Meet the Palestinian cobbler who inks Trump's name on his shoes
Haj-Muhammad's shoes cost around 220 Shekels ($65) and have proved particularly popular with Palestinian-American
A Palestinian shoemaker has found a creative way to channel his disappointment at President Donald Trump policies toward the Palestinians - by embellishing his shoes with the American leader's name which in Arab customs and traditions is considered a demeaning gesture.
Imad Haj-Muhammad, 57, sees similarities between what he regards as Trump's pro-Israel policies and those of British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour more that a century ago overseeing what was then a British Mandate over what later became Israel, Palestinian Territories and Jordan.
The colonial era diplomat's eponymous Balfour Declaration in November 1917 supported a "national home for the Jewish people" in what was to become British-controlled Palestine.
Such is his dislike for both the American president and former British statesman that he also sells 'Balfour' shoes, and has put a sign on his shop door asking British and American shoppers to apologise for the actions of these officials before entering.
There is a long history of shoes being used to insult political leaders in Arab cultures, especially during protests. In December 2008, George W. Bush managed to dodge a pair of shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, during a news conference in Baghdad.
"The lowest of the low is a shoe, the best thing is to put these people, and Trump, on the Palestinian people's shoes," said Haj-Muhammad, in his workshop.
He began his unique form of protest in May 2018, after Trump broke with decades of US policy and moved the US embassy to Jerusalem. Trump had already recognised Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital.
Both moves infuriated Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Israel, which captured the eastern half of the city in a 1967 war, regards the whole city as its eternal and indivisible capital.=
The United Nations regards East Jerusalem as occupied, and the city's status as disputed until resolved by negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Haj-Muhammad's anger is shared by many Palestinians. On October 23, the International Federation for Defending Palestinian Rights and the National Assembly of Palestinian Independents filed a lawsuit against the British government over the Balfour Declaration, saying it had violated Palestinian human rights and caused Palestinian suffering ever since.
When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2016 sought an apology for the Balfour Declaration while addressing the United Nations in New York, British officials made no immediate response and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed his remarks as being "stuck in the past."
Haj-Muhammad said his shoes cost around 220 Shekels ($65), and have proved particularly popular with Palestinian-Americans. He said one filmed herself entering the US, and walking through the airport in a pair of 'Trump' shoes.