Israeli soldier barraged with new weapon of choice: shoes

Feb. 24, 2009

An Israeli soldier was speaking to a gathering of Dutch Jews in Amsterdam on Sunday when four shoes were hurled at him, two of which hit him.

Ron Edelheit, who holds both Israeli and Dutch citizenship, travels to Holland about once a year to visit his mother. He was asked by the Women's International Zionist Organization to speak at a gathering. But pro-Palestinian activists in Holland have been threatening the speech from the moment it was announced with calls and letters. The event original location was canceled.

"The police were at the 50-man demonstration outside," said Edelheit, referring to a rally organized by the Dutch Palestine Committee. "But these three young people, who you could tell did not belong [at the event], came right in."

Shoe-throwing is a sign of disrespect in the Islamic world and was popularized by an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US president George Bush during a press briefing last December.

On Feb. 4, Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Benny Dagan was hit by a shoe at Stockholm University while defending the Israeli army’s Operation Cast Lead offensive against Gaza.

“Today it's a shoe, tomorrow a knife,” Edelheit said.