logo
Relatives mourn Palestinian American beaten to death by Israeli settlers: ‘He made everyone feel loved'

Relatives mourn Palestinian American beaten to death by Israeli settlers: ‘He made everyone feel loved'

The Guardian16-07-2025
When Fatmah Muhammad thinks about her younger cousin Sayfollah Musallet, affectionately known as Saif, she pictures him behind the counter of his ice-cream shop in Tampa Bay, Florida, carefully decorating her knafeh with the same effort he brought to everything else.
She makes the dessert from scratch, and would sometimes ship it from California, where the 43-year-old baker lives, so the family legacy could grow nationwide. Saif would sell the Palestinian dessert in his his little Amish-style ice-cream shop that carried international treats from the world over.
The inventive 20-year-old would record videos for her, making sure each portion of knafeh was flawless, each layer was positioned exactly right. 'Make sure you get it perfect,' she would tease him from 2,000 miles away. He would go above and beyond, she says.
Now, less than a year after opening that shop with dreams of expansion, Saif is dead – beaten to death by Israeli settlers on his family's farm in the occupied West Bank while he was visiting relatives. His death has left a family shattered and a community demanding answers.
Zayed Kadur, a close family friend whom Saif called 'uncle', wrestled with all the ways that made his nephew by love special. 'He was just a very rare soul,' he says. 'He made everyone feel important. He made everyone feel loved.'
Saif's eldest uncle, Hesam Musallet, said the impact his nephew had on the people closest to him was palpable. 'He would walk into a room and the room would light up,' he says. 'If people were sitting down, he would shake hands with everybody when he walked in, acknowledge them. Old, young – to him, it was all the same.'
Customers at the ice-cream shop told Fatmah how if someone came in short on cash, Saif would quietly cover their tab without making them feel embarrassed.
'He really made everyone feel like family,' Fatmah remembers. 'No matter the race, no matter the background, no matter the age. That's just who he was.'
Born in Port Charlotte, Florida, Saif was the oldest of four children. His parents had moved the family to Palestine for his elementary and high school years before he returned to the US to live and work. A few years later, the ice-cream shop came to fruition, almost by accident.
Saif and his cousins noticed that an ice-cream store near their uncle's coffee shop by the University of South Florida was struggling. When the owner mentioned he might move on from it, Saif called his family immediately.
'That business, when he got it, was a failing business,' Hesam says. 'But he went in there, he turned it around. He had a passion for it … People would just come back for his customer service. He was phenomenal.'
For Saif, this summer trip back home to the West Bank village of Baten al-Hawa near Jerusalem was routine – a chance to reconnect with extended family before returning to his shop and the life he was building in Florida ahead of his 21st birthday. His father had swapped places with him, taking his shifts at the ice-cream shop so Saif could hang out with the family.
The family Saif was visiting represents generations of connections between Palestine and America. His uncle Hesam, who was born in the United States, explained how his father – Saif's grandfather – had come to the US in the early 1960s. His grandfather first arrived in New York in the early 1900s, spending a few years stateside before returning to the West Bank.
'There's so many people in our town that are American citizens,' Hesam says of their village. 'Most of their children and grandchildren all born here. So they go back and forth, summer vacations there. Everybody goes for summer vacations, weddings. It's just typical.'
But on the day he was killed, Saif was at his family's farm in Baten al-Hawa, in Area B of the West Bank – officially under Palestinian administrative control but also under Israeli security control. According to witnesses, settlers had come to the land, chopping down olive trees and burning crops.
'It was a Friday. People will go out and sit around with friends,' Hesam says. 'And that's our land. If there's nobody there, the Israeli settlers, they would just like to come and just put up a tent so they can say it's basically stealing that part of that land.'
The confrontation escalated, and Saif was beaten with clubs and bats. His friend Mohammed Nael Hijaz was the first to reach him. 'He was not moving when I got there and he could barely breathe,' Hijaz said. 'There was time to save him.'
But ambulances were blocked by Israeli forces for three hours, his family said in a statement. During that time, Saif remained conscious, gasping and vomiting, held in the arms of his younger brother. Another young man, 23-year-old Razek Hussein al-Shalabi, was shot and left to bleed to death in the same attack. When ambulances finally reached them, they too were attacked by settlers. Saif was pronounced dead before reaching the hospital.
The Israeli military claimed the altercation developed after stones were thrown at Israelis and said it was looking into the incident.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since the Hamas attack on Israel of 7 October 2023, and at least 9,000 have been injured. Israeli settlers seeking to empty the West Bank of Palestinians have grown increasingly emboldened since then, displacing dozens of communities through violent intimidation campaigns.
The family's devastation is compounded by what they see as indifference from the US government. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, posted on social media on Tuesday that Israel must 'aggressively investigate the murder' and that 'there must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act'. But the family is well aware that the prospect of arresting violent settlers is rare. In his first days in office, the Trump administration rescinded Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settler groups accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Still, the family is calling on the state department to conduct its own investigation into Saif's killing.
Saif's death isn't the family's only nightmare: Saif's 15-year-old cousin, an American citizen named Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, has been in Israel's Megiddo prison for four and a half months. His family says he has been accused of throwing rocks, which they deny. He is believed to have lost nearly 30 pounds and developed a severe skin infection while imprisoned, with no family visits or phone calls allowed. 'We have a saying in Arabic,' Kadur says. 'Two hits on your head will hurt. And our family cannot take another blow.'
The office of the family's Florida congressman, Republican Mike Haridopolos, confirmed to the Guardian that it has been contacted about Ibrahim.
'We have shared the information we received from his family with the state department and have been informed that the US embassy in Israel is following standard procedures,' his office said. The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to a query about the charges against Ibrahim, directing questions to the Israel prison service instead. The Guardian has contacted that agency for comment about Ibrahim's current condition.
For those who knew Saif, the tragedy lies not just in how he died, but in everything he'll never get to do. Nearing his 21st birthday, Saif told his father that he was ready to find a wife and settle down.
'He was not just a number,' Fatmah says. 'He was a friend to everyone, a cousin, a son, a grandson. I just don't want him to be forgotten.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Report: Blackstone executive identified as victim in NYC shooting
Report: Blackstone executive identified as victim in NYC shooting

Daily Mail​

time3 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Report: Blackstone executive identified as victim in NYC shooting

The shooting took place at a skyscraper that is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world's largest investment firms, as well as other tenants. After spraying bullets in the lobby, the gunman took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where real-estate management firm Rudin Management is based, and killed another person before turning the gun on himself. The Rudin family - a New York real estate dynasty - owns the building. 'We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence,' said Mayor Eric Adams . The gunman had a 'documented mental health history,' according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, but his motive was still unknown. The rampage happened at the end of the workday in the same part of Manhattan where the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down outside a hotel late last year. Tamura's motive for the massacre remains unclear as of Tuesday morning. Blackstone employees shared messages during the rampage saying there was a shooter in the lobby and warning not to go downstairs, an employee told the WSJ. Some started barricading themselves in their offices and bathrooms. One of those injured is an NFL employee, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to staff. The employee was reportedly seriously injured but is in stable condition at the hospital. Surveillance video showed the man exiting a double-parked BMW just before 6.30pm carrying an M4 rifle, then marching across a public plaza into the building. Then, he started firing. Slain NYPD officer Islam (pictured), 36, was an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a police officer in New York City for 3 1/2 years, Tisch said at a news conference. He was one of two NYPD officers working paid detail at the building. 'He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm's way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,' Tisch said. 'He died as he lived. A hero.' Tisch said an initial investigation shows the gunman's vehicle traveled across the country, passing through Colorado on July 26, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27. The car was in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as 4.24pm Monday. He drove into New York City shortly thereafter, she said.

CNN anchor Erin Burnett blasted for describing NYC shooter as 'possibly white'
CNN anchor Erin Burnett blasted for describing NYC shooter as 'possibly white'

Daily Mail​

time3 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

CNN anchor Erin Burnett blasted for describing NYC shooter as 'possibly white'

CNN anchor Erin Burnett is facing scrutiny after describing the gunman who killed four people in Midtown Manhattan overnight as 'possibly white' despite surveillance footage showing he was not. Burnett angered some on social media on Monday night after describing gunman Shane Tamura, 27, from footage shared by authorities showing him holding an AR-15. Tamura was seen walking into the 345 Park Avenue skyscraper with 'sunglasses, mustache, male, possibly white' Burnett and her co-anchor said. Images of Tamura strolling into the scene with the gun by his waist circulated widely across social media, with many remarking that he had a darker complexion that Burnett's description. Although some said that the shooter's race was 'irrelevant', others said Burnett was premature in her assessment live on the air. It comes as authorities said that Tamura, from Nevada, killed four people in a horror spree on Monday before turning the gun on himself. Investigators said that it is possible he was targeting the National Football League, which is located at 345 Park Avenue. He was found with a letter on his body indicating he had grievances with the NFL and its handling of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after the rampage. In the note he railed against the NFL and pleaded for his brain to be studied. 'Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,' Tamura wrote, according to CNN. 'You can't go against the NFL, they'll squash you.' The shooter was referring to former Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Long, who committed suicide by drinking antifreeze in 2006 after suffering from CTE. 'Study my brain please I'm sorry Tell Rick I'm sorry for everything,' the note read. Tamura killed three people in the lobby of the skyscraper - NYPD officer Didarul Islam, a 36 year-old father of two, as well as a second unnamed security guard who tried to take cover behind a security desk, as well as an undentified woman who tried to hide behind a lobby pillar. A third man was shot and critically-injured in the lobby. Tamura then called an elevator and rode to building management firm Rudin's 33rd floor offices where he shot his fourth victim - whose identity has not been released. Tamura subsequently ended the massacre by taking his own life.

Ghislaine Maxwell's life could be in danger in prison, reporter warns
Ghislaine Maxwell's life could be in danger in prison, reporter warns

Daily Mail​

time3 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Ghislaine Maxwell's life could be in danger in prison, reporter warns

Ghislaine Maxwell's life may be in jeopardy behind bars after she allegedly shared new information about Jeffrey Epstein with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to one of the top reporters covering the scandal. Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald journalist whose 2018 reporting helped bring Epstein and Maxwell back into the spotlight, said the 63-year-old British socialite is not safe inside the Federal Correctional Institute in Tallahassee, Florida. In a podcast, she said: 'It is so easy to cover up a crime in jail. The cameras are broken, guards fall asleep - they are, for the most part, very corrupt.' Brown added that Maxwell's recent decision to cooperate with federal investigators had put a target on her back and claimed that she 'wouldn't necessarily be safe anywhere.' Concerns over her safety have loomed long before she agreed to speak with the DOJ, which now includes former Trump lawyer Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General. Her lawyer, David Markus, previously described the intense surveillance his client faced in custody following her 2020 arrest. The scrutiny was widely believed to be an attempt to avoid a repeat of Epstein's death in August 2019, when he was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Manhattan. Speaking on the Daily Beast podcast, Brown told host Joanna Coles: 'Look at Epstein. He was probably one of the most high-profile prisoners that we've ever had, and he still was managed to be found dead. Anything's possible.' A November 2023 report by the Justice Department's Inspector General raised fresh concerns about conditions inside the Tallahassee prison, where Maxwell is serving her 20-year sentence. The review found 'weaknesses with inmate search procedures and limited security camera coverage.' Two inmates died at the facility last year - one at the federal prison, and another at the adjacent detention centre, with no cause of death released. Maxwell has also reportedly been threatened behind bars. A Daily Mail report says that two inmates discovered she had received extra food from a kitchen worker to help her maintain a vegan diet. They allegedly threatened her unless she gave them her entire $360 monthly commissary allowance. Maxwell allegedly reported the pair, and they were placed in solitary confinement for nearly 50 days. Upon their release, Maxwell is said to have become so paranoid about retaliation that she stopped using the showers. Brown also said in the podcast that Maxwell could also face pressure to clear Donald Trump's name if she wants to secure a reduced sentence or early release. She said: 'My guess is they're going to try to find something, because this story isn't going away for Trump. So my guess is they're going to try to figure out some way to have her make a public statement of some sort that Trump wasn't involved.' Maxwell is currently appealing her 2021 conviction for grooming minors for Epstein's abuse. In a petition filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, her legal team argued that she should have been shielded from prosecution under Epstein's controversial 2007 plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Florida.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store