CAIR urges US to probe the death of father killed in Israeli settler attack

Al Jazeera

15 hours ago

A Muslim American group has sent a letter to the administration of President Donald Trump urging it to investigate the death of United States citizen Khamis Ayyad in a settler attack in the occupied West Bank.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Ayyad's family has 'no confidence in any investigation conducted by Israeli authorities'.
The letter, penned by CAIR and its Chicago chapter, was sent on Wednesday, almost a week after Ayyad's death on July 31.
Addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi, it underscored legal provisions, including the US-Israel Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), that would enable Washington to investigate Ayyad's death.
'The Department of Justice has previously relied on these very statutes to investigate the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, which killed several Americans. Yet it has failed to apply them when the perpetrators are Israeli,' the letter read.
'This double standard is indefensible and is a CLEAR act of discrimination. American citizenship must not be selectively protected based on the identity or political alliances of the killer.'
Ayyad, a Chicago area resident and father of five, was one of two US citizens killed in settler attacks in the West Bank in July.
According to Ayyad's family, settlers torched cars outside his home in the town of Silwad, north of Ramallah, last week.
Ayyad woke up to put out the fire, but then the Israeli army showed up at the scene and started firing tear gas in his direction.
The family believes that Ayyad died from inhaling tear gas and smoke from the burning vehicles.
Earlier in July, Israeli settlers also beat to death 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet, a Florida native, near the West Bank village of Sinjil.
The US government has acknowledged Ayyad's death but stopped short of denouncing it or even calling for an investigation.
'We can confirm the death of a US citizen in the town of Silwad in the West Bank,' a US State Department spokesperson told Al Jazeera last week.
'We offer condolences to the family on their loss and are providing consular assistance to them. We condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank.'
According to CAIR, US officials have not reached out to Ayyad's family.
William Asfour, the operations coordinator for CAIR-Chicago, said the State Department's statement shows that 'Palestinian lives are not valued' by the US government.
'This statement from the State Department seems more like formalities than any actual concern,' Asfour told Al Jazeera. 'We want to see direct action. Holding the terrorist settlers accountable is a step in the right direction.'
After Israeli soldiers or settlers kill American citizens, the US usually calls on Israel to investigate.
But Israel rarely prosecutes anyone for abuses against Palestinians. Rights advocates have long argued that Israel is not equipped to investigate its own crimes.
For example, no charges have been brought in the case of Musallet's fatal beating nearly one month later.
The CAIR letter stressed that Israel has a 'well-documented and deeply troubling history of distorting facts, fabricating narratives, and systematically exonerating its soldiers and illegal settlers'.
Since 2022, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 10 US citizens. None of the cases have resulted in criminal charges.
'The murder of Khamis Ayyad must mark a turning point. The time to stop hiding behind legal technicalities and political convenience is now. Inaction is complicity,' the CAIR letter said.
On Monday, Congressman Chuy Garcia, who represents a district in the Chicago area, also called for the US to launch its own probe into Ayyad's death.
'I join his family in urging a full US investigation into the incident and demand the accountability of those involved,' Garcia wrote in a social media post.