Muntadhar al-Zaidi replaces one of the men often blamed for the 2003 invasion of Iraq
Cambridge University’s Labour Club has made Muntadhar al-Zaidi its honorary President.
Al-Zaidi is an Iraqi journalist most famous for throwing his shoe at US President George Bush while shouting: “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog.” For this, al-Zaidi was imprisoned, beaten and allegedly tortured.
While awarding this honour to al-Zaidi, the club announced it has removed Alistair Campbell from his role as honorary president.
Campbell was Tony Blair’s press officer between 1997 and 2003. According to the Guardian, he “sexed up” claims in a dossier on Iraqi arms so that they fit with claims from the US government which were known to be false.
In the tweet announcing their decision, the Labour Club posted pictures of Al-Zaidi throwing his shoe at George Bush and of Campbell shaking hands with Bush.
The club also awarded ‘honorary president’ status to Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, a Cambridge graduate who opposed to the Iraq War, and Brazilian human rights activist Marielle Franco.
Franco was a campaigner for women, LGBT people and poor people in favelas in Brazil. She was killed, apparently by professional assasins, in March 2018.
Joe Lo is a freelance journalist and a reporter for Left Foot Forward
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8 Responses to “Cambridge Uni Labour Club honours man who threw shoe at George Bush”
Tom Sacold
Ah yes. Those Blairite days when a Labour Government authorised and supported the invasion of Iraq on the basis of a document full of lies. Blair should be jailed for war crimes.
Dave Roberts
If Iraq is or was the issue why did they not elect Andrew Gilligan? After all it was he who coined the phrase ” sexted up” in relation to the dossier on the so called weapons of mass destruction. Is it because he was also the journalist who exposed the corrupt Livingstone regime at City Hall in London where Lee Jasper managed to make millions of pounds of Londoner’s money disappear and also fearlessly exposed Lutfur Rahman in Tower Hamlets, another darling of the left, as an Islamist backed crook? I think we should be told.
Neil
Oh, so Labour are now OK with people assaulting and abusing politicians all of a sudden?
Dave Roberts
Neil.
I think you have missed the main point here which, as far as I am concerned, is the fact that the man who exposed the whole Iraq shambles, Andrew Gilligan, doesn’t get a mention. He coined the phrase used in the article ” sexed up” but instead of lauding him for his courage the left now abuse him for exposing their heros and icons Ken Livingstone and Lutfur Rahman as big a couple of crooks and charlatans as you will find.
Patrick Newman
Dave, you have a vivid imagination. I have been in the Labour movement for plenty of decades and I can’t recall Rahman being the darling of the left. CULC seem to have a good idea of what is right!