US Palestinian Affairs Unit refuses to acknowledge Yom Kippur

The United States PAU was closed on Thursday due to a "local holiday."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A worker hangs a road sign directing to the U.S. embassy, in the area of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, May 7, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS)
A worker hangs a road sign directing to the U.S. embassy, in the area of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, May 7, 2018.
(photo credit: REUTERS)

The US Palestinian Affairs Unit closed its Jerusalem offices during Yom Kippur on Tuesday, due to a "local holiday."

The refusal to acknowledge Yom Kippur by the PAU, which operates out of the United States embassy in Jerusalem, has baffled and confused many.

"Our office is closed today, Thursday, September 16, for the local holiday. We will reopen for normal business tomorrow, Friday, September 17," the PAU wrote on their official Twitter account early Thursday morning, during Yom Kippur.

Israeli diplomat and former ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Azerbaijan Arthur Lenk commented on the vague message.

"Lots of fun comments to this mysterious, unnamed 'local holiday.' I wonder what mysterious, unnamed "normal business" will take place today," Lenk wrote on Twitter.

Len Khodorkovsky, former senior adviser for Global Public Affairs in the US State Department, also ridiculed the indistinct tweet.

"Which local holiday is that?," Khodorkovsky asked on Twitter. "Do you mean Yom Kippur, the Jewish people’s holiest day of the year?

US Embassy Jerusalem (credit: US EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM)
US Embassy Jerusalem (credit: US EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM)

The PAU is the US' diplomatic outreach to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza. The embassy on Agron Road, which was once the consulate general of the United States, was merged with the US embassy in Tel Aviv by the Trump administration.



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