White House removes part of Jared Kushner's Jerusalem Embassy speech about deadly Palestinian protests


Monday presented a jarring split screen between U.S. and Israeli officials jubilantly inaugurating a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and Palestinian protesters being shot and gassed by Israeli forces at the Gaza border, a few miles away. Israeli forces shot dead 57 people, wounded 2,700 more, and a small child died after inhaling tear gas, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser, briefly alluded to the protests in his speech at the embassy ceremony, but for some reason, the White House removed that section from its official transcript.
Kushner said in his speech, which was broadcast on TV, that "as we have seen from the protests of the last month, and even today, those provoking violence are part of the problem and not part of the solution." The Palestinians have been protesting a crippling blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt, which has pushed unemployment in the occupied territory to over 40 percent and prompted food and electricity shortages. Before Monday's deaths, which Gaza officials say include six minors, Israeli snipers had killed nearly 50 Palestinian protesters.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah blamed Hamas, which controls Gaza, for the "tragic deaths," arguing that "Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response" by Palestinians, some of whom threw rocks and primitive explosives. Amnesty International said Israeli use of live ammunition against protesters was an "abhorrent violation of international law and human rights," Egypt and other Arab nations condemned Israel's killing of Palestinians, and United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein decried the “shocking killing of dozens."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How would the Trump administration denaturalize immigrant citizens?
Today's Big Question Using civil courts lowers the burden of proof
-
Who has to pay the estate tax?
the explainer Trump's new bill will permanently shift who owes federal estate tax
-
'Trucking is a dangerous business'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump