Donald Trump will be leaving Saudi Arabia overnight (Eastern time) and flying directly to Israel.
That direct flight itself is historic, since the Saudis do not allow flights directly to or from Israel.
One of his first stops in Israel will be the Western Wall, the holiest place at which Jews are permitted to pray. The holiest place is the Temple Mount.
As Prof. Miriam Elman has explained, Jews are not permitted to pray on the Temple Mount, where conquest mosques and monuments have been built on top of the ancient Jewish Temples. That prohibition is both theological and geo-political.
Israel apparently is boosting the pageantry that will greet Trump, after witnessing the grandeur with which Trump was feted in Saudi Arabia. If you’ve ever been to Israel, you know that “pageantry” is not its strength. Everything is very casual, to the extreme.
Not everyone, however, is happy that Trump is visiting. While Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority likely will try to put on an official welcome when Trump visits Bethlehem (which reportedly is on the itinerary, and is controlled by the PA), Palestinian political factions are preparing to protest Trump’s visit with a “Day of Rage.”
The Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reports, Palestinians call for ‘Day of Rage’ to protest Trump’s visit to the occupied territory:
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian factions in the central occupied West Bank city of Ramallah have called upon the Palestinian people to partake in a “Day of Rage” on Tuesday, during the planned visit by US President Donald Trump to the occupied Palestinian territory…. In a statement released Saturday titled: “A call for unity and assimilation with our brave prisoners,” Ramallah-based Islamist and nationalist factions urged the public to join rallies to express their rejection to the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel under US sponsorship.The statement called for a three-hour strike on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and for a general strike on Monday in the occupied West Bank, the besieged Gaza Strip, and Israel, to coincide with Trump’s visit.Members of the Higher Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel have affirmed their support for the strikes, initially called for by the Palestinian national committee set up to support a mass hunger strike in Israeli prisons that entered its 34th day on Saturday.The hunger strike’s committee also called for activists in West Bank villages and rural areas to continue blocking off roads to traffic, particularly for Israeli settler vehicles, in an expression of solidarity for the hunger strike.
The hunger strike, you may recall, was organized by Marwan Barghouti, serving five life sentences for murder of Israelis. Barghouti was caught sneaking food during his hunger strike, which was caught on video.
An Israeli Arab political group is urging Israeli Arab citizens to joining the Day of Rage, focused on the hunger strike:
The Arab-Israeli Monitoring Committee, headed by former MK Mohammad Barakeh, announced a strike and a day of rage in the sector on Monday, in solidarity with the 35-day security prisoners’ hunger strike.The strike will include businesses and public places, but not schools and medical services.The demonstrators created a human chain from Megiddo Junction to Gilboa Prison….The head of the monitoring committee Barakeh, said that the government wishes to break the hunger strike, but claimed the prisoners’ demands are reasonable….”The aim of the strike is to show the world, and also the American president, Netanyahu’s attempts to market a normal life under occupation. It’s a complete lie. We must show the truth that after 50 years of occupation the Palestinian people have not surrendered and want to establish their state alongside Israel,” he continued.He then added that Trump supports Israel’s refusal policy, and is therefore “not a fair mediator between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”
Iranian television is on the case:
Hamas, the Gaza-based terrorist group, is not happy with Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia. Through its Twitter account (yes, it has a Twitter account), Hamas raged:
The Times of Israel reports that two hundred Hamas members in Israeli prison will join the hunger strike to coincide with Trump’s visit:
As US President Donald Trump arrives in Israel on Monday, some 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails plan to join an ongoing mass hunger strike that has seen hundreds of inmates refuse food for over a month.Most of those who will join the hunger strike are members of terror group Hamas, Palestinian and Israeli sources told the Times of Israel Sunday….Palestinians say some 1,600 inmates have kept up the fast since mid April, but Israel says the number has dropped to around 850.
What’s that saying about never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity?
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY