Family of American citizen killed by Israeli settlers demands US probe
Musallet's family said in a statement that Israeli settlers surrounded him for three hours during the assault on Friday and attacked medics who were attempting to reach him.
The slain young man, known as Saif, was a 'kind, hard-working, and deeply-respected young man, working to build his dreams', the family said.
'This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face,' the statement added.
'We demand the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. We demand justice.'
Washington has previously resisted calls to investigate the killing of US citizens by Israeli forces. Instead, US officials say that Israel is capable of probing its own abuses.
But Israeli investigations rarely lead to criminal charges against settlers or soldiers, despite their well-documented violations against Palestinians.
The State Department said late on Friday that it 'has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas'.
'We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank. When a US citizen dies overseas, we stand ready to provide consular services,' a department spokesperson told Al Jazeera, declining to provide further details, citing the privacy of the victim's family.
Israeli forces have killed at least nine US citizens since 2022, including veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.
But none of the incidents have resulted in criminal charges.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said the US 'must stop treating Palestinian American lives as expendable'.
'Israeli settlers lynched 20-year-old Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet, while US officials stayed silent,' the advocacy group said in a statement.
'Sayfollah was born and raised in Florida. He was visiting family for the summer in the West Bank when settlers beat him to death while he protested illegal land seizures.'
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) questioned whether Trump will stay true to his pledge to prioritise US interests.
'Will he uphold his 'America First' promise when it's a Palestinian-American whose life was taken? Or will he once again bow his head to Israel, no matter the cost in blood?' AMP said in a statement.
But the group stressed that US citizenship should not be a condition for justice. Another Palestinian was killed in the same settler attack as Musallet on Saturday.
'And let's be unequivocally clear: whether a Palestinian holds American citizenship or not, every single murder committed by this regime must be explicitly prohibited, punished, and condemned,' AMP said.The US provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. It also protects its ally diplomatically at international forums, often using its veto power to block United Nations Security Council proposals critical of Israeli abuses.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on supporters on Saturday to contact their lawmakers and urge them to condemn the killing of Musallet.
'This was not an isolated incident. It was part of a long, unpunished pattern of violence against US citizens by Israeli soldiers and settlers,' the group said in a statement.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the head of rights group DAWN, said the US has tools to pursue accountability in the Musallet case, noting that Washington is pursuing criminal charges against Hamas officials for the killing of US citizens during the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel.
'What is really missing [in the current case] is the political will from the United States government to protect American citizens of Palestinian origin or Americans protesting Israeli actions in the West Bank,' Whitson told Al Jazeera in a TV interview.
'What it really does is it sets a precedent of encouragement and sets a precedent for open season on Americans just as there is open season on Palestinians.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former HSBC trader has fraud conviction overturned
A British trader who was jailed in the United States for allegedly manipulating foreign exchange rates has had his conviction overturned after a nine-year struggle for justice. Former HSBC trader Mark Johnson, 59, has fought to establish his innocence ever since he was convicted of fraud in 2017 in connection with a large foreign exchange trade six years earlier. He served time in jail in US federal prisons and in Wandsworth prison in the UK, exhausting avenues of appeal before being released on license in 2022. After the US courts in 2023 overturned a law that was used to prosecute him, he launched a fresh appeal, which has now been allowed by a US appeal court, granting him a full acquittal. Mr Johnson's US lawyer Alexandra Shapiro said: "We are delighted that justice has finally been achieved for Mark Johnson, after a nine-year ordeal. This is a case that never should have been brought." Prosecutors at Mr Johnson's trial alleged he had conspired with a colleague to increase the price of sterling against the dollar before executing a huge foreign exchange trade for HSBC's client Cairn Energy, converting $3.5bn into pounds. They alleged that on behalf of HSBC, Mr Johnson arranged to buy sterling in advance, inflating the currency's value so that the bank made a quick gain before executing the trade for its client at a higher price – so called 'front-running'. Following his conviction a foreign exchange industry body, ACI Financial Markets Association, petitioned the court, protesting that purchasing a currency ahead of a large trade was a normal industry practice to manage a bank's risk, known in the industry as 'pre-hedging'. "Mr Johnson carried out the Cairn transaction consistent with industry practice and in violation of no law or rule, and he looks forward to moving on with his life," said Ms Shapiro. Mr Johnson, a father of five from Hampshire, was originally arrested on 19 July 2016 as he accompanied his son and a friend to JFK Airport on his way home to the UK and was later tried and convicted on 18 October 2017. His arrest took place four days after demands in Congress for the US government to pursue the prosecution of HSBC employees who had avoided facing justice. Those calls were prompted by a congressional report, Too Big to Jail, which revealed that the British government had secretly intervened on HSBC's behalf in 2012, when the bank faced the risk of prosecution for helping a Mexican drug cartel launder $881m and for facilitating trades with US-sanctioned countries such as Iran, Libya and Sudan. Senior executives at HSBC had urged him to accept a new role in the US in March 2016, four months before his subsequent arrest. Because he was arrested in the US, it meant that there was no need for extradition proceedings. By contrast his alleged co-conspirator, Stuart Scott, contested extradition to the US and won his hearing. The US Department of Justice later withdrew the charges against him. More on this story Ex-HSBC banker found guilty of fraud
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cihan Media Communications Releases Strategic Insight Report on Reparations Advocacy Ahead of UNGA 2025
'Africa's Reparations Call Now a Unified Demand' – President Mahama MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, July 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report released by Cihan Media Communications underscores growing continental consensus around reparative justice for Africans and people of African descent. This comes as African nations prepare for a major high-level side event during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2025, co-sponsored by Ghana and Togo. As outlined in the report, the call for reparations has transitioned from fragmented advocacy to a unified, coordinated demand, rooted in historical accountability, moral clarity, and Africa's pursuit of sovereignty and dignity. Delivering a progress report at the 7th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union in Malabo, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana and African Union Champion for Reparations, declared: "Africa's call for reparative justice is no longer a whisper—it is a unified demand grounded in historical truth, moral clarity, and our unwavering commitment to dignity. As we implement the 2025 Theme of the Year on Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations, we reaffirm our shared resolve to correct historical wrongs through restitution, healing, and holistic systemic transformation." President Mahama welcomed the African Union Executive Council's recent decision to extend the reparations focus across a decade (2026–2036), describing it as a crucial step toward mobilizing resources and institutionalizing the agenda across member states. He emphasized that reparations must shift from rhetoric to actionable state policy, calling on every African government to integrate reparations into national development plans, diplomatic priorities, and legal frameworks. "This undoubtedly affords us, as a Union, the opportunity to sustain the momentum for the realization of this noble cause," he noted. Restitution, Not Charity: A Strategic Framework The Cihan report draws on Mahama's call to action, framing reparations as essential to Africa's political and economic self-determination. According to the report, achieving reparative justice will require: Financial compensation for forced labor, resource theft, and systemic injustices; Technology transfer to bridge industrial and innovation gaps; Reparations funds, managed transparently, to support education, cultural restoration, and economic empowerment. Mahama further stressed the spiritual and cultural dimensions of the cause: "Restitution to the African, therefore, is restoration of our full human dignity," he said. "We cannot speak of development without identity or speak of unity without acknowledging the erasure that has fractured our heritage." He also highlighted the importance of partnerships with global allies, particularly the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), in presenting a unified voice at international platforms. "We call upon all nations, within and beyond Africa, to partner with us in shaping a more just and equitable world for the sons and daughters of the motherland." Despite resistance from former colonial powers, the report stresses that the call for reparations is not a plea but a rightful demand—a moral and economic imperative to correct centuries of stolen wealth and identity. Looking Ahead to the United Nations General Assembly In a significant diplomatic move, Mahama announced that Ghana and Togo will co-sponsor a high-level event at UNGA 2025 to accelerate global recognition and support for Africa's reparations agenda. "As we do more to correct historical wrongs, we are reasserting our full humanity. We are reaffirming our sovereignty. We are reigniting the flame of dignity that has always burned within the African soul." About Cihan Media Communications Cihan Media Communications is a Pan-African strategic communications and insights firm focused on amplifying African narratives, supporting justice and governance campaigns, and delivering data-driven reports that inform policy and public discourse. Photo: Contact: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cihan Media Communications
Bloomberg
25 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
The State Department Upheaval Makes China Great Again
She had not seen the axe coming for her specifically, one Foreign Service Officer told me. (She wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.) Thinking she would be safe from cuts that largely targeted other teams, she worked late into the night on a Thursday this month, helping colleagues around the world as usual. But the following morning she found a termination email in her inbox, signed by Lew Olowski, a MAGA firebrand who runs personnel at the State Department. And so she became one of roughly 1,350 people at the department, including about 250 FSOs, who got 'RIFed,' as they call it (after the euphemism 'reduction in force'). Having served in the Middle East and Asia for many years, she had stellar performance reviews throughout and had been picked by several top diplomats for specific assignments. If she had stayed overseas, she would have been safe from this round of RIFs, which hit only US-based staff. But she happened to be transitioning from a posting in Asia to one in Europe and was technically classified as 'domestic.'
