Muntadhar al-Zaidi (Arabic: منتظر الزيدي‎ Muntaẓar az-Zaydī) was an Iraqi broadcast journalist who served as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned Al-Baghdadia TV. Al-Zaidi’s reports often focused on the plight of widows, orphans, and children in the Iraq War.

On November 16, 2007, al-Zaidi was kidnapped by unknown assailants in Baghdad. He was also previously twice arrested by the United States armed forces.

On December 14, 2008, al-Zaidi shouted “this is for the widows and orphans” and threw his shoes at then-US president George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference.

Al-Zaidi suffered injuries as he was taken into custody and was tortured during his initial detention.

There were calls throughout the Middle East to place the shoes in an Iraqi museum, but the shoes were later destroyed by American and Iraqi security forces.

Al-Zaidi’s shoeing inspired many similar incidents of political protest around the world. On February 20, 2009, al-Zaidi received a 90-minute trial by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. On March 12, 2009, he was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a foreign head of state during an official visit. On April 7 the sentence was reduced to one year from three years. He was released on 15 September 2009 for good behaviour, after serving nine months of the sentence.

To mark the first year anniversary of the devastating Israeli assault on Gaza, CJPME has prepared a brief video capturing the ironies and contradictions of the attack. Supported by facts and revealing comparisons, CJPME’s video exposes what really happened in Gaza last year and attempts to bring out the truth about the tragic reality of the life in this occupied Palestinian territory.

Pour souligner le premier anniversaire de l’assaut dévastateur d’Israël contre Gaza, CJPMO a préparé une courte vidéo relevant l’ironie et les contradictions de cette attaque. Étayée par des faits et des comparaisons révélatrices, la vidéo de CJPMO expose ce qui s’est réellement passé à Gaza l’an dernier et tente de faire ressortir la vérité sur la tragique réalité de la vie dans ce territoire palestinien occupé.

Democracy Now, January 06, 2010

In an extended interview, award-winning journalist and activist Allan Nairn looks back over the Obama administration’s foreign policy and national security decisions over the last twelve months. “I think Obama should be remembered as a great man because of the blow he struck against white racism,” Nairn says. “But [...] the US has a machine that spans the globe, that has the capacity to kill, and Obama has kept it set on kill. He could have flipped the switch and turned it off… but he chose not to do so.” He continues, “In fact, as far as one can tell, Obama seems to have killed more civilians during his first year than Bush did in his first year, and maybe even than Bush killed in his final year.”
Source: www.democracynow.org/2010/1/6/obama_has_kept_the_machine_set

Siriel-Media comment : Nairn gives real examples of how US and NATO forces wilfully target and murder civilians and he asks the right questions concerning how we would feel if foreign forces bombed civilians and murdered people freely in our own country. Nairn has the capacity to speak the hard truth calmly, as it is, and to look at the horrible truth beyond our self-serving lies and propaganda. A rare hard look at reality (but remember, it is a reality we can change).

Malalai Joya, elected by the people of Farah, and banned from parliament for denouncing criminals of war (though her democratic mandate was to last till the current elections), spoke to an audience of 300 at Conway Hall in central London (July 2009). She has survived five assassination attempts, had her passport taken away by Karzaï, and must constantly take various precautions in Afghanistan. We invite you to hear what a woman fighting for human rights and justice has to say…

Support our “Surge for Peace”
   The letter (appended below) to Ottawa City Council comes from an Afghan woman MP who expresses her clear opposition to the use of Ottawa facilities for any military trade shows.

Malalai Joya is an elected Afghan Member of Parliament. However, in May 2007 she was barred from Parliament for three years because she had denounced the many foreign-backed warlords and drug barons who dominate her government. While the Afghan Parliament passed a law giving immunity to all Afghan’s who have committed war crimes over the previous 25 years, it also passed a law saying that Afghan MPs could not criticise each other.

So it is permissible to have MPs in Afghanistan’s parliament who are war criminals, but it is not permissible to have MPs in that Parliament who dare to risk death threats for merely criticising the presence of those war criminals. This is the democracy that Canada helped to install and is now protecting. Canada helped the US to replace Taliban warlords with other warlords from the “Northern Alliance” who killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Kabul alone during the 1990s.

On May 21, 2007, Malalai Joya – the young MP dubbed “the bravest woman in Afghanistan” by the BBC – was unjustly suspended from the Afghan National Assembly. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Afghanistan on that day and, two years later, has still yet to make any statement about Joya’s mistreatment.

“Canada’s participation in this war in Afghanistan has been justified with rhetoric about women’s rights, yet Harper and the Conservatives remained silent when Malalai Joya was ousted from her elected position and again did nothing meaningful when Karzai signed the anti-women provision which sanctioned rape in marriage,” said Parvin Ashrafi, a women’s rights activist with the Iranian Centre for Peace, Freedom and Social Justice and a member of Friends of Malalai Joya—Canada.

« Ce massacre permet au monde d’entrevoir les horreurs auxquelles notre peuple fait face »
14 mai 2009

En tant que représentante élue pour Farah, Afghanistan, j’ajoute ma voix à celles qui condamnent le bombardement de l’OTAN qui a fauché la vie de plus de 150 civils dans ma province, plus tôt ce mois-ci. Ce dernier massacre permet au monde d’entrevoir les horreurs auxquelles notre peuple fait face.

Cependant, tel que je l’ai expliqué lors d’une conférence de presse le 11 mai à Kaboul, les autorités militaires étasuniennes ne veulent pas que vous voyez cette réalité. Comme d’habitude, elles ont tenté de minimiser le nombre de victimes civiles, mais l’information que j’ai obtenue confirme que 164 civils ont été tués dans ces bombardements. À la conférence de presse, un homme du village de Geranai, accablé de douleur, est venu expliquer qu’il avait perdu 20 membres de sa famille dans le massacre.

“This massacre offers the world a glimpse at horrors faced by our people”

As an elected representative for Farah, Afghanistan, I add my voice to those condemning the NATO bombing that claimed over 150 civilian lives in my province earlier this month. This latest massacre offers the world a glimpse of the horrors faced by our people.

However, as I explained at a May 11 press conference in Kabul, the U.S. military authorities do not want you to see this reality. As usual, they have tried to downplay the number of civilian casualties, but I have information that as many as 164 civilians were killed in the bombings. One grief stricken man from the village of Geranai explained at the press conference that he had lost 20 members of his family in the massacre.

(CJPME) Une énigme: la position du Canada sur l’aide humanitaire à Gaza
(CJPME) Canadian position on humanitarian relief in Gaza an enigma

Montréal, le 18 février 2009 – Canadiens pour la justice et la paix au Moyen-Orient
     Après plus de 20 mois de sévères restrictions imposées par Israël sur l’aide internationale et des denrées valant plusieurs millions de dollars destinées à la population de la bande de Gaza, le Canada a finalement protesté – contre le Hamas…

M. Lawrence Cannon, Ministre des Affaires étrangères a en effet déclaré le 4 février que le Hamas avait détourné des denrées humanitaires en provenance des Nations Unies. C’était le premier de deux incidents qui se sont produits au cours de cette semaine pendant laquelle des militants du Hamas ont saisi par la force des cargaisons de l’ONU.  Tout détournement d’aide par le Hamas est illégal et immoral.  Cependant, la rapidité de la condamnation de ces actes par le Canada est en contraste surprenant avec son silence prolongé alors qu’Israël bloquait toute aide humanitaires et le libre passage de denrées de base à destination de la bande de Gaza.  Ce volteface demeure sans explication.

Montréal, le 18 février 2009 – Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
     After more than 20 months of strict Israeli restrictions on millions of dollars worth of aid and supplies to Gaza, Canada finally raised its voice in protest – against Hamas.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon’s Feb. 4th statement against Hamas’ seizure of UN relief supplies came after the first of two incidents during the week of February 2, when UN shipments in Gaza were seized at gunpoint by Hamas militants.  While any such seizure by Hamas is illegal and immoral, Canada’s swift and disapproving reaction stands in stark contrast to its silence to extended and devastating controls on aid and supplies to Gaza imposed by Israel.  The reason for Canada’s differing response remains unexplained.

Vidéo-reportage de la télévision de Radio-Canada (Téléjournal-Midi) (cette nouvelle débute à 2 min. 30 sec.)

Vendredi 13 février 2009 / Friday Feb. 13, 2009.
   La Coalition de Québec pour la paix a déposé au Consulat des États-Unis à Québec une lettre adressée au Président Obama. Signée par 17 associations et regroupements de Québec, la lettre encourage le Président des États-Unis a redonner espoir d’une paix entre Israël et la Palestine, espoir de mettre fin à l’occupation de la Palestine, mais aussi d’un respect des droits humains fondamentaux dont l’urgence humanitaire de levée le blocus de Gaza.  Le Consul assure que la lettre sera transmise à l’équipe du président pour être lue avant sa visite au Canada le 19 février prochain.

   The Quebec City Coalition for peace handed to the US Consulate in Quebec City a letter for President Obama. Signed by 17 associations and networks, the letter encourages the President of the United States to spread a new hope for peace between Israel and Palestine, hope to end the occupation of Palestine, but also for the respect of fundamental human rights, including the urgency of lifting the blockade of Gaza for humanitarian reasons.  The Consul states that the letter will be transmitted to the President’s team to be read before his visit to Canada the 19th of February.

Monsieur le Président des États-Unis / To the President of the United States of America

Nous profitons de votre visite au Canada pour vous souhaiter la bienvenue et pour vous féliciter de votre élection en tant que Président des États-Unis d’Amérique. Cette élection est porteuse d’espoir aux yeux de notre Coalition de Québec pour la paix qui partage votre attachement au dialogue, aux principes de démocratie, de justice et de respect des droits de la personne.  Vos promesses et vos actions en vue de mettre fin à l’occupation de l’Irak, aux arrestations abusives et à l’existence des prisons secrètes et de la prison de Guantanamo nous rassurent. Version française »»

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Canada and to congratulate you on your election as President of the United States of America. Our coalition, the Coalition de Québec pour la paix (Québec city coalition for peace), views your election as a sign of hope. We share your attachment to dialogue, the principals of democracy, justice and respect for human rights. We are reassured by your promises and your actions with a view to putting an end to the occupation of Iraq, abusive arrests, secret prisons and the Guantanamo detention facility. English version sent to the President »»

— La liste des organismes signataires suit / List of group signatories follows »»