Obama’s Western Wall Note Just A Campaign Stunt?

John, over at Powerline has posted some not too surprising information about the “personal and private prayer note” left at the Israeli Western Wall last week by messiah in waiting, Barack Obama, while on his rock tour of the Middle East and Europe.

As we recall, the B HO campaign made a big splash about his visit to the Wall and leaving his own “personal and private prayer note” embedded in the wall, complete with pre-dawn coverage and Obama ’08 campaign signs prominently displayed in front of the revered symbol.




Shortly after he left, the Israeli newspaper Maariv mysteriously published the note, sparking outcries from the Rabbi who manages Judaism's holiest site and even members of B HO’s staff. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz stated,

“The notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and his maker. It is forbidden to read them or make any use of them.”

The Seattle Times claimed,

“as soon as he left, a snoop pulled a folded piece of paper from a crevice in the ancient wall and offered it to the mass-circulation newspaper Maariv.”

Residents were outraged and expressed it to the paper in many critical notes written in. Curiously, one Israeli attorney said, “Obama probably knew what would happen to his prayer.”

Did he? Did Obama deliberately place a supposedly private prayer at Judaism’s holiest site, just so it would be found and published for the whole world to see?

Facing calls for a criminal investigation into the papers publishing the note, a Maariv spokesman said,

“Barack Obama’s note was approved for publication in the international media even before he put in the Kotel, a short time after he wrote it at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.”

This begs the question, “how did the international media know, shortly after the note was written, that it was to be placed at the Western Wall?” Just who tipped them off and how did they so easily discover the note?

Another daily paper, Yediot Aharonot, says they too received a copy of the “personal and private prayer note,” but declined to publish it.

Yediot Aharonot claims,

“it now appears that Maariv had collaborated with the Obama campaign in getting the ‘private’ prayer, with its ‘modest’ supplication to the Lord, out to the public, buffing his Christian credentials and showing his ‘humility,’” adding, “What initially seemed to be a journalistic scoop of dubious moral propriety now seems to be a case of an Israeli paper being played by the Barack Obama campaign.”

B HO’s handwritten “humble” note said,

"Lord - Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.”

It would appear that this venture of B HO’s was little more than a campaign stunt, possibly designed to deflect criticisms he has received for his Muslim heritage or to distance himself further from the ramblings of Black Liberation Theologian, Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Whatever the case may be, sad to say that the messiah in waiting now seems even more to be nothing less than just another cheap liberal politician playing the game.

UPDATE: Ma'ariv spokesman recants the claim of pre-approval from the Obama campaign to publish the "personal and private" note. However, it leaves several questions unanswered about the incident. Obama Vindicated On Prayer Note? Questions Left Unanswered.