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9 seconds ago 2009-07-16T12:45:03-07:00
JERUSALEM — Barack Obama made a visit early Thursday morning to one of the most sacred spots in Jerusalem, the section of the western supporting wall of the Temple Mount. But the solemn moment was interrupted by a lone heckler.
He arrived at 5 a.m., as a clear moon lit a still-dark sky. Wearing a white skull cap, Obama walked to the Western Wall with the Rabbi of the Wall, Shmuel Rabinovich, and was surrounded by many others when he reached the wall.
The rabbi and Obama flipped through a holy book on a wooden stand, but the moment was interrupted when a man standing about 10 yards away yelled over and over, "Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale! Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale!"
Following the prayer, Obama approached the wall and placed a personal note between the stone cracks, and bowed his head in quiet contemplation.
The heckler continued his chant as Obama walked away from the Wall. Several other men tried to drown out his voice with chants of, "Obama, Obama, Obama."
"It was rowdier than the last time I was there," Obama told reporters on his campaign plane before it took off from Jerusalem to Berlin.
