'They executed him': Palestinian Americans outraged over killing of teen in West Bank
The Israeli military "executed" a Palestinian-American teenager as he picked green almonds in a village in the occupied West Bank, bereaved family and members of the Palestinian community in New Jersey told reporters on Tuesday.
Amer Mohammed Saada Rabee, 14, who was born in Saddlebrook, New Jersey, and lived between the occupied West Bank and the US, was killed on Sunday when Israeli forces fired at him and two other minors in the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya.
Amer, a US citizen, was shot 11 times and died from his injuries, while the two other boys - one of whom is also a US citizen - sustained several bullet wounds but managed to survive.
Both boys - one with minor and the other with severe injuries - were taken to a Ramallah hospital.
At a sombre press conference held at the Palestinian American Community Center (PACC) in Clifton, New Jersey, on Tuesday, organisers said the community had once again fallen victim to "senseless violence" from the Israeli state with the full consent and support of the US government.
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Amer's father, Mohammed, who joined the press conference via Zoom from the occupied West Bank, said the family was heartbroken and in mourning over the loss of his son.
He said he was at home when he was told the Israeli military had opened fire on three boys in the village, including his son.
He immediately contacted the US embassy, but they were slow to respond to his pleas for help, asking him for "unnecessary" details even though he was a US citizen with all the proper paperwork.
Hours later, he was informed that his son's body was at a military base near Nablus. He said his son was given to him in a blue bag. His clothes had also been removed.
Exploding bullets
Mohammed said a doctor who examined his son's body said it appeared that Amer had been struck by two different types of bullets, including a type that exploded once it entered his body.
He noted his son also had suffered two gunshot wounds to the head.
'This was a cold blooded murder,' Rami Jbara, Amer's uncle who lives in New Jersey, said.
Amer Rabee would have turned 15 in May (Rabee family/Supplied)
Rania Mustafa, executive director of PACC, said the village of Turmus Ayya is surrounded by Israeli settlers who routinely look to intimidate and interfere with Palestinian villagers.
The Rabee family's farmland and farmhouse had been set alight and burnt by settlers last summer.
Mustafa described Amer as a bright kid who liked playing video games and spending time with friends, like any other boy his age. Mustafa said Amer was visiting family in New Jersey as recently as February.
She said his only fault was that he was Palestinian.
"The reality is, like many Palestinians, that he was living in Palestine, and he was subjected to senseless murder and an execution," Mustafa said.
"Our stories are consistently ignored. Our people are consistently dehumanised. Amer was killed after he and two boys picked green almonds off a tree," Mustafa said, clarifying that it was almond-picking season in Palestine.
'Amer was not in Gaza. He was in the West Bank. Palestinians are not safe neither here, nor in the West Bank, Gaza or even the US," Mustafa said.
Israeli soldiers said the boys were "throwing rocks" at Highway 60, a motorway that runs through the occupied West Bank from Beersheba to Nazareth.
They described the boys as "terrorists". But Amer's father, Mohammed, said his son, along with the other two boys, were climbing trees, and if they were throwing stones - of which there is no evidence that they were - it was likely they were trying to break off almonds to eat when they were fired upon by Israeli soldiers.
'Even if he was throwing stones [at anyone], he was 14 years old. They could have caught him and stopped him, but they wanted to kill him," Mohammed said.
Though the Palestinian-American community is calling for accountability from US officials over the killing of Amer, given his American citizenship, there is very little evidence to suggest that the US government will hold Israel to account.
In 2021, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while reporting in the West Bank, and this case has been all but buried. Likewise, in 2023, 17-year-old Mohammed Khdour was shot in the head by Israeli forces while he sat in his car.
No actions have been taken in either of these cases.
On Tuesday, the US State Department said it was "aware" of the killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian-American teenager, adding that it was still seeking more information on what had transpired.
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