Monday’s demonstrations drew a level of bloodshed not seen in Gaza since a 2014 war with Israel. Israel’s use of live ammunition has drawn widespread condemnation, notably from South Africa and Turkey, which expelled the Israeli ambassador on Tuesday after recalling its envoys to Israel and the United States..

'Recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital -- an area that the United Nations designated as an international city in 1947 -- has confirmed US intentions of blind support for the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian land', stated MPAC in an editorial on its website.

'It has also aggravated Israeli-Palestinian divisions, added tension to an already volatile region, and for all intents and purposes, killed the fragile peace process. The United States’ role in this conflict is critical and has now become problematic by recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Israel has already increased its violent response to peaceful Palestinian protests.'

Although White House Senior Adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner spoke about “peace being within reach,” during his address at the opening of the embassy, reports persisted of Israeli snipers gunning down Palestinians as a means to quell peaceful demonstrations. Further, Kushner addressed all protesters in Gaza as “those provoking violence.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the continuing “massacre” of the Palestinian people.

'This administration is making clear it does not intend on being an honest broker in any Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Trump can expect political unrest, a cessation of the peace processes and further deterioration of human rights in the region, a place where war and suffering has become too common,' stated MPAC.

'Other American Musim groups also joined in condenming Israel. In a statement, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who is of Palestinian heritage, said:

“We condemn this massacre of civilian protesters -- including children, medical personnel and the disabled -- who seek to shake the conscience of an international community that has long ignored or excused Israel’s past dispossession of the Palestinian people and its continuing occupation of those few who were able to survive in their ancestral land.

“Perhaps this tragic mass killing – played out in full view of the world’s media – will spark a new call for justice similar to that sparked by the Soweto uprising against Apartheid.

“The unjust, unwise and counterproductive symbolic giveaway of Palestinian, Muslim and Christian rights in Jerusalem only serves to outrage the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims and to eliminate any role our nation has as a neutral mediator in any future negotiations to end the occupation.”