Jared Kushner Blames Palestinians Killed In Protests For Causing Unrest
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In his address at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Jared Kushner blamed Palestinian protestors, dozens of whom were killed by Israeli security, for causing unrest, the Daily News reported Monday.
“Those provoking problems like we see today in Gaza are part of the problem and not part of the solution,” Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and top Middle East advisor, said at the commencement ceremony.
However, that sentiment was omitted from the official White House transcript, according to MSNBC reporter Ayman Mohyeldin.
Wow!! Jared Kushner’s controversial comment about Gaza during Embassy opening saying “as we have seen from the protests of the last month & even today, those provoking violence are part of the problem & not part of the solution” was omitted from official White House transcript! pic.twitter.com/M6zRdg4Jcp
— Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM) May 14, 2018
Kushner went on to say that hoped he for peace, but the “journey to peace started with a strong America recognizing the truth.”
Protesters attempting to breach the border with Israel clashed with troops before the official ceremony, leaving more than 50 dead and about 1,200 injured, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. It marks the deadliest day in the territory since the 2014 war with Israel.
The United Nations’ human rights chief demanded an end to the killing, which he called “outrageous human rights violations.”
President Trump did not mention the violence in a Monday morning tweet about the embassy opening, where he plugged the coverage by Fox News. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo followed up a statement about the U.S.’s hope for peace in the region, but he didn’t mention the violence or the deaths. A later White House statement said that the responsibility for Gaza deaths “rests squarely with Hamas,” the Associated Press reported.
Contact Alyssa Fisher at fisher@forward.com or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher
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