middle east

Laura Bush Gets Mostly Warm Welcome in Middle East

By Sarah Pollak
CBN News Reporter

CBN.com – (CBN News) - First lady Laura Bush is in Egypt today, as part of a tour through the Middle East to promote women's rights. Her visit to that country has been peaceful.

But in Jerusalem Sunday, protestors besieged Mrs. Bush. The first lady visited the Muslim shrine called the Dome of the Rock. Arab worshippers were enraged that she was at their holy site.

It was near chaos. Some protesters tried to reach the first lady, and tensions ran high. But the Secret Service and Israeli police kept the first lady safe.

Laura Bush said, "I think the protests are very expected. If you did not expect them, you would not know what it would be like when you got here. Everyone knows how high the tensions are. Believe me, I was very, very welcomed by most people."

Inside the building, Laura Bush was greeted warmly by Islamic leaders, who gave her an ancient copy of the Koran, extremely symbolic in the wake of Newsweek reporting incorrectly that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated copies of the Koran.

Mrs. Bush got an equally tumultuous greeting at the Wailing Wall, one of Judaism’s most holy sites. She was greeted by hecklers who called for the release of a man accused of spying on the U.S. for Israel. But the first lady took it all the conflict in stride.

She said, "As we all know, this is a place of very high tension and high emotion. And you can understand why, when you see that people with a deep and sincere faith in their religions are living side-by-side. There are thousands of years of fighting and hatred, but what I'm hoping is that they can put that aside."

President Bush reportedly called his wife to check on her after the protests.

Translate Page