By Jack Tomczuk<\/p>\n
Relatives of a 19-year-old man from Philadelphia who was allegedly killed last month by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank called for American authorities to conduct an independent investigation.<\/p>\n
Nasrallah Abu Siyam loved riding horses and helping his father take care of sheep, goats and olive trees on the family\u2019s farm, in the Palestinian village of Mukhmas, which is northeast of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Abu Siyam was fatally shot Feb. 18 after confronting settlers who were attempting to steal livestock, according to national media reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey come to these villages, they steal their goats, they destroy their olive trees,\u201d Nasrallah\u2019s great uncle, Abdulhamid Sayim, said at a news conference Thursday afternoon in Center City. \u201cThey instill fear among the Palestinians. Why? Because it’s a plan. They want to do ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayim and other family members told Metro<\/a> that Nasrallah was born in Philadelphia; however, he relocated to the West Bank at a young age. Many Palestinian-Americans return to the territory for schooling and to be immersed in the language and culture before coming back to the United States for college or job opportunities, relatives explained.<\/p>\n Abu Siyam\u2019s U.S.-based family members are split between Philadelphia and New Jersey. Several, including his brother and uncle, traveled to the West Bank for the funeral. Some have had difficulty returning due to closed airspace in the Middle East, according to the relatives.<\/p>\n Sayel Kayed, a cousin of Abu Siyam, said the teenager was a \u201cserver” and “selfless.” A week before his death, Abu Siyam ventured to the Jenin refugee camp to hand out food, he told Metro.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has to stop. We have to boycott, divest and sanction the State of Israel,\u201d Kayed said. \u201cThis is not a Jewish-Muslim, Jewish-Arab problem. This is a colonial settler project, and it must end.\u201d<\/p>\n Relatives, along with the Council on American\u2013Islamic Relations’ Philadelphia chapter<\/a>, are urging the Trump administration to launch a full, transparent probe into Abu Siyam\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n Their call was echoed Thursday in a letter<\/a> signed by more than 30 U.S. senators and addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, according to the Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n The lawmakers requested an investigation into Abu Siyam\u2019s death and an update on the eight other American citizens allegedly killed by Israeli settlers since 2022. Pennsylvania\u2019s U.S. senators, John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, did not add their names to the letter.<\/p>\n Jonathan Kuttab, a human rights attorney who spoke at the news conference, told reporters he is working on civil litigation targeting U.S.-based nonprofits that fund Israeli settlements, which the United Nations considers illegal under international law.<\/p>\n The legal action has the potential to \u201cbring a small measure of justice to the Palestinian-Americans whose property and lives and homes and lands are being illegally taken by a bunch of criminals,\u201d Kuttab said.<\/p>\n