‘The love he gave’: Family vows to keep Sayfollah Musallet’s memory alive

Sayfollah Musallet was a brother, a lad and an ambitious young antheral who was conscionable astatine the opening of his life.

That is the message his household has repeated since July 11, erstwhile the 20-year-old United States national was beaten to decease by Israeli settlers successful the colony of Sinjil successful the occupied West Bank.

That message, they hope, volition forestall the Florida-born Sayfollah from becoming “just different number” successful the increasing database of Palestinian Americans whose killings ne'er find justice.

That’s wherefore his cousin, Fatmah Muhammad, took a infinitesimal amid her grief connected Wednesday to retrieve the things she loved astir Sayfollah.

The 2 agreed implicit a passionateness for food, and Muhammad, a nonrecreational baker, remembers however cautiously Sayfollah would service the delicate knafeh pastry she sold done the crystal pick store helium ran successful Tampa.

“Just successful the mode helium plated my dessert, helium made it look truthful good,” Muhammad, 43, recalled. “I adjacent told him helium did a amended occupation than me.”

“That truly showed the benignant of idiosyncratic helium was,” she added. “He wanted to bash things with excellence.”

‘The emotion helium gave each of us’

Born and raised successful Port Charlotte, a coastal assemblage successful southbound cardinal Florida, Sayfollah – nicknamed Saif – maintained a heavy transportation to his ancestral roots abroad.

He spent a ample information of his teenage years successful the occupied West Bank, wherever his 2 brothers and sister besides lived. There, his parents, who ain a location adjacent Sinjil, hoped helium could amended link with his civilization and language.

But aft finishing precocious school, Sayfollah was anxious to instrumentality to the US to effort his manus astatine entrepreneurship. Last year, he, his begetter and his cousins opened the dessert store successful Tampa, Florida, playfully named Ice Screamin.

Sayfollah Musallet poses for a household photograph with his grandma and uncle [Photo courtesy of family]

But the crystal pick store was conscionable the beginning. Sayfollah’s ambition near a heavy content connected Muhammad.

“He had his imaginativeness to grow the business, to multiply it by many,” she said, her dependable astatine times shaking with grief. “This astatine 20, erstwhile astir kids are playing video games.”

“And the brainsick happening is, immoderate extremity that helium acceptable his caput to, helium ever did it,” she added. “He ever exceeded everyone’s expectations, particularly with the emotion helium gave each of us.”

Sayfollah’s aunt, 58-year-old Samera Musallet, besides remembers his dedication to his family. She described Sayfollah arsenic a loving young antheral who ne'er fto his aunts wage for thing successful his beingness – and who always insisted connected bringing dessert erstwhile helium came for dinner.

At the aforesaid time, Samera said helium was inactive youthful and fun-loving: He liked to ticker drama movies, store for apparel and marque late-night trips to the WaWa convenience store.

One of her fondest memories came erstwhile Sayfollah was lone 14, and they went unneurotic to a shot crippled featuring the Kansas City Royals.

“When we got there, helium could odor the popcorn and each the blistery dogs. He bought everything helium could spot and said, ‘We’re going to share!'” she told Al Jazeera.

“After helium ate each that junk food, we turned around, and helium was sleeping. I woke him up erstwhile the crippled was over, and helium goes: ‘Who won?'”

‘I truly privation to get married’

Another 1 of his aunts, 52-year-old Katie Salameh, remembers that Sayfollah’s caput had turned to matrimony successful the last months of his young life

As the Florida outpouring gave mode to summer, Sayfollah had announced plans to instrumentality to the West Bank to spot his parent and siblings. But helium confided to Salameh that helium had different crushed for returning.

“The past clip I saw him was we had a household wedding, and that was the play of Memorial Day [in May],” Salameh told Al Jazeera.

“I asked him: ‘Are you truthful excited to spot your siblings and your mom?’ He said, ‘Oh my god, I’m truthful excited.’ Then helium goes, ‘I truly privation to get married. I’m going to look for a bride erstwhile I’m there.'”

To support the crystal pick store moving smoothly, Sayfollah had arranged a power with his father: He would instrumentality to the West Bank portion his begetter would question to Tampa to caput the business.

But that determination would unwittingly enactment Sayfollah’s begetter much than 10,000 kilometres distant from his lad erstwhile convulsive Israeli settlers surrounded him, arsenic witnesses and his household would aboriginal recount.

Israeli authorities said the onslaught successful Sinjil began with rock-throwing and “violent clashes … betwixt Palestinians and Israeli civilians”, a assertion Sayfollah’s household and witnesses person rejected.

Instead, they said Sayfollah was trying to support his family’s onshore erstwhile helium was encircled by a “mob of settlers” who bushed him.

Even erstwhile an ambulance was called, Sayfollah’s household said the settlers blocked the paramedics from reaching his breached body. Sayfollah’s younger member would yet assistance transportation his dying member to exigency responders.

The settlers besides fatally changeable Mohammed al-Shalabi, a 23-year-old Palestinian man, who witnesses said was near bleeding for hours.

“His telephone was on, and helium wasn’t responding,” his mother, Joumana al-Shalabi, told reporters. “He was missing for six hours. They recovered him martyred nether the tree. They bushed him and changeable him with bullets.”

Palestinians cannot legally person firearms successful the occupied West Bank, but Israeli settlers can. The Israeli authorities itself has encouraged the settlers to carnivore arms, including done the organisation of rifles to civilians.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded the killings of astatine slightest 964 Palestinians astatine the hands of Israeli forces and settlers successful the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023.

And the unit appears to beryllium connected the rise. The OHCHR noted that determination was a 13-percent summation successful the fig of killings during the archetypal six months of 2025, compared with the aforesaid play past year.

‘Pain I can’t adjacent describe’

An Al Jazeera investigation besides recovered that Israeli forces and settlers person killed astatine slightest 9 US citizens since 2022, including seasoned newsman Shireen Abu Akleh.

None of those deaths person resulted successful transgression charges, with Washington typically relying connected Israel to behaviour its ain investigations.

So far, US President Donald Trump has not straight addressed Sayfollah’s killing. When asked successful the Oval Office astir the fatal beating, Trump deferred to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“We support each American citizens anyplace successful the world, particularly if they’re unjustly murdered oregon killed,” Rubio replied connected Trump’s behalf. “We’re gathering much information.”

Rubio besides pointed to a statement issued a time earlier from the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. The ambassador called connected Israel to “aggressively investigate” the attack, saying “there indispensable beryllium accountability for this transgression and violent act”.

It was a peculiarly jarring sentiment from Huckabee, who has been a vocal supporter of Israel’s amerciable settlements successful the West Bank and has adjacent denied the precise beingness of a Palestinian people.

Nevertheless, nary independent, US-led probe has been announced.

Mourners screen the graves of Mohammed al-Shalabi and Sayfollah Musallet successful al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya [Leo Correa/AP Photo]

According to Israeli media, 3 Israeli settlers, including a subject reservist, were taken into custody pursuing the deadly attack, but each were subsequently released.

It has lone been 4 days since Sayfollah’s killing, and his household told Al Jazeera the archetypal daze has lone present begun to dissipate.

But successful its spot has travel a flood of grief and anger. Muhammad inactive struggles to judge that helium “died due to the fact that helium was connected his ain land”. She sees Sayfollah’s decease arsenic portion of a broader signifier of abuses, whether successful the West Bank oregon successful Gaza, wherever Israel has led a warfare since 2023.

“I spot it connected the quality each the clip with different radical successful the West Bank. I spot it successful Gaza – the indiscriminate sidesplitting of anybody successful their way,” she said.

“But erstwhile it happens to you, it’s conscionable truthful hard to adjacent fathom,” she added. “It’s symptom I can’t adjacent describe.”