Milwaukee's Islamic community calls for US to probe Omar Assad's death
Milwaukee's Islamic community is mourning the death of a Palestinian-American man who lived much of his life in Milwaukee and was found dead Wednesday in the occupied West Bank after being detained by Zionist forces.
In a Wednesday press conference, the U.S. State Department confirmed the man's death, identifying him as Omar Assad, and voiced its support for a "thorough investigation into the circumstances" of his death. Assad, 78, was a United States citizen.
"Our family is devastated and heartbroken," Hala Hamad, one of his daughters, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It leaves a hole in all of us. The pain of losing him is compounded because we know what he endured in his last hours."
Assad lived in the U.S. for about 40 years. He spent most of that time in the Milwaukee area before returning to the occupied West Bank in 2009, his younger brother Nawaff Assad told the Journal Sentinel.
Reuters and the Washington Post cited reports from Palestinian officials that Assad was returning to his home in the West Bank Wednesday after visiting relatives when Israeli soldiers stopped him, handcuffed him and led him away. His body was found shortly afterward with a plastic zip-tie still around one wrist, Reuters reported.
Assad's family believes the Israeli forces are responsible for his death.