Sorry about the interrupting in posting. I was driving north for the holidays and did not have Internet access (as advertised) at my hotel. Posting will be light over the holidays, but I’ll be here writing.

Here, from Asharq Alawsat are a couple of pieces on the semiotics of shoe-throwing…

The first takes a look at the role shoes have played in the politics of the Middle East/Islamic World and a bit beyond. It doesn’t include any tales of Hoja/Hoca, but I’ll put one in [2-page PDF].

Politics and Shoes
Mohamed Abdu Hassanein

Asharq Al-Awsat, Cairo – There has always been some kind of relationship between politicians and shoes. The use of a shoe to express a political stand has existed in political culture for a long time whether it is the politician using the shoe or the shoe being used against the politician, as occurred recently during a press conference held by US President George W. Bush in Iraq. During this press conference the American president was almost hit in the face by a pair of shoes hurled by Iraqi journalist Montadhar Al Zaidi. Though it was the most recent incident involving politicians and shoes, it certainly was not the first.

In our Arab world, the relationship between politicians and shoes dates back to the thirteenth century when the Mamluk Sultan Ezz Al Din Aybak was assassinated. The Sultan was assassinated by one of his wives, Shajar Al-Durr, who wished to take over power herself. His death was avenged by another of his wives, Um Ali, and her maids, who killed Shajar Al-Durr by mercilessly beating her with clogs.
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Diana Mukkaled offers her views on the matter. She thinks shoe-throwing is rather exaggerated and not terribly effective.

Arabs: Glorifying the Shoe
Diana Mukkaled

Iraqi protestors are raising their shoes.

Children are playing with shoes in the streets of Baghdad.

The brother of Iraqi journalist Montadhar al Zaidi shows off his brother’s shoes with pride.

These were some of the scenes that have been recorded by the cameras in the wake of the “clear victory” that millions of Arabs have celebrated, namely the shoe-throwing incident that was carried out by the Iraqi journalist Montadhar al Zaidi who hurled his shoes at US President George W. Bush.

But let us leave Bush aside. The discussion that is taking place in our press is not focused on the American president and our opinion of him, nor do we need to remind ourselves of the disaster that the Bush administration has caused.

The issue here is about us and those shoes…