Laura Bush Heckled in Jerusalem

US first lady Laura Bush faced Palestinian and Israeli protests yesterday as she toured Jewish and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Wearing a black headscarf and accompanied by the wife of Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Mrs. Bush spent a few moments of silence in the women’s section of the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site.

Among the bystanders, dozens of young women waved photographs of Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish American who was jailed for life in 1987 in the United States on charges of spying for Israel. A slightly larger group of men, some of them symbolically handcuffed, also shouted slogans calling for Pollard’s release.

At the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the response to her visit was equally hostile, with a handful of protesters shouting as she entered the golden-topped Dome of the Rock. (Arab TV stations showed only one person shouting).

But the visit passed off peacefully, arousing little interest among local Palestinian stallholders, who dismissed the trip by the wife of US President George W. Bush as little more than a photo opportunity for the media.

“It’s mainly a publicity stunt,” said Mazen, a 50-year-old carpet seller. “What we want to see is results on the ground. President Bush promised to resolve the conflict two years ago, but nothing has changed.”

Hassanin, 43, said, “We don’t care about any American presidents or their wives. They don’t help us.”
(Al-Jezeera)