Yemeni Journalist Disgraces Ex-Houthi Minister at Riyadh by Hurling Shoe at Him (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Yemeni former information minister Abdul-Salam Ali Gaber was struck with a shoe hurled by a Yemeni journalist at a news conference in Riyadh, in show of detest for the former official’s traitorous act.
A minister who served in Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah government before defecting to Saudi Arabia was struck by a shoe hurled by a Yemeni journalist at a news conference in Riyadh.
Abdul-Salam Ali Gaber is the most senior member of the Houthi administration to defect since civil a Saudi-backed war broke out in 2014. He made his first public appearance during Sunday's news conference.
In Arab cultures, the shoe has long been used as the object of insults due to its association with dirt and being put on the foot - the lowest part of the body.
From calling someone a shoe, to aiming and throwing one's shoes at an unsuspecting foe, shoe-related incidents have made international news on several occasions, with Arab politicians often finding themselves on the wrong end of a flying shoe.
Throwing a shoe is a show of deep contempt in Arab culture. An Iraqi journalist famously threw both his shoes at President George W. Bush at a 2008 news conference in Baghdad, narrowly missing him.
