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Books

The minefield of mime: ‘halt’ to an American signifies ‘hi’ to an Arab

15 December 2018

9:00 AM

15 December 2018

9:00 AM

You may have read about this during the Iraq war. A group of local people approach an American position. A US soldier holds out his hand at arm’s length, palm outwards, in the traditional gesture of ‘halt’. The locals keep on coming. He repeats the gesture. They keep advancing. So he opens fire.

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