The Trump administration has opened an embassy today in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem, completely erupting decades of previous US policy towards Jerusalem. The embassy is being viewed by those that both love and hate it as a major departure from traditional US diplomacy.

U.S. administration officials and senators are in Jerusalem for the inauguration of the new embassy. The event comes after President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Today also marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel.

“By recognizing Jerusalem as the capital on the [election] campaign and making it happen in the first part of his presidency signals to everyone, including the North Koreans, that there’s a new sheriff in town,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), who is leading a delegation of four Republican senators attending Monday’s celebration.

The ceremony solidified Trump’s pledge to offer diplomatic recognition to Israel’s claim of Jerusalem as it’s capital. European allies continued to denounce the move as a serious blow to peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians, who also view part of Jerusalem as capital for a possible future state.

Jerusalem declared sovereignty over the city 51 years ago following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, but most countries do not recognize Israel’s rule over the city, where a third of the residents are Palestinian. And most states say their embassies will remain in Tel Aviv until Israelis and Palestinians reach some sort of peace agreement.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, started the inauguration by recalling the declaration of the state of Israel by then-Prime Minister David Ben Gurion almost exactly 70 years ago.

“Seventy years later, the United States is taking the next step of moving the embassy to Jerusalem,” he said. “Again the United States leads the way in taking this step.”

While these celebrations have been going on, protests have been popping up. More than 40 Palestinians were killed in mass protests along Israel’s border with Gaza. The demonstrations were part of a weeks-long protest, dubbed the Great March of Return. Palestinian annually mark their resulting displacement on Nakba Day, or the Day of Catastrophe, on May 15.

The protests were not limited to the border. More than 500 demonstrators rallied near the ceremony clashed with Israeli forces, and police made at least one arrest. Demonstrators chanted “Jerusalem is ours!”

Safa Yasin, 19, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, said the embassy move “cements Israeli control over Jerusalem” and shows complete disregard for the rights of the Palestinian people.

Others came out in support of the embassy. Among the supporters, who were separated by a police barrier from protesters, was Elisha Haas, 74, an Israeli professor of biophysics at Bar Ilan University.

“I came here to say thank you to President Trump,” Haas said, adding that he has no sympathy for the Palestinians being shot along the border. “I don’t care how many are killed because they are using these protests to terrorize Israel. The despair of Gaza is fake news.”

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) repeated claims that the embassy move would actually aid peace efforts.

“We are today witnessing history,” Cruz said. “A restoration of a nation and a people that existed for three millennia. Jerusalem is and was and will remain the capital of Israel. For the past 70 years, the United States operated on a fiction – a fiction that did not recognize this capital.”