Heckling

He stood before them speaking of solidarity, introducing himself with words from the Bible: "I am Joseph, your brother." But Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut was pelted with jeers as he brought his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination to an Arab American leadership conference in this Detroit suburb on Friday. "Go home to Tel Aviv," one woman called in disgust as Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, cast Israelis as victims of Palestinian terrorism. "No! No! No!"

Activists jeered South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as she opened a national AIDS conference in Durban. Activists say the disease kills 600 South Africans a day, and some held up signs reading "Save Our Youth, Save Our Future, Treat AIDS Now." Critics say South Africa has moved too slowly on AIDS and decry its refusal to permit public-sector hospitals to use antiretroviral drugs.

When a homeless man named "Jackal" challenged the candidates for mayor here last fall to sample life on the streets, Tom Bates accepted. Now Bates is mayor and, after a night camping in a park behind City Hall, he said he can see much more clearly the plight facing an estimated 1,200 of his constituents. As for the homeless themselves? They alternately heckled, embraced and confronted Bates during his roughly 24 hours last week rubbing elbows with the common man.

Former Assembly speaker and mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa formally announced he will run for Los Angeles' 14th District council seat Thursday, even as he faced down hecklers supporting the incumbent, Councilman Nick Pacheco. The race to represent parts of Boyle Heights, Highland Park, Mt. Washington and Eagle Rock is expected to be costly and hard-fought. Villaraigosa was heckled by several Pacheco supporters during a news conference at Roosevelt High School.

In a rare breach of Capitol Hill decorum, two protesters heckled Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday during a House committee hearing on Iraq, unfurling a banner that read "U.N. Inspection Not War" and chanting the slogan until police escorted them out. The incident occurred at the Rayburn Office Building, across the street from the Capitol.

In a scene reminiscent of the early days of the AIDS epidemic, activists stormed the stage Tuesday and obstructed a speech by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson at the 14th International AIDS Conference. Thompson stoically delivered his 20-minute talk, but the only people who heard it were the security men who separated him from the demonstrators.

TEXAS A man who disrupted a speech being given by former President Bush should be tried for heckling, a court in Austin ruled. Thomas Markovich was a university student in 1998 when he stood up in the House gallery and yelled at Bush, who was speaking as part of the Texas Book Festival. Markovich's attorney, Kenneth Houp, said the outburst was prompted by a reference to Nicaragua Bush had made in his speech.

Newport Harbor's Ryan Cook took a lot of ribbing in the Orange County all-star boys' water polo game Sunday at Villa Park High. Cook was harassed by the North squad every time he touched the ball, and toward the end of the game, even the announcer joined the good-natured teasing by calling Cook a ball hog. In the end it was Cook who came out laughing, finishing with two goals, four assists and two steals as the South defeated the North in the seniors-only game, 12-9.

As a month-old wave of deadly violence burst into the heart of Jerusalem on Monday, beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was fighting for his political life in a hostile parliament eager to throw him out of office. Late Monday, in a stark escalation ordered as retaliation for killings in Jerusalem and other attacks, Israeli helicopter gunships fired rockets at political and police headquarters of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat in at least three cities.

The hints came almost immediately after a chorus of taunts floated to the outfield where Devon Maitozo stood nervously. Maitozo heard the remarks from teammates and opponents whenever he stepped on the Little League baseball field. Maitozo's best chance to escape the jeers would have been to crawl under the nearest base or home plate whenever he booted a routine fielding chance or struck out with the bases loaded.