JARED KUSHNER/PALESTINE/STATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “The Trump administration’s decision to end American funding to a United Nations agency that provides assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees was denounced broadly on Friday [8-31-18] by international officials, former United States diplomats and Palestinians who were reeling from the elimination of a decades-long policy of support. The State Department announced the funding cut on Friday afternoon, after it had already been confirmed by a former senior official at the United States Agency for International Development who had spoken to journalists…The move was pushed by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser on the Middle East, as part of a plan to compel Palestinian politicians to drop demands for most of the refugees to return to what they call their homeland. At a meeting this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued against the drastic funding cut. But Mr. Kushner prevailed, said R. David Harden, who was briefed on the plans and oversaw projects in the Palestinian territories for more than a decade until leaving U.S.A.I.D. in April.”
–Edward Wong, “Trump Administration’s Move to Cut Aid to Palestinian Refugees Is Denounced,’ The New York Times online, August 31, 2018