看電視新聞，(17日)日本女星酒井法子日前獲准保釋，酒井踏出警局時，面對大批守候的媒體記者說完致歉的話之後，90度彎腰鞠躬。稍後在經紀公司的安排下，於東京一家飯店舉行記者會。而前一天(16日)，酒井的丈夫高相佑一獲保釋，他步出涉谷警局，隨即脫帽，彎腰鞠躬，向公眾道歉。在高相佑一發表道歉聲明後，未接受媒體訪問，隨即坐上廂型車離開，同時，突然有名男子向他丟擲鞋子，並大喊：「你應該好好保護你的家人！」

再前一天15日，那個用鞋子扔布希的伊拉克記者賽迪 Muntadar al-Zaidi 獲釋(原本他應該在14號當天獲釋的)，然後他直接到他之前工作的電視台al Baghdadiya為他辦的記者會。我留意著這個新聞，要看看這個被廣泛阿拉伯世界認為英雄的歡迎會，會有甚麼驚人的舉措。結果賽迪al-Zaidi在記者會上就先控訴他在獄中所受到的種種虐待。

就是這一幕(Dec. 14, 2008)賽迪讓扔鞋子這種在伊拉克的伊斯蘭教世界裡糟蹋人的方式讓全世界的人都認識。


在他用鞋扔了布希之後沒幾天，巴西總統盧拉(Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva)在拉美高峰會上，還開委內瑞拉總統查維茲(Hugo Chávez)極端反對布希的領袖)玩笑，威脅要用鞋子扔他。今年剛開始(一月三日)，在賽拉耶佛(Sarajevo)就有幾百個抗議群眾向領導的克羅埃西亞人，伊斯蘭教與賽爾維亞的政治人物肖像扔鞋子。

在倫敦，抗議者到首相布朗的官邸前抗議英國對以色列侵略加薩視若無睹的行為，他們高呼著：你不要臉，看我的鞋子！"Shame on you, have my shoe!"他們向官邸扔了約一千隻鞋子。

中國的胡錦濤今年二月訪問英國，在參訪劍橋時也被扔鞋子，雖然沒打到他，但是用鞋子扔他的德國學生說，光是把鞋子丟到台上去，全世界的人就都明白這是甚麼意思了。

以色利駐瑞典的大使，到斯德哥爾摩大學演講時也被扔鞋子了。

還有印度的商界的老闆在董事會裡，政府裡的內政部長(Home Minister,僅次於首相Prime Minister的官員)；斯里蘭卡的總統在吉隆坡...等都被扔鞋子。

扔鞋子－－儼然成為一種全球流行的抗議方式。英國還有人以此為題寫成論文呢，題目就是扔鞋子的藝術。


Page last updated at 08:50 GMT, Tuesday, 15 September 2009 09:50 UK
Following in shoe thrower's footsteps


Shoes thrown at a demonstration in London

The journalist whose name has become synonymous with a new style of public protest has been released from jail in Iraq. Last December, Muntadar al-Zaidi threw his shoe at the former US President George Bush - an act that left an indelible mark on the collective consciousness of protesters the world over.


Since that protest, "shoe-ing" appears to have become the favoured protest statement from Ahmedabad to Latvia.


Such incidents have inspired comedy shows, video games and social networking groups.

Even the month-long Indian general election in April succumbed to what one commentator described as the "ultimate non-violent weapon".


The global phenomenon even prompted the publication of an academic paper - The Art of Shoe Throwing - by UK media lecturer Yasmin Ibrahim, in which she argued that:

"Popular acts of communication and protests enter new forms of relationships with audiences and global spectators beyond the political context and the shoe-throwing incident is no exception.

"It has been consummately appropriated into popular culture and entertainment in the multimedia platforms of the internet, transforming political images and political protests into voyeuristic entertainment for the masses."


Venting spleen


Even Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva found the shoe metaphor too good to pass up.

Just days after the Bush incident, at a meeting of presidents and top officials from Latin America, he jokingly threatened to throw a shoe at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Mr Bush's then fiercest critic in Latin America, if he spoke beyond his allotted time.


Elsewhere, the New Year was heralded with two separate shoe-throwing protests on the same day.

In Sarajevo on 3 January, a few hundred Bosnian protesters vented their spleen at effigies of leading Croat, Muslim and Serb politicians. Shoes had been provided by the organisers.


And in London - to the chants of "Shame on you, have my shoe" - demonstrators threw some 1,000 shoes at the official residence of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in protest against British inaction in Gaza.

Scotland Yard said at the time that its police officers were "not troubled" by the shoe throwing.

A similarly phlegmatic approach was taken by court officials in Cambridge, UK, in June, when they found that there was insufficient evidence to prove that a German student who had hurled a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had intended to cause harassment, alarm or distress.


Martin Jahnke had been attending a lecture by Mr Wen in Cambridge in February, when the student branded the Chinese leader a "dictator" and threw a trainer. He missed him by a few metres.

Mr Jahnke explained that he thought that just placing the shoe on the stage would be "universally understood".

He defended his protest as a symbolic act of defiance, and said he had been inspired by the the notorious shoe attack on Mr Bush.

In China, some newspapers expressed anger over the incident while others praised the calm response of both citizens of mainland China and Premier Wen himself.

The Israeli ambassador to Sweden was also the target of a shoe-missile - this one actually made contact - while he was addressing an audience in Stockholm University.

Boardroom protest

Even the usually sober confines of the boardroom have not escaped the shoe throwers.

In April, in a move that gave a new meaning to the phrase "voting with their feet", shoes were aimed at board members of the troubled Belgian-Dutch financial group, Fortis, during a meeting of shareholders in Ghent.

But the most prolonged shoe-throwing campaign emerged in India during the general election.

In one incident, the perpetrator was none other than a Hindu sadhu, or holy man, who hurled his footwear at a prime ministerial candidate.

In another, a 21-year-old computer scientist took aim at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a rally in the western city of Ahmedabad.

A journalist who threw a shoe at India's Home Minister P Chidambaram, during a news conference in the capital Delhi, later said he should not have chucked his shoe but had been "emotionally overtaken".


Some commentators hailed the fact that no-one was jailed for these incidents as sign of the health of the world's largest democracy. Others suggested that by "forgiving" the shoe throwers, the politicians had denied the perpetrators the chance to become heroes.

By May, the throwing of shoes as a sign of protest had caught on in Kuala Lumpur. In one incident, some 500 Malaysians threw footwear at an effigy of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse outside the UN building, to protest the killing of civilians by the Sri Lankan government in its war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Since then, few incidents of shoe-throwing protests have been reported. But the speed with which Mr Zaidi's protest became a global phenomenon indicates it is unlikely they will go away.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8254930.stm

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The story was taken from the website of BBC News.  The copyright remains with BBC.  The author and BBC are not involved with, nor endorse the production of this blog.