Palestinians protest as US Vice President visits Jerusalem holy site

Palestinian businesses closed in protest on Tuesday as  Mike Pence is scheduled to visit a Jerusalem holy site and Holocaust memorial.
A united front of all Palestinian factions called for the strike in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in response to Pence’s visit and Washington’s
move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Palestinian schools were also closed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, however, businesses in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip remained open.
Pence is scheduled to meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and visit the Western Wall in East Jerusalem, the holiest site for Jewish prayer.
The protest comes on the last day of Pence’s two-day Israel visit and amid a low point in Washington’s relations with the Palestinians.
Trump’s December 6 Jerusalem declaration, which included a promise to move the US embassy, upended decades of US policy towards the divided holy city.
Palestinians saw the move as endorsing Israeli control of East Jerusalem, which they claim as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
In a speech before the Israeli parliament on Monday, Pence expedited Trump’s promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying it would happen by the end of 2019.
His speech – full of biblical imagery and met with rousing applause from most Israeli lawmakers – was slammed by top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat as “messianic.”(NAN)