US 'turns a blind eye', says American-Palestinian after son killed by Israel

by Louis Baudoin-Laarman

American-Palestinian Muhammad Rabee feels abandoned by the United States, he told AFP on Monday, a day after Israeli forces killed his 14-year-old son during a family visit in the occupied West Bank.

Rabee's family live in New Jersey, and like the vast majority of Palestinians from the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya are dual citizens, but the father said Washington "turns a blind eye" to soaring Israeli attacks and abuses against them.

The sorrow on his face showing even from behind his large sunglasses, Rabee carried the body of his son Amer, shrouded in a Palestinian flag, through the streets of Turmus Ayya as dozens of residents came out to pay their final respects.

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An AFP correspondent said some were waving flags and chanting slogans as the funeral procession made its war from the local morgue to a mosque, and finally on to the cemetery.

After the shooting that killed his son and wounded two other teenagers in Turmus Ayya, near a main road through the West Bank, Rabee said he has a message to US President Donald Trump.

Trump must "stop this situation, stop sending weapons" to Israel that are then used "to kill his people", Rabee said, meaning American citizens like him.

The mayor of Turmus Ayya, Lafi Shalabi, told AFP that the three boys were hit with live fire as they were picking green almonds.

One of the two wounded, who are both 14, is also a US citizen, he said.

But Israel's military said they were "terrorists" who hurled rocks on cars travelling on the road.

The military released a black-and-white video showing three individuals, one of whom appears to throw an indiscernible item.

Rabee said that the "video is not accurate" and does not prove that his son had thrown rocks.

"There were six bullets in his body, two in his heart, two in his shoulder, and two in his face," said the father.

- 'Forgotten citizens' -

Rabee said that in past cases of attacks around Turmus Ayya, the US embassy has usually accepted the Israeli version of events, despite evidence showing violence from Israeli settlers under army protection, "assaults, killings, arson, and theft of Palestinian land".

"All of these things -- the US embassy turns a blind eye to them", he said.

Some residents share his view.

Majdi Arif, a retired teacher who lived in New Jersey for two decades, said their concerns often go unanswered.

"Usually, the US embassy does nothing," or reports cases to the Israeli government, "which is useless to us", he told AFP.

Turmus Ayya is located near the Israeli settlement of Shilo, whose residents according to Shalabi have been involved in attacks on Turmus Ayya.

The Palestinian health ministry as well as mayor Shalabi said an Israeli settler was present with the soldiers at the time of the shooting.

Yaser Alkam, head of Turmus Ayya's foreign relations department, said that "Palestinian-Americans in Turmus Ayya are simply disappointed... we are the forgotten citizens" of the United States.

"We've reached out to the US embassy many, many times", he said, to no avail.

Contacted by AFP, the US embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

- Palestinians 'targeted' -

"Turmus Ayya is made up of 80 percent Americans," said Alkam.

"When an Israeli soldier shoots at... young children, there is an 80 percent chance he's hitting an American."

Alkam, who lived for 25 years in California, denounced daily Israeli army incursions into the town "for no reason" that often escalate rapidly and prove fatal for Palestinians, including children regularly shot for hurling rocks.

He warned that with Trump's "unconditional support" for the Israeli government, there will be even "more violence with impunity" against Palestinians.

Violence has surged since the October 2023 start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, a separate Palestinian territory.

At least 918 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank since then, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.

"Whether it's the Israeli army, settlers, or police -- the entire Palestinian people are being targeted", said Shalabi.