Demonstrators hold signs outside the vacation home of President-elect Barack Obama in Kailua, Hawaii Protests interrupt Obama's paradise

HONOLULU — It’s not exactly anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan camped outside of George W. Bush’s Crawford ranch. But as President-elect Barack Obama lingered at his Kailua vacation home later than usual this morning, about 10 protesters gathered near the security checkpoint down the street.

It is the first time Obama has received anything but praise and cheers during his 12-day Hawaiian vacation, which ends on Thursday.


Some of the demonstrators carried signs declaring “War is Terror" and "Free Palestine.”

Ann Wright, a retired Army colonel and member of Veterans for Peace, wore a T-shirt that read, "We will not be silent" and carried a sign that read, "Change U.S. foreign policy. Yes we can."

Wright, 62, of Honolulu, said the protesters represented various groups, including her organization Veterans for Peace.

They even had a press release that said, “We call on President-elect Obama to place the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the top of his list of priorities of his new administration.”

Obama has drawn increasingly large gaggles of onlookers during his vacation outings over the past 10 days, and they have been friendly crowds.

The first seedlings of protest about the violence in Gaza came on Monday. A couple of locals attempted to give Obama a box they said contained some golf balls, as well as informational DVDs about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a letter urging the president-elect to sympathize with the Palestinians. Secret Service turned them away.

Shortly after 9:30 this morning as Obama headed to his high school alma mater to play basketball, the small group of demonstrators near his vacation home waved signs that said, "No U.S. support for Israel” and "Gazans need food, medicine, not war."

But Obama was sitting in the rear on the passenger side of his black sport utility vehicle, and was not visible to the protesters, according to a pool report, which said the president-elect sipped from a bottle of water and looked straight ahead as his vehicle passed the demonstrators.

Obama’s transition has said the president-elect receives an intelligence briefing every day and is monitoring the situation in the Middle East.