http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/index/ en U.S. Department of State 2009-11-20T23:01:01+00:00 Interactive Travel Map | Text the Secretary

About the Author: Gregory Marchese is the Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General, Jerusalem.

Secretary Clinton arrived in Jerusalem yesterday evening and, by the time this entry is posted, will be well into a busy morning schedule in Jerusalem that includes meetings with Israeli President Peres and Foreign Minister Livni, as well as a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. At the U.S. Consulate General here in Jerusalem, we’ve been preparing for this visit for the past week, working closely with our colleagues in the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv as well as the Secretary’s advance team. Our two posts are no strangers to high-level visits, although this one is particularly important because it’s Hillary Rodham Clinton’s first visit to Jerusalem as Secretary of State. Preparations have gone smoothly enough that I don’t expect my morning at the office to be particularly out of the ordinary.

In any case, our colleagues in the Embassy in Tel Aviv will have the lead on the meetings with Israeli government officials, while we deal with the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority. This afternoon, both the Embassy and the Consulate General will be part of a “meet and greet,” and our employees and their families will have a chance to meet the Secretary in person. A colleague of mine who’s coordinating that event will be posting an entry to describe what it was like. Starting tomorrow morning, we’re up again, and we’ll be supporting the Secretary’s visit to Ramallah -- about 40 minutes away, in the West Bank -- for meetings with Palestinian Authority President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad as well as a visit with Palestinian young people. Watch this space for some more postings from us on those events tomorrow.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/clinton_arrives_jerusalem/ 2009-03-03T13:36:45+00:00