The visit

Shops closed today

So Trump finally arrived. It's a pretty hectic schedule ... visiting the Holy Sepulcher and the Wailing Wall at 3.15pm just after he arrived from the airport at 12.30pm and made the courtesy call to the Israeli President's residence. The visit to the Holy Sepulcher was not covered by the news as reporters and cameramen were not allowed into the Basilica ... it was a private moment of prayer for Trump and his wife. There was an awkward moment at the airport when Trump was led to greet some of the senior Israeli officials. According to the govt. spokesperson, some officials were not invited to be on the front row but they managed to squeeze their way in and refused to move when Foreign Ministry officials shooed them off. And one even took a selfie with Trump and posted it on his social media page with the caption "Dumb and Dumber". The PM who was standing next to Trump twice grabbed the arm of the renegade official to stop him from taking the selfie and this was caught by all the news reporters. Embarrassing.

Trump speaks to the Custos

This morning all arab shops were closed. The saying is that the arabs are on strike ... but the reality is it's a security lockdown. Shops in and out of the Old City were shut the whole day. And there was an unspoken curfew in the streets of the Muslim Quarter. Our area was deathly quiet. The Christian Quarter especially the area around the Holy Sepulcher was locked down by 7am this morning. And so were most of the roads around Trump's hotel leading up to the PM's residence. That's about 1 km apart.

Meantime there were clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at the Qalandya and Qalqiya crossings ... the border between Israel and Palestine north of Jerusalem. And just now there was a stabbing at Abu Dis village south of Jerusalem. I'm afraid tomorrow Trump's visit to Bethlehem would be met with protests by Palestinians. He has already cancelled a visit to the Church of the Nativity because of some posters in front of the plaza.

For the rest of us ... we just hope this visit is over as quickly as possible. Exams are held up because of road blocks and locked down neighborhoods. We don't feel safe as snipers are seen on many rooftops.