign of extreme disrespect, and throwing your shoes is even worse.
Al-Zeidi was immediately wrestled to the ground by Iraqi security guards after throwing the shoes, But the incident raised fears of a security lapse in the heavily guarded Green Zone where the press conference took place. Reporters were repeatedly searched and asked to show identification before entering the compound, which houses Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office and the US embassy.
Newspapers across the Arab world printed front-page photos of Mr Bush ducking the flying shoes, and satellite TV stations aired the incident, which was hailed by the President’s many critics in the region.
Many are fed up with US policy and still angry over Mr Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.
A doctor in the West Bank town of Nablus, Wafa Khayat, 48, called the attack ”a message to Bush and all the US policymakers that they have to stop killing and humiliating people”.
Al-Zeidi’s TV station, Al-Baghdadia, repeatedly aired pleas to release the reporter while showing footage of explosions and playing background music that denounced the US military presence in Iraq.
Odd how someone is arrested for throwing shoes and Bush and company get away with killing over million people in an illegal war, based on lies and propaganda.
There were no Weapons of Mass Destruction.
What is wrong with this picture?
Where is real justice?
I am sorry, but I have to side with the shoe throwing Journalist.
I can only imagine, how many times he was a witness to the atrocities in Iraq, perpetrated by the US. One can only take so much death and destruction. He was watching the destruction of his country and fellow Iraqis being killed, maimed and living in a horrifying nightmare.
Bush and his cronies should be in jail for “War Crimes” among other things.
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,284,105”
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
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