Muslim groups call for Florida officials to investigate killing of Tampa man in West Bank
Days after Sayfollah 'Saif' Musallet, a 20-year-old Florida-born U.S. citizen, was reportedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers while visiting family in the West Bank, a Muslim advocacy group and Musallet's family are demanding a formal investigation by the DeSantis administration and the Department of Justice.
'When American citizens like Saif are killed overseas, especially by Israeli settlers backed by the Israeli government, looking the other way sends a dangerous message: that some American lives simply don't matter. We demand better,' said Imam Abdullah Jaber, executive director of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.
While Florida officials have remained mostly silent about the death, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, asked Israel to 'aggressively investigate the murder' of Musallet, calling it a 'terrorist act.'
'There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old,' Huckabee said in a post on X yesterday.
On Wednesday, a representative for CAIR-Florida responded to Huckabee's statements, saying that 'a lot more' can be done to push an investigation forward, especially by Florida officials.
'It needs our Governor, President, State Senators, and/ or Secretary of State to really pressure Israel to stop the settler's terrorist activities affecting US citizens,' Wilfredo Ruiz, CAIR-Florida's communications director, said in a message to the Miami Herald.
The statement made by Huckabee on the social media site was perhaps the strongest response issued by the state department since Musallet's death.
On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis was questioned about the murder allegation during a visit to Sarasota's New College.
'I don't have any information on it,' DeSantis said to an inquiry by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune at the New College of Florida press event. 'I've heard different reports on it, but I just don't have any information.'
In response to DeSantis' comments, CAIR-Florida doubled down on its request for an investigation by Florida officials, demanding justice for the 20-year-old Tampa resident.
'If Gov. DeSantis won't even comment on — let alone call for a formal U.S. investigation into—the brutal murder of one of his own constituents, how can any Floridian trust him to stand up for them in a time of need?' Jaber said in a statement.
Musallet was visiting family in the West Bank 'to protest the establishment of a new illegal Israeli outpost' that had been built on a Palestinian village called Khirbet al-Tal, according to Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel. He reportedly died before reaching the hospital after his ambulance was blocked by settlers, according to his family.
A U.S. embassy spokesperson confirmed Musallet's death, according to reports from NPR. The Israeli military said that a confrontation had broken out between Palestinians and Israelis, and that officials were investigating reports of a Palestinian civilian killed.
Musallet was born in Port Charlotte and grew up in Tampa with his family. He co-owned a small ice cream shop in Tampa.
'He was a young man with dreams and with plans and a future, but that future was cut short ... when he was brutally beaten to death by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank,' said Hiba Rahim, the deputy executive director of the Florida chapter of CAIR at a Monday news conference in Tampa.
CAIR-Florida pointed out that Israeli officials rarely prosecute those accused of violence against Palestinians.
'Where is the outrage from our government. Where is the justice for a family that is grieving,' Rahim said. 'If Saif was killed by anyone else or in another country there would already be investigations.'
At Monday's press conference, Saif's uncle, Hesam Musallet, spoke about his nephew, saying that he was 'a very loving, caring' person.
'Everybody who met him just fell in love with him. He was respectful .. he's just going to be missed and loved,' Musallet said holding back tears.
'This is not an issue between Jews and non-Jews,' said Saleh Mubarak a national board member of CAIR, at the Monday press conference. 'For centuries we coexisted without any incident.'
Mubarak, who is originally from Syria, said the issue is not about land ownership, but the 'equal value of human life.'
'Once we accept that all humans have the same value, I think we will come to the beginning of resolving this issue that has not been resolved.'
This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
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