Palestinian shoemaker Imad Mohammad makes handcrafted footwear with a difference: shoes, stamped with the names of the US and French presidents in Arabic calligraphy to show his disapproval of them.
“Shoes touch the ground, dust and dirt. So if we write someone’s name on them and that also gets dirty, then it shows... how you value that person,” Mohammad said.
He said he chose to stamp the name of US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on the shoes because they “assaulted our people.”
Photo: AFP
Initially the mustachioed shoemaker, who has a shop in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, launched a line dedicated to Trump.
That was after Trump in May 2018 moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, putting Washington at odds with the international community.
Trump’s move, a year after he recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, infuriated the Palestinians who hope to have their own state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
The shoes bearing the US president’s name cost 200 shekels (US$59) and are made of “genuine leather inside and outside, and are more genuine than him,” Mohammad said.
Last week, the shoemaker embarked on a new project fueled by anger over Macron’s defense of the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed on free speech grounds.
“Why, Macron, did you attack a prophet who died 1,500 years ago?” said Mohammad, who accused the French leader of seeking to “insult Muslims.”
“And I, as a Muslim, reject this contempt and reject this offense,” he added, demanding an apology from Macron.
“The apology is for my people because the insult was against my people... and my Islamic nation,” Mohammad said.
Any US and French clients who enter the Ramallah shop are greeted with signs demanding that they, too, apologize for the words and deeds of their presidents.
French customers are told that they can only enter if they apologize for Macron’s statements, and Americans are asked to seek forgiveness for Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem and the embassy move.
However, Mohammad said that he is willing to remove one of the posters should Trump’s challenger, former US vice president Joe Biden, win in Tuesday’s US presidential election and “rescind” Trump’s policies.
“I will not remove the demand for an apology from the Americans unless America’s decision [to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital] is canceled. If Biden rescinds the decision, I will remove the sign, and I will be happy,” he said.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS