The New Jersey Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is demanding a federal investigation into the killing of American citizen, Nasrallah Abu Siyam in the occupied West Bank on February 18th, 2026.
Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a Palestinian American from Philadelphia with strong familial ties to New Jersey, was fatally shot on February 18th in the occupied West Bank, the first day of Ramadan. According to reports, Abu Siyam was confronting Israeli settlers who were attempting to steal sheep and goats from his family’s village of Mukhmas. The settlers began firing at Abu Siyam and others in the group, where five were injured. Over 300 of the village’s sheep and goats were stolen.
SEE: How this North Jersey community is mourning teen killed in West Bank
SEE:Israeli settlers kill 19-year-old Palestinian-American, officials and witnesses say
In a statement, CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said:
“Our elected leaders must speak out and demand accountability for the killing of Abu Siyam. He is now the second teenager from the tri-state area killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank in less than a year. Silence in the face of such violence is unacceptable.
We call for an immediate criminal investigation and justice for Abu Siyam and his family.
We are urging New Jersey’s congressional delegation to use every diplomatic and legislative tool available to demand accountability for the killing of Abu Siyam.”
Background:
Abu Siyam is now the second teen in the last year killed amid surging violence in the West Bank, following the recent death of 14-year-old Amer Rabea of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. These deaths occur as Israeli settlement expansion reaches unprecedented levels that often result in displacement of Palestinian families.
CAIR National office sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi calling on the Trump administration to launch an independent U.S. investigation into the killing of a 19-year-old American citizen from Philadelphia by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and hold those responsible accountable.
LETTER: https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/letterrenasrallahabusiyammurder.pdf
Other Americans killed by Israel include:
- Sayfollah Musallet, an American beaten to death by Israeli settlers in Sinjil in 2025;
- Khamis al-Ayyad, American killed by smoke inhalation after a settler attack that set homes and vehicles ablaze in 2025;
- Omar Mohammad Rabea, a 14-year-old American shot by an Israeli soldier who died after being denied timely medical treatment in 2025;
- Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, an American activist shot by an Israeli sniper during a peaceful West Bank protest in 2024;
- Tawfiq Ajaq, a 17-year-old American fatally shot by an off-duty Israeli police officer in 2024;
- Mohammad Khdour, a 17-year-old American shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in 2024;
- Jacob Flickinger, an American aid worker with World Central Kitchen killed in a 2024 airstrike in Gaza.
- Shireen Abu Akleh, an American journalist shot by an Israeli sniper in 2022 while clearly identified as press;
- Omar Assad, an 80-year-old American who died after being bound and abandoned by Israeli soldiers in 2022;
- Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American human rights defender killed by an Israeli military bulldozer in 2003;
In its letter to the State Department and Justice Department, CAIR said in part:
“The United States must use its full authority and its close relationship with Israel to conduct an independent U.S. investigation into this killing, particularly given the Israeli government’s well-documented pattern of distorting facts, fabricating narratives, and ultimately exonerating itself, its soldiers, and illegal settlers, even in cases involving the killing of American Palestinian Muslim and Christian citizens.
In a similar case last September, CAIR and CAIR-Chicago called on your offices to investigate and hold accountable the illegal Israeli settlers responsible for murdering U.S. citizen Khamis Ayyad, a Cicero, Illinois resident and father of five.
This killing was not only a brutal murder but, in the legal sense, an act of terrorism carried out by illegal settlers who have for years terrorized Palestinian communities, including American citizens, with impunity. These violent, politically motivated attacks, often enabled by the Israeli government and military, are part of a broader effort to forcibly seize Palestinian land. The United States has both the legal authority and treaty mechanisms to investigate this crime.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut, smaksut@cair.com, 862-264-9414