West Bank (Dispatches) -- Several dozen Palestinian journalists have taken off their shoes in a protest in Bethlehem's Manger Square.

Thursday's demonstration was a show of support for an Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush last week. The journalist remains in Iraqi custody and could face two years in prison for insulting a foreign leader. A spokesman for Iraq's prime minister says Muntadhar al-Zeidi has apologized for throwing the shoes.
His Palestinian colleagues waved Palestinian and Iraqi flags. They also held signs in English, reading ""Bush deserved it.""
The shoe toss triggered an outpouring of support for al-Zeidi.
Meanwhile, the family of the Iraqi journalist arrested for throwing his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush gathered on Friday in central Baghdad to ask for his immediate release, an AFP correspondent said.
Thirty relatives of Muntazer al-Zaidi staged a rally outside the heavily fortified ""Green Zone"" which houses the Iraqi government and the prison where the 29-year-old television journalist is being held.
""We came to ask for his release,"" said Umm Saad, one of Zaidi's three sisters.
His brother Uday accused the government of pressuring Zaidi into writing a letter of apology to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Umm Saad said of her brother that ""nothing is known about... his condition, but he did nothing wrong. On the contrary, he pleased everyone. Bush is an occupier and he is the source of all the orphans and all the widows in Iraq.
""Everybody would have done what Muntazer did. We gave him the last kiss of democracy,"" she said of her brother shouting at Bush: ""It is the farewell kiss, you dog.""
On Thursday, investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani denied bail to Zaidi, saying it was for his own protection.
But he said the journalist appeared to be in good health and bore only signs of blows to his face. This contradicted claims by another brother that Muntazer had suffered a broken arm and ribs, as well as injury to a leg.
His Brother Uday said on Friday: ""It is clear that the judge is bound to the government. It is normal to make such statements.""
A Saudi man has offered to pay $10 million for the pair of shoes that a Iraqi journalist hurled at U.S. President George W Bush during a press conference in Baghdad.
Mohamed Makhafa, a retired school teacher, says he considers the size 10s a ‘medal of freedom and more valuable than everything he owns’, Al Jazeera news channel reported.
""It is more precious than all my property. I will bequeath it to my children and display it in a museum and call it the Medal of Freedom,"" Makhafa told AlArabiya.net.
Makhafa said the combined value of the land and property he owns exceeds the price he is offering for Zaidi's shoes, adding if the journalist's lawyer manages to reclaim the infamous pair he will buy them.
Makhafa said he does not look at it from a commercial point of view and said his offer was the start of an auction.
The 60-year-old stressed that he does not hold a grudge against the U.S., but said he hates its foreign policies that have humiliated the Muslims.
Announcing his offer on the Internet, Makhafa, an activist who has raised voice on various issues, said tribesmen and public figures in the Arab world had expressed their support and many showed interest in taking part in the auction