Tampa, FL — On July 14, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a press conference in their Tampa office for Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet, a Florida-born Palestinian man that was killed by Israeli settlers on July 11 while on a trip to visit family in the West Bank.

Musallet was only 20 years old when he was beaten by settlers looking to steal his family’s land in the town of Sinjil, while the Israeli occupation forces stopped ambulances and help from coming through.

During the press conference, led by CAIR spokesman Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, the speakers addressed the history of Israel as a history of violations of international law, highlighted by the ongoing genocide in Gaza. A year back, the Department of State had been asked to investigate reports of Palestinian American citizens having their houses burned down by settlers but did not reach any conclusions and allowed Israel to investigate itself.

The family of Musallet along with CAIR is demanding that the Department of State do a full investigation into the situation and properly punish Israel and its settlers for murdering an American citizen.

Present in the press conference was Hesam Musallet, Saif’s uncle, who remembered his nephew, “He was very loving, caring, and – I mean just like any other 20 year old.” He continued, “And then to be taken away the way he was murdered, by illegal Israeli settlers, and then the IDF just stands there and watches, giving them the way to go in there and do what they want.”

Hiba Rahim, CAIR Florida Deputy Executive Director, “This is not an isolated tragedy. There is a devastating pattern of Americans being killed in Israel, brutalized and murdered with impunity by Israeli forces and settlers. Omar Rabea, Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Assad, Rachel Corrie and now Sayfollah Musallet. None of their killers were held accountable.”

The press conference was followed by a formal letter delivered by CAIR to Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Tampa native herself, and Florida-born Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In it, they demanded that the U.S. government lead its own independent investigation and to hold accountable the Israeli settlers who murdered Sayfollah. They rejected the idea of Israel leading the investigation, as they have a history of protecting settlers and obscuring evidence.

Musallet was a local business owner, running an ice cream shop in Tampa called Ice SSSScreamin, with plans for the future to expand it. He also had plans to form a family and hoped to find a significant other while visiting Palestine. On July 13, his funeral gathered thousands of mourners in the Palestinian town of Al-Mazra'a Ash-Sharqiya.

In Tampa, a rally and march to honor Saif and Muhammad Shalabi, another Palestinian murdered by Israeli forces that day, was held on July 18 by the Dream Defenders and American Muslims for Palestine Florida chapter. The day after, CAIR Florida held a vigil for Sayfollah at the Islamic Community of Tampa, with attendants of multiple faiths coming together along with Saif’s own family to remember him.

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