I don't know which Arab culture(s) the mainstream Western media means in this case when they refer to "Arab culture" which is why I put put it in quotes. But so long as I'm erring on the side of not offending people, I'm going to avoid exposing the soles of my shoes to people whether in a Bedouin village in Israel or anywhere in Jordan. In terms of personal behavior I'd rather buy into the monolith than unintentionally offend someone when I could have easily avoided it. Unfortunately, that means I don't have evidence (beyond the fact that generally speaking the "Arab world" has a lot of heterogeneity) with which to challenge the idea that all people in all Arab cultures wound find throwing a shoe more offensive than all people in all non-Arab cultures.
Whether or not there was originally any special significance to it, though, IMHO the way the mainstream Western media have presented the incident has shaped how most global viewers understand it. It's seen as a case of using language culturally-specific to a formerly-colonized culture to supplement the anger and disrespect expressed towards (one of?) the world's biggest symbol(s) of militarism and capitalism. However baseless that dynamic might be, it's leading to shoe-throwing becoming emblematic of anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism. IMHO throwing a pie or rotten fruit, while conveying aggression, doesn't have connotations of that aggression being part of a larger issue/struggle. While the juxtaposition of an article of clothing and a projectile may also have increased the impact, I don't think there would have been as many copycats if the original journalist had been a white United Statesian or if the media hadn't made such a big deal about the cultural significance of shoes.
no subject
Whether or not there was originally any special significance to it, though, IMHO the way the mainstream Western media have presented the incident has shaped how most global viewers understand it. It's seen as a case of using language culturally-specific to a formerly-colonized culture to supplement the anger and disrespect expressed towards (one of?) the world's biggest symbol(s) of militarism and capitalism. However baseless that dynamic might be, it's leading to shoe-throwing becoming emblematic of anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism. IMHO throwing a pie or rotten fruit, while conveying aggression, doesn't have connotations of that aggression being part of a larger issue/struggle.
While the juxtaposition of an article of clothing and a projectile may also have increased the impact, I don't think there would have been as many copycats if the original journalist had been a white United Statesian or if the media hadn't made such a big deal about the cultural significance of shoes.