The Death of Saif Mussallet and the Pain of Belonging Nowhere

Saif Mussallet was supposed to be home in Tampa this week. He had plans for his new ice cream shop on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, “Ice SSSScreamin”  a bright, silly name for a sweet dream. He had hoped to expand it into a chain, maybe become a young entrepreneur success story. He liked comedy, loved his grandmother and was building a future he was proud of.

Instead, his family is grieving the brutal reality that Saif, a 25-year-old Palestinian American, was murdered in the West Bank and left to die in his younger brother’s arms.

On July 13, Saif was killed by a mob of Israeli settlers while visiting his ancestral land in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah. According to his family, he had gone there to visit relatives and possibly meet his future wife. But while trying to protect his family’s land, he found himself surrounded by settlers who violently assaulted him. For over three hours, they blocked paramedics and ambulances from reaching him. Israeli soldiers were present and allowed it to happen.

When the settlers finally cleared, Saif’s younger brother ran to carry him to the ambulance. He was still alive but he didn’t make it. He died on the way to the hospital.

At a press conference in Tampa, Saif’s uncle, Hesam Mussallet, broke down as he described the trauma of that moment. “His brother saw him take his last breath. He could not.. he was just gagging because of the pain, because of the beating. I mean, I don’t know what to say…he was just like a regular kid.”

That sentence hit me the hardest.

He was just a regular kid.

He was a man with dreams. A man with ambition. A son of Tampa. An American.

And yet his life and his death have been treated as disposable.

His family described him as “kind, hard-working and deeply respected,” a young man who embodied the American dream while staying deeply connected to his Palestinian roots. Florida’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is now demanding justice and accountability for what happened to him.

“So to show any kind of respect, you respond to that request…you immediately launch an investigation, and you find out who the perpetrators were, you arrest them and try them under U.S. law for the murder of an American citizen,” said Hiba Rahim, CAIR’s Florida director, speaking on behalf of the family.

But will that justice ever come?

It didn’t for Shireen Abu Akleh, a U.S. citizen and Al Jazeera journalist killed by Israeli forces in 2022. It didn’t for activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, killed last year in the West Bank. There have been promises of investigations but no accountability. No arrests. No charges.

CAIR-Florida’s Executive Director Imam Abdullah Jaber put it bluntly: “Every other murder of an American citizen has gone unpunished by the American government, which is why the Israeli government keeps wantonly killing American Palestinians and, of course, other Palestinians.”

He added, “If President Trump will not even put America first when Israel murders American citizens, then this is truly an Israel First administration.”

Saif Mussallet’s death is part of a deadly and growing trend. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned of escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. And yet, here in the United States, the country that issued Saif his passport and his killing has barely made a ripple outside of Arab and Muslim communities.

The Pain of Never Fully Belonging

As a Lebanese American, this moment cuts deeper than words can explain. Because I’ve done everything right. I’ve pledged allegiance to this flag. I’ve paid my taxes, worked hard, smiled at strangers, made friends of every color and creed. I’ve made a life here. America is my home.

But I feel like she has never really accepted me.

What does it mean to be born and raised in a country that looks the other way when people like you are killed, even when your passport says you belong?

What does it mean to wave an American flag, only to watch your pain ignored by the leaders who are supposed to protect all citizens?

It’s lonely. It’s isolating. It’s terrifying.

We’ve embraced America, its people, its ideals, its promises. But with every unpunished killing, with every shrug from Washington, we’re reminded that our lives seem to matter less. That our grief doesn’t register. That we are tolerated but not truly accepted.

It hurts. It hurts more than I can explain.

And I worry not just for me but for the future. I worry about the direction we’re going as a country. About what kind of nation we’re choosing to become. A place where belonging is conditional. Where citizenship is second-class if your name sounds foreign or your faith is Muslim.

Saif Deserved Better

Saif Mussallet deserved a long life filled with laughter, family dinners, business expansions, first anniversaries, future kids and walks with his grandmother in Tampa. He deserved to return home with stories about his trip, not in a casket.

His brother deserved to grow old without the trauma of cradling Saif’s final breath.

His family deserves justice.

And we, as Americans, deserve a government that protects all of us, regardless of race, religion, or heritage.

Saif was one of us. And we should be saying his name.

We should be demanding answers.

We should be asking: If this can happen to him, what does it say about who we really are?

Because belonging shouldn’t feel like begging.

Say His Name. Share His Story. Demand His Dignity.

Saif Mussallet was not a statistic. He was not collateral damage. He was a human being. A son, a brother, a business owner, a dreamer. He was a Palestinian American who believed he could live in both worlds. Who held the promise of two homelands in his heart.

But America let him die.

Our government stayed silent as he bled. As settlers beat him. As soldiers stood by. As his little brother cradled his final breath.

And now, that silence is ours to break.

If American citizenship means anything, it must mean that our lives , all our lives, are worth defending. If freedom means anything, it must extend to those born with Arabic names and Muslim prayers on their tongues.

Saif’s death is a tragedy. But our inaction would make it a betrayal.

So say his name. Share his story. And demand that this country, our country, honors his life with the justice he was denied.

We owe him that. We owe ourselves that.

Because no one should have to die to prove they belong.

How You Can Help

Email your elected officials
→ https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
Tell your representatives:

“An American citizen, Saif Mussallet, was murdered by Israeli settlers. He was denied medical aid. His killers walk free. Demand a U.S. investigation and accountability for those responsible.”