Assad Assad says he and his family feel betrayed.
But more than that, the Palestinian-American said his initial reaction to the U.S. government’s decision to continue funding an Israeli army unit that tied up his elderly uncle and left him for dead could be summed up in one word: “devastation.”
“We see this as hypocrisy – a US government allowing a foreign entity to have this opportunity to kill,” Assad, 36, told Tel Aviv Tribune in a telephone interview from his home in Wisconsin.
“They murdered my uncle in cold blood. My uncle was not armed, he was not…” he continued, his voice trailing off. “He was coming home after a night out with his friends, his cousins, where he was playing cards.”
Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, died in January 2022 after being stopped by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in his home village of Jiljilya, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
According to witnesses and his family, he was forced out of his car, gagged, blindfolded and dragged along the ground. He became unconscious and the soldiers abandoned him in the cold on a construction site without any assistance or medical care.
An autopsy later revealed that he died of a heart attack “due to the external violence to which he had been exposed.”
His death has drawn widespread condemnation, with the Assad family and Palestinian rights advocates in the United States calling on President Joe Biden’s administration to conduct an independent investigation and ensure Israel is held accountable.
Those calls intensified after the Israeli military said in 2023 that soldiers involved in the incident had been disciplined but none would face criminal prosecution.
In April this year, the US State Department said it was exploring sanctions against the Israeli military battalion that detained Omar Assad – the Netzah Yehuda Battalion – which is notorious for abuses in the West Bank.
But last week, the department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had determined that the problems with Netzah Yehuda had been “resolved” — and that the unit could continue to receive funding from the U.S. government.
“My cousins and my uncle’s wife don’t want to talk to the media. They’re just distraught and don’t want to be in the middle of this because it’s unbelievable,” said Assad, Omar’s nephew. “It’s unfair. It’s hypocrisy.”
Model of impunity
The Biden administration’s decision to continue funding Netzah Yehuda comes amid a surge in Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, in the shadow of the country’s war in neighboring Gaza.
Nearly 600 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank between the start of the Gaza war on October 7 and August 12, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
But Palestinians in the occupied territories have faced violence from the Israeli state for decades.
They also face what human rights groups describe as a system of “endemic impunity” for soldiers and settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians.
Omar Assad was not the first — or the only — American citizen killed by Israeli soldiers who later escaped criminal charges.
Just months after the 78-year-old’s murder, in May 2022, the Israeli army shot dead prominent Tel Aviv Tribune journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
In another recent case, in January of this year, Tawfiq Ajaq, 17, born and raised in the United States, was killed in the West Bank village of al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya when an off-duty Israeli police officer and an Israeli settler opened fire.
Both families are still seeking justice and accountability for the murders of their loved ones.
Ahmad Abuznaid, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, said: “It is frustrating that the United States not only does not care about the Palestinians, does not care about international law, but is also reluctant to uphold American law.”
The US Leahy Act, for example, prohibits assistance to foreign military units that commit abuses.
Abuznaid told Tel Aviv Tribune that there is a double standard in US foreign policy: the US government reserves its full outrage only for anti-Israeli actions, but not for anti-Palestinian ones.
“When the Israelis commit genocide (in Gaza), when they kill Shireen Abu Akleh or Omar Assad, the United States is concerned. When the Israelis can point to something that the Palestinians have done, it is immediately condemned,” he said.
This difference indicates that “the American government views the Palestinian people as something disposable,” Abuznaid added.
“Their foreign policy has been shaped around unwavering support for Israel, no matter what. And that clearly puts American foreign policy at odds with the Palestinians, who bear the brunt of Zionism and who are currently the main victims of the genocide perpetrated by the American-Israeli war machine.”
“Palestinian lives do not matter”
It is a sentiment shared by many people who knew Omar Assad personally.
Othman Atta is the executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the American city where the 78-year-old lived with his family for many years before retiring to Jiljilya.
A lawyer by profession, Atta said he helped Omar with his family matters. Atta also saw him at social events in the Milwaukee area, where many families trace their roots to Jiljilya live.
According to Mr. Atta, the decision of the American government to continue funding Netzah Yehuda sends a clear message: “In the eyes of the American government and American officials, the lives of Palestinians do not matter, even if they have American citizenship.”
That, combined with Washington’s unwavering military and diplomatic support for Israel after 10 months of a devastating war in Gaza, has shaken it.
“We are witnessing a real genocide. We see people dying of hunger. They are being denied water. They are being bombed into oblivion, with no regard for human life,” Atta told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“And yet we applaud (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu in Congress. We send billions of dollars in aid,” he said. “It’s very difficult to comprehend the depth of hypocrisy and hatred against the Palestinians and the innocent people of Gaza. It really shakes you to your core.”
“We must find justice”
The US State Department did not respond by the time of publication to Tel Aviv Tribune’s request for comment on the decision to continue funding Netzah Yehuda, or to criticism that the decision does not ensure accountability for Omar Assad’s death.
In a statement shared by media outlets Friday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington had reviewed the information provided by Israel and determined that the unit’s violations had “been effectively addressed.”
As a result, under U.S. law, Netzah Yehuda could continue to receive aid, Miller said.
But for Assad Assad, Omar’s nephew, the decision does not mark the end of his family’s efforts to seek justice.
He described his uncle as a serious man who never missed an opportunity to joke and make everyone laugh. “He was serious, but he was always funny in everything he did,” Assad told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“He was a good man who raised a large family. He has grandchildren, brothers and sisters who loved him very much. He missed all his nephews,” he added.
“We must do justice to my uncle.”
