Assad Assad says he and his household really feel betrayed.
However greater than that, the Palestinian American mentioned his first response to the United States government’s decision to proceed funding an Israeli military unit that certain his aged uncle and left him for useless might be summed up in a single phrase: “devastation”.
“We see this [as] hypocrisy — a US authorities that permits a international entity to have this chance to kill,” Assad, 36, informed Al Jazeera in a cellphone interview from his dwelling within the state of Wisconsin.
“They murdered my uncle in chilly blood. My uncle was not armed, was not…,” he continued, his voice trailing off. “He was simply going dwelling from an evening together with his mates, his cousins, taking part in a card sport.”
Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian American, died in January 2022 after he was detained by Israeli troopers at a checkpoint in his dwelling village of Jiljilya, close to Ramallah within the occupied West Financial institution.
He was compelled out of his automobile after which gagged, blindfolded and dragged on the bottom, in response to witness accounts and his household. He was unresponsive and the troopers left him out within the chilly at a building web site with none help or medical care.
An post-mortem later discovered that he had died of a coronary heart assault “as a result of exterior violence he was uncovered to”.
His loss of life prompted widespread condemnation, and the Assad household and Palestinian rights advocates within the US have called on President Joe Biden’s administration to conduct an unbiased investigation and guarantee Israel is held accountable.
These calls grew louder after the Israeli military mentioned in 2023 that troopers concerned within the incident had been disciplined however none would face criminal charges.
In April of this yr, the US State Division mentioned it was trying into whether to sanction the Israeli navy battalion that had detained Omar Assad — the Netzah Yehuda Battalion — which is infamous for abuses within the West Financial institution.
However final week, the division mentioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken had decided that points with Netzah Yehuda had been “remediated” — and the unit might proceed receiving US authorities funding.
“My cousins and my uncle’s spouse don’t wish to converse to the media. They’re simply distraught, and so they don’t wish to be round any of this as a result of it’s unbelievable,” mentioned Assad, Omar’s nephew. “It’s unjust. It’s simply hypocrisy.”
Sample of impunity
The Biden administration’s choice to proceed funding Netzah Yehuda comes amid a surge in Israeli military and settler violence towards Palestinians within the occupied West Financial institution beneath the shadow of the nation’s warfare within the close by Gaza Strip.
Practically 600 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces and settlers within the West Financial institution between the beginning of the Gaza warfare on October 7 and August 12, in response to the latest figures from the United Nations humanitarian affairs workplace (OCHA).
However Palestinians within the occupied territories have confronted many years of Israeli state violence.
In addition they have come up towards what rights teams describe as a system of “endemic impunity” for troopers and settlers concerned in assaults towards Palestinians.
Omar Assad was not the primary — or the one — American citizen killed by Israeli troopers who later evaded prison fees.
Simply months after the 78-year-old’s killing, in Might 2022, the Israeli military fatally shot famend Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh within the northern West Financial institution metropolis of Jenin.
In one other current case, in January of this yr, 17-year-old Tawfiq Ajaq, who was born and raised within the US, was killed within the West Financial institution village of al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya when an off-duty Israeli police officer and an Israeli settler opened hearth.
Each households are nonetheless in search of justice and accountability for the killings of their family members.
Ahmad Abuznaid, govt director of the US Marketing campaign for Palestinian Rights, mentioned, “It’s irritating to see the USA not solely have an absence of look after Palestinians, an absence of look after worldwide regulation, however an unwillingness to implement US regulation.”
The US Leahy Law, for instance, prohibits help to international navy items that commit abuses.
Abuznaid informed Al Jazeera there’s a double normal at play in American international coverage: The US authorities solely reserves full-throated outrage for anti-Israeli actions, however not anti-Palestinian ones.
“When the Israelis commit a whole genocide [in Gaza], once they kill Shireen Abu Akleh or Omar Assad, the USA is worried. When the Israelis can level to one thing that the Palestinians have executed, it’s instantly condemned,” he mentioned.
That distinction indicators that “the US authorities views Palestinian individuals as disposable”, Abuznaid added.
“Their international coverage has been formed round an all-out assist for Israel, it doesn’t matter what. And this clearly places US international coverage at odds with Palestinians who bear the brunt of Zionism and are at the moment bearing the brunt of the US-Israel warfare machine’s genocide.”
‘Palestinian lives don’t matter’
That’s a sense shared by many who knew Omar Assad personally.
Othman Atta is the chief director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the US metropolis the place the 78-year-old had lived together with his household for a few years earlier than retiring in Jiljilya.
A lawyer by career, Atta mentioned he helped Omar together with his household companies. Atta additionally would see him at social occasions within the Milwaukee space, which is dwelling to many households whose roots return to Jiljilya.
Atta mentioned the US authorities’s choice to proceed funding Netzah Yehuda sends a transparent message “that within the eyes of the US authorities and US officers, that Palestinian lives don’t matter, even when they occur to be carrying US citizenship”.
That, coupled with Washington’s unwavering navy and diplomatic backing of Israel after 10 months of a devastating warfare in Gaza, has shaken him.
“We really see a genocide going down. We see individuals are being starved. They’re being denied water. They’re being bombed into oblivion [with] no regard for any human life,” Atta informed Al Jazeera.
“And but we cheer [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in Congress. We ship billions of {dollars} in support,” he mentioned. “It’s very troublesome to fathom the depths of hypocrisy, of hatred towards Palestinians and harmless individuals in Gaza. It actually shakes you to the core.”
‘We have to discover justice’
The US State Division didn’t reply by publication time to Al Jazeera’s request for touch upon the choice to proceed funding Netzah Yehuda, or to criticism that the transfer fails to make sure accountability in Omar Assad’s loss of life.
In an announcement shared by media shops final Friday, State Division spokesman Matthew Miller mentioned Washington had reviewed data offered by Israel and decided that violations by the unit had “been successfully remediated”.
Because of this, beneath US regulation, Netzah Yehuda might proceed receiving help, Miller mentioned.
However for Assad Assad, Omar’s nephew, the choice is just not the tip of his household’s push for justice.
He described his uncle as a critical man who on the identical time would by no means move up an opportunity to joke round and make everybody chortle. “He was critical, however he was all the time humorous with every thing he did,” Assad informed Al Jazeera.
“He was a superb man that raised a big household. He has grandchildren and sisters and brothers that cherished him dearly. His nephews all missed him,” he added.
“We have to discover justice for my uncle.”