Billionaire real estate developer Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump‘s son-in-law and a special envoy for the second Trump administration, is being criticized for his recent remarks about Gaza.
At a press conference in Kyiv on Sunday, Kushner said, “Gaza has not worked for a very, very long time. It was basically built by NGOs and terrorists, and it’s been a dystopian place for a long time.”
James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, D.C., responded on social media: “An unbelievable racist comment from this privileged nepo-baby. Gaza didn’t work because the repressive Israeli [sic] didn’t allow it to work. From the beginning of the occupation, Israel denied Palestinians the opportunity to grow & prosper. In 2006, they turned Gaza into a prison camp.”
An unbelievable racist comment from this privileged nepo-baby. Gaza didn’t work because the repressive Israeli didn’t allow it to work. From the beginning of the occupation, Israel denied Palestinians the opportunity to grow & prosper. In 2006, they turned Gaza into a prison camp https://t.co/7ISdJlixRH
— James J. Zogby (@jjz1600) September 7, 2026
[NOTE: Zogby was appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2013 by President Barack Obama, and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee from 2000 to 2017.]
Former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security Juliette Kayyem, who is Faculty Chair of the Homeland Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, also responded: “Kushner’s ideas always assume there are no real people in Gaza. If it is dystopian it is because Kushner has always thought that and supported policies to make it so. The only real Arabs are rich.”
[NOTE: In January, Kushner unveiled a roughly $30 billion “master plan” to redevelop the war-torn Gaza Strip with waterfront developments and other luxury buildings. Kushner said much of the project, which would be overseen by Trump’s “Board of Peace,” would be funded by the private sector. He touted “amazing investment opportunities.”]