West Bank buries last two Palestinians killed by Jewish settlers

There are two peculiarities in Saif Musallet's death that separate him from the fate of the other five Palestinians who have lost their lives in recent days during attacks by Jewish settlers in the northern West Bank . First, his life was not killed without bullets, as he was beaten. Second, the 23-year-old was not only Palestinian but also American. His life isn't worth more for these peculiarities, but it does make him more noticeable in the current context of the conflict. One of the first measures taken by President Donald Trump upon returning to the White House and closing ranks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to lift the sanctions against violent settlers imposed by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Sayfollah Musallet, known as Saif and born in Tampa, Florida, died last Friday afternoon during one of the common attacks carried out by Israeli extremists on Palestinian communities . That same day, 20-year-old Mohamed Shalabi was also killed by two gunshot wounds. The cause of death was reported by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Ministry of Health, as well as family members and witnesses interviewed by this newspaper during Sunday's funeral.

The mass funeral in the town of Al Mazraa Al Sharqiya could not take place on Saturday to allow time for Said's father, Kamel Musallet, to arrive in Palestine.

Palestinian flags line the street, marking the way to the place of mourning. Early Sunday morning, before the bodies arrive from the morgue, the man ruminates his rage surrounded by family and friends in front of an imam praising the deceased. The group, all men, sits on plastic chairs, shielded from the sun. Kamel shakes the reporter's hand, but prefers not to speak. Some of those present assure us that no gunshot wounds were seen on the body. In the garden of the house across the street, several dozen women mourn the sudden loss under awnings set up for the occasion. A banner bearing the emblem of Fatah, the main force in the PA, hangs from the facade, along with a photo of the "heroic martyr" Saif, "who has watered the land of Palestine with his blood."

Among the women is Diana, the deceased's cousin, who explains that Musallet owned an ice cream shop in Tampa and had arrived in the West Bank for summer vacation on June 4. She explains that they belong to a large family divided between Palestine and the United States, that they maintain roots in both places, that they are people who come and go, back and forth.

This same family pattern is common in Al Mazraa Al Sharqiya and other surrounding villages, where a significant portion of the population holds foreign passports. Last April, the Israeli army shot and killed Amir Rabee, also a Palestinian-American , in Turmusaya, a few kilometers away.

As if in an awkward position, the US State Department's reaction to Musallet's murder has been lukewarm. It said in a statement that it is "aware of reports of the death of an American citizen in the West Bank" and has no further comment "out of respect for the family's privacy." It is referring to the same family that has asked the Trump administration to investigate what happened. The experience, based on recent deaths of Americans in Palestine, is that time passes without justice identifying or punishing those responsible.

At the other end of Al Mazraa Al Sharqiya from where the Musallets live, another similar banner hangs across a street, but with Mohamed Shalabi's face on it. Women on one side and men on the other. His cousin, also Mohamed Shalabi, 33, describes what he experienced on Friday. Dozens of people from surrounding villages came to prevent the settlers from advancing onto Sinjil's land. The clashes escalated into serious riots, during which Shalabi was reported missing. The PA confirmed around 7:00 p.m. that he had not been arrested as previously thought, and about a thousand people entered the surrounding countryside.

“We found him around 9:00 p.m. under an olive tree with two bullet wounds and signs of torture,” the cousin added, explaining that his pants and legs had been burned and that he had marks of beatings all over his body. Another friend who saw the body, 23-year-old Laith Maysar, offered a similar account. His cousin said two bullets entered his back and exited through his chest. Videos of the crowd carrying Shalabi's body across fields on Friday night immediately went viral.

For minutes, a crowd gathers before the arrival of Shalabi's body at the family home. Before the ambulance can reach the door, a crowd surrounds the vehicle and drags out the stretcher containing the body, advancing amid cries of outrage and praise of Allah. For a while, the women and some of the closest relatives are allowed to hold their wake, while at the door, several hundred young men and women shout their heads off while clapping their hands incessantly. In the distance, a military base of the Israeli occupation troops juts out from the promontory known as Tal Assur, at an altitude of about 1,000 meters.

Among those who came to bid farewell to Shalabi was Issa Hamideh, 34, a Palestinian born and resident in Miami with his wife and four children. Like many of those present, he also holds dual nationality. On the streets of Al Mazraa Al Sharqiya, which officially has about 4,600 residents, although the migration situation reduces that number, it is common to hear Arabic spoken as well as English. In some cases, the two are mixed together. It's common for six- or seven-year-old children, who also participate in the funeral, to greet the foreigner with a "hello," a "How are you?", or a "What is your name?"

The Israeli army's version of Friday's events, as usual, bears little resemblance to that offered by the Palestinians. It begins by stating that "terrorists threw stones at Israeli civilians in the vicinity of Sinjil," a town north of Ramallah, the administrative capital of the West Bank, and "as a result, two Israeli civilians were slightly injured." The statement adds that one Palestinian was killed—only one—and that security forces are investigating what happened.

Attacks by Jewish settlers have skyrocketed during the current Gaza war . They often move in their attacks accompanied and protected by soldiers. But those who ultimately lose their lives are Palestinians. Four residents of Kfar Malek, a few kilometers from Al Mazraa Al Sharqiya, were shot dead by soldiers in late June during another offensive by settlers who came to burn homes and cars. The army referred to the residents who tried to confront them as "terrorists," as it did now with the deaths of Musallet and Shalabi.

After midday on Sunday, the funeral processions of the two deceased merge into one amidst struggles between neighbors and acquaintances to carry them on their shoulders. They head to the school, where the prayer takes several minutes to complete amid the tumult. The imam who had been watching over Kamel Musallet that morning is one of those leading the ceremony. Saif's father leans over the stretcher on which his son lies on the ground, while others caress his face in farewell. Soon, the two bodies, covered with the Palestinian flag, fall into the hands of the congregation, who carry them briskly amid shouts to the cemetery in another procession surrounded by grief.