STOCKHOLM – Swedish police arrested two protesters after they hurled a shoe and books at Israel’s ambassador while he gave a speech at a university seminar, a police official said Thursday.
Ambassador Benjamin Dagan was not injured in Wednesday night’s attack at Stockholm University, police spokeswoman Petra Sjolander said.
“The shoe only brushed his leg, and the books didn’t hit him,” she said.
Dagan was participating in a seminar on Israel’s upcoming elections and the situation in the Middle East, when a man and a woman in the audience started throwing objects at him.
Grainy video of the incident posted on YouTube showed how a group of protesters in the audience started shouting while books were tossed toward the front of the room.
Sjolander said both suspects, who were not identified, were released after questioning, although a prosecutor has launched an investigation. Possible charges include attempted assault and disturbing public order.
An Israeli Embassy spokesman declined to comment on the attack.
The attack mimicked that of an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-president George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was attacked by a shoe-throwing protester in Britain on Monday.
