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August 21, 2008 8:24:21 AM CDT

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Does al-Qaeda Do the Fist-Bump?

Posted Jul 16, 08 12:36 PM CDT in Opinion,  World 

(Newser) – Terrorists aren’t big on fist-jabbing or bumping—they’re all about kissing and hugging, writes Juliet Lapidos for Slate in the aftermath of the New Yorker's depiction of knuckle-knocking Obamas, a move referred to by Fox News as a “terrorist fist-jab.” Al-Qaeda members, she writes, are likely to enlist a common Middle Eastern welcome of three cheek-to-cheek embraces.  

While Hamas and Islamic Jihad employ similar etiquette, Colombia’s FARC prefer simple handshakes and the Marxist greeting of “comrade.” Northern Ireland’s IRA avoided distinctive (and potentially incriminating) salutations, opting instead to behave as chums in public, referring to alleged leaders by their first names. Privately, however, the rank-and-file stood at military-grade attention in the presence of their superiors.

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Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, left, greets Sheikh Naim Qassem of Lebanons Hezbollah. Lapidos says three cheek-to-cheek embraces is standard greeting fare for al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad and Hamas.   (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)
Al-Qaeda operatives Ali Mohammed al-Kurdi, right, smiles during his trial in Sana'a court, Yemen. Al-Qaeda members are "likely to use a common Middle Eastern welcome" of embraces and a triple kiss.   (AP Photo/ Mohammad al-Qadhi, File)
A BBC television correspondent holds up a copy of the controversial New Yorker magazine cover during a speech by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Northern Ireland's Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, left, stands with Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness at a funeral. In public, low-ranking members could address them simply as Gerry and Martin.   (AP Photo)
In this April 1998 file photo, Osama bin Laden is seen in Afghanistan, not doing the fist-jab. Al-Qaeda greetings are more likely to replicate a common Middle Eastern series of kisses and hugs.   (AP Photo)
President Bush and graduate Theodore Shiveley from Plano, Texas, bump chests at the United States Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colo.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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Reuters news report on the brou-ha-ha.   (parsnewz)

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Barack Obama  • al-Qaeda  • Osama bin Laden  • FARC  • Fox News  • New Yorker magazine  • IRA


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