Philadelphia elected officials demand investigation into killing of Palestinian American Nasrallah Abu Siyam

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Elected officials and family members of a Philadelphia-born Palestinian American are demanding an investigation into his death. Nineteen-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siyam was shot and killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank in February, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and witnesses.

“I urge you to stand with justice … We have to choose between the power of law or the law of power,” said Abdelhamid Siyam, a relative of Abu Siyam and a professor at Rutgers University, who spoke Thursday at a press conference organized by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and several other organizations and groups.

Siyam thanked Philadelphia City Council and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for calling for an investigation into Abu Siyam’s death.

Philadelphia City Councilmember Rue Landau said she and fellow Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke introduced a resolution Thursday to honor Abu Siyam’s life and call for accountability. The measure was passed unanimously.

“He was 19. He was not a soldier. He was not engaged in combat. He was trying to protect his family’s sheep when the violence erupted,” Landau said.

“Nasrallah’s life was stolen from him, from his family, from his community, and now all of us are grieving not only the loss of a soul, but the silence surrounding his death,” she added. “When an American citizen is killed abroad, there must be accountability and answers for the people who continue their memory.”

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Shapiro urged Bondi’s office to conduct an investigation.

“While the killing of Mr. Abu Siyam and similar incidents in the region demand a diplomatic response, I hope you will agree that the death of a citizen of our Commonwealth under such circumstances also requires a criminal investigation, as prescribed under the law, to ensure accountability and provide answers to the Abu Siyam family,” Shapiro wrote.

Abu Siyam is the second Palestinian American to be killed by Israeli settlers in less than a year. The attacks on the village of Mukhmas, where Abu Siyam lived, are the latest in a surge of violence.

In October 2025, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded the highest number of attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank since it began collecting data.

“On behalf of Nasrallah and his family, I add my voice to the growing chorus of elected officials who have called for an investigation into the circumstances of his death, and I join with everyone here today in condemning the occupation, in condemning apartheid, in condemning ethnic cleansing and genocide,” said state Sen. Nikil Saval. “To all who loved Nasrallah, please know that Philadelphia grieves with you. You are not alone.”

State Rep. Chris Rabb also spoke out against Abu Siyam’s death.

“It doesn’t matter that he was a U.S. citizen,” he said. “There is no hierarchy of human rights.”

Jonathan Kuttab, a human rights attorney, said he is working with Abu Siyam’s family to bring a civil case against 501(c)3 organizations in the U.S. that he said are supporting Israeli settlers’ attacks in the West Bank.

“We have obtained public information, and we will also be bringing some questions and depositions to the 501(c)(3)s that are violating … U.S. law as well as Israeli law in supporting these settlements,” he said.

Organizers said some members of the Abu Siyam family who traveled from the Philadelphia region to the West Bank for Nasrallah Abu Siyam’s funeral have been stranded there due to flight cancellations and travel restrictions after the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran began last week.