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Obama Visits Western Wall; Hears Psalm and Heckling

July 23, 2008 11:41 PM

Before heading to the airport to depart for Germany, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, came to the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem for a pre-dawn visit, arriving at 5:01 am local time.

The visit did not appear on the official schedule nor had it been anounced by the campaign, but dozens of people were waiting for him, apparently tipped off.

At 5:11 am, Obama --a white yarmulke atop his head, a pack of Secret Service agents surrounding him -- walked from the motorcade with a small group of men to a sectioned off area of the Western wall of the Temple Mount, traditionally considered the last remnant of the Holy Temple.

Men and women are separated at the Wall, and a female Secret Service agent and two female Obama communications staffers went to the women's side.

One of the men with Obama, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the Rabbi of the Wall, read Psalm 122 to the small group from a Bible, "A Song of Ascents of David."

"I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord,'" read the Rabbi. "Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem."

Rabinovich gave Obama a big book that described thie history of the Wall.

The pre-dawn sky was dark.

And then one man at the Wall began screaming: "Obama, Jerusalem is our land! Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale!"

He kept yelling this for Obama's entire 10 minutes at the Wall, refusing to stop despite repeated entreaties to do so from the crowd.

Obama chatted with the men with whom he'd come to the Wall, before walking to the Wall to place a note he had previously written between the Wall's cracks. He put his hand on the Wall, bowed his head and appeared contemplative.

The heckler, not an Obama fan, continued yelling.

Obama turned from the Wall and walked back to his crowd. Some young men tried to drown out the heckler, chanting, "Obama! Obama! Obama!"

After shaking some hands, Obama got back in his motorcade and headed to the airport.

"It was rowdier than the last time I was there, you know?" Obama told reporters on the plane. "I mean, people were sort of, like, holerin'. You know I was expecting more reverence."

- jpt

July 23, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (284)

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"Not God Bless America, no, no, no, God Dam* America!"
-Jeremiah Wright, Marxist Black Liberal Theology disciple, pastor, friend and confidante to Barack Osama for 20 years

“I can no more disown him (Rev. Wright) than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother.”
- Barack Osama

Posted by: Vituperator | Jul 24, 2008 10:29:51 PM

Come the next inauguration I'm simply going to use for myself the exact phrase I saw others use when Bush won in 2004.

"Not my president."

We'll see then if the people who used it then really understood the principle behind what they were saying, or if they thought it a toy exclusive to their use.

Not like I really need them to, though. My life belongs to me. Not Obama, not McCain, not Bush, not Clinton, not the US, not the EU, and not the UN. My life is mine. If I'm the last person not falling for the romantic spell of the state and still saying so, then that's what I'll do.

Posted by: Chez | Jul 24, 2008 10:18:31 PM

I'm just as doubtful of Obama as most of you are, but to say McCain will be better is laughable! Are you telling me that McCain is going to do so much better when he has, so far, not differentiated himself policy-wise from GWB. I mean we're just realizing now the HUGE damage the GWB presidency has done to our country. Oh where to start:
1. Warrantless wiretapping and immunity to telecommunication companies, which both represent one of the most egregious act against the constitution.
2. Huge devaluation of the dollar. Due to the double whammy of bad monetary policy of the Bush presidency, which was basically print as much money as we can and pump it into the market, and of the reckless spending during his years (Republicans and Democrats share the blame on that account).
3. Related to #2 is the huge amount of inflation we are currently experiencing. The highest levels of inflation in more than 50 years.
4. Cronyism. Putting people in high positions who have no clue what they're doing. Let's just say the first year in Iraq was a huge cluster and was a series of really bad mistakes. I don't disagree our need to go in there, I just disagree with the stupid decisions made by Bush appointed personnel. He's redeemed himself a bit with the surge, but we never should've had to do that if the right people were in charge in the first place.
I could go on, but I grow weary. My point is, both Democrats and Republicans aren't helping our country. We need something better than what these two joke parties are offering. I'm so tired of all this partisan BS.

Posted by: Stewart | Jul 24, 2008 10:13:17 PM

Today, Obama invokes Reagan’s words but gives no credit to Reagan. He talks about the Berlin airlift, but gives no credit to Truman or Eisenhower. He takes credit for Iraq wanting a tiemtable but gives no credit to McCain or Petraeus for the surge. He reaps freedom to speak and run for president but gieves no credit to the brave soldiers and patriots for shedding their blood for his freedom. He uses his trip to europe to acquire more campaign donations, He grandstands for himself in Berlin and passes on visit to our brave wounded soldiers. Obama only gives credit to Obama. You are a disgrace Obama. a real selfish and arrogant disgrace!

Posted by: Reed | Jul 24, 2008 9:25:11 PM

This cult of Obama is indeed frightening. The man is an empty suit, bought and paid for by those behind the scenes. He cannot speak unless the words are written for him. And he doesn't SPEAK, he PREACHES to his audiences. To BHO, it's all about appealing to peoples' emotions, because when it comes to his true positions, he won't come clean with them, and he really has no accomplishments. This is a scary day for America, this election. I'm no McCain freak, either.

Posted by: Artemis | Jul 24, 2008 9:23:08 PM

If I were an Israeli, I'd avoid Obama like I'd avoid Hamas. Obama will sell out Israel faster than he threw the beloved Rev. Wright, Obama's pastor for 20 years, under the bus. Obama will flip on Israel in a heartbeat if he thought it would give him a political advantage.

Posted by: Patrick C. | Jul 24, 2008 9:23:08 PM

the mosy dangerous man in the worls george bush. he wants a legacy.
the second most dangerous. barack obama
he will say/promise anything to win.

then what?

Posted by: deroy | Jul 24, 2008 9:18:48 PM

The MSM is totally in the tank, trying its best to get their messiah elected. ABS, CBS and NBC sent its anchors with him on his European coronation extravaganza.

The NY Times refused to publish a McCain editorial response to an Osama editorial they published.

Almost everybody in this country realizes that the MSM is doing everything it can to get Osama elected.

Posted by: Vituperator | Jul 24, 2008 8:57:47 PM

Obama is popular among very small specific groups (and college kids and the ignorant poor don't generally vote well, as opposed to senior citizens and military members- who vote overwhelmingly republican/conservative).

Obama's policies are far more akin to Jimmy Carter (remember him- inflation up 20%, GDP down 18%, unemployment up to 7.7%, manufacturing dropped 15% and hostages that didn't come home for hundreds of days in Iran. . .).

Then along came Reagan, who is listed third in the line of greatest presidents like EVER, to clean up ALL of the mess. Our hostages were released THE MINUTE Reagan was sworn in. THE MINUTE. Telling in how well appeasement worked when compared to the very reasonable threat of force that Reagan used.

Republicans stand for: LESS GOVERNMENT, LESS SPENDING and the support of our fellow americans in TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES. If you are incapable of self-determination then this is not the nation for you. Shop around. Canada hates free speech, so, you know, they're a lot like liberals anyways, okay. Or maybe Iran. They have a nice theocracy- you could start your own and base it on, oh, say 'GLOBAL WARMING.' Then you would have friends who cared. . .

And remember this folks- If republicans lose this election, and we should (which doesn't mean anything- liberals are amazing at losing elections they should win. . .it's a gift!) then you won't see any of:

Calling our opponent to congratulate them and then immediately hiring a team of lawyers to fight the result.

We won't whine about hanging chads, or voting machines or felons.

The supreme court won't be called in.

We'll take our lumps like adults.

You guys seriously need a real candidate. A platform for anything other than 'anti-bush' or 'anti-this'. . .in fact the only thing I've seen democrats fight for is A: TO LOSE THIS WAR (follow motive- if the war goes well they lose, if it goes poorly and lots of our troops are killed they win, and they've made that clear since the beginning when they authorized force and then pretended like they didn't realize what they were doing).
And B thru D: Sexuality as law, sexuality without consequence, removing my legal right to own a firearm, stealing money from my pocket to feed their constituency (Al Gore took 2.1% of the vote from income-tax paying americans, and this should scare you) force me into bearacracized medicine and offer supplication to Iran and any other enemy facing off against americans. Real americans. Like John Stuart Mill who wrote:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

Posted by: E Simon | Jul 24, 2008 8:42:33 PM

obama is just another southside politician only he has an ego the size of New York City and thinks he can do no wrong..the guy believes his own p.r.

Posted by: Chicago southside kid | Jul 24, 2008 8:36:47 PM

I wonder what the "messiah" stuck in the wall as a prayer...maybe his "pastor" wright, or his buddy, Frckncon, gave him some ideas - WE NEED A THIRD PARTY - especially this year - ANYONE but obama lama ding dong and mad mad mad mad mad mad mccain-

Posted by: Gare of Friscow | Jul 24, 2008 8:31:43 PM

Soldado Americano said:
I would give anything, to see the look in Osamas eyes when he gets his first classified National Security Brief from Bush and DoD transition team and he realizes he is in over his head.
--------------------------

Osama could never realize he's in over his head because he's a NARCISSIST!

Posted by: Vituperator | Jul 24, 2008 8:31:41 PM

I would give anything, to see the look in Osamas eyes when he gets his first classified National Security Brief from Bush and DoD transition team and he realizes he is in over his head.

Conversely, to see the reactions of Libs when they realize the Messiah cant deliver. The troops are not going to come home. The Islamofascist still want to kill us. The economy is still going to bottom out, etc.

Posted by: Soldado Americano | Jul 24, 2008 8:24:35 PM

“The right wing, the Christian right, has done a good job of building these organizations of accountability, much better than the left or progressive forces have. But it’s always easier to organize around intolerance, narrow-mindedness, and false nostalgia. And they also have hijacked the higher moral ground with this language of family values and moral responsibility."
-Barack Obama
**************************

If you don't share Obama's socialist worldview, you are intolerant & narrow minded.

Wake up, America!

Posted by: Vituperator | Jul 24, 2008 7:56:50 PM

"Obama is a calculating politician who says what he needs to say in order to get elected."
-Jeremiah Wright, Marxist Black Liberal Theology disciple, pastor, friend and confidante to Barack Osama for 20 years

Posted by: Vituperator | Jul 24, 2008 7:37:00 PM

If the Republicans had a decent candidate Obama would definitely lose as it stands now he could win.

Posted by: Michael | Jul 24, 2008 7:26:25 PM

"You know I was expecting more reverence."
Especially since I had my campaign posters hanging on the wall!

Posted by: Reverence | Jul 24, 2008 7:24:31 PM

Hey guys the live feed of this incident is all over the web. I suggest that the writer of this article view it as what is reported does not match what happened.

Posted by: debbie | Jul 24, 2008 7:14:50 PM

Barak Obama, just reported, cancelled a visit in Germany with wounded US troops, saying that it was "inappropriate during a trip that was campaign-funded". He can address his fellow "citizens of the world" Germans, but not actual US voters on a campaign funded trip? I am sure that he didn't want photos that might show him with badly wounded soldiers because it would be "off-putting" to show such things. This man is a disgrace as a US citizen, let alone the Democratic candidate for President. He has nothing but scripts to read, and nothing to say that isn't scripted. McCain might not be eloquent, but he's a real American who loves his country and I'd prefer that any time to a "citizen of the world".

Posted by: Disgusted | Jul 24, 2008 6:45:22 PM

"SHAME on whomever discredits Obama as against Jewish ideals."


You're absolutely right!

Obama's against a lot of OTHER ideals, too!

In fact, the only one he's F O R...is the one that begins, " Give unto Obama that which is Obama's, and......"


HILLARY OR MCCAIN
but always:

COUNTRY BEFORE BROKEN DOWN PARTY OF
A DONKEY!!!!!


Posted by: prophet | Jul 24, 2008 6:44:19 PM

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