Mike Pence's visit: Fatah readies protest plan

Ramallah - Pence is expected to try to push the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward after he lands in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction on Saturday called for a massive demonstration next week to protest against a visit to occupied Jerusalem by US Vice-President Mike Pence after Washington said it would recognise the holy city as Israel's capital.
Breaking with decades of US policy, President Donald Trump also said on December 6 that he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The move prompted Abbas to cancel a meeting with Pence, who arrives on Wednesday in Jerusalem, and warn that Washington no longer had a role to play in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
"We call for angry protests at the entrances to Jerusalem and in its Old City to coincide with the visit on Wednesday of US Vice-President Mike Pence and to protest against Trump's decision," Fatah said in a statement.
The call to protest came as thousands of Palestinians took part in funerals for four men killed on Friday in clashes with Israeli forces during protests in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.
Mourners chanted anti-Trump slogans and masked men fired into the air during one of the ceremonies in the village of Beit Ula in the occupied West Bank. Funerals were also held for the two other Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, where the enclave's Hamas rulers had on Friday called for a "day of rage".
One of those killed was Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh, a Palestinian who lost his legs in an Israeli attack a decade ago, who, with his wheelchair, was a regular feature at protests along Gaza's border with Israel.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniya attended Abu Thurayeh's funeral in a refugee camp west of Gaza City. "With his death there is no valid excuse not to fight," Haniya said."We understand that the Palestinians may need a bit of a cooling-off period, that's fine," a senior White House official said on Friday. "We will be ready when the Palestinians are ready to re-engage."
Pence is expected to try to push the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward after he lands in Jerusalem on Wednesday, US administration officials have said.