March 30, 2026
Mukhmas
Settler Violence
Mohammad H. Siam is a U.S. citizen and the lead community organizer behind the collective litigation effort on behalf of the village of Mukhmas. He is the primary point of contact coordinating plaintiff families in both the United States and the West Bank, and he is spearheading the push to bring a collective case that reflects the full scope of harm suffered by the village as a whole.
The incident at the center of Siam's involvement is the most serious and most recent in a multi-year pattern of settler violence against Mukhmas. In a coordinated attack, settlers stole 380 sheep from village residents, killed a U.S.-citizen youth, and wounded five others. The killing of a U.S. citizen and the brazenness of an organized attack resulting in mass livestock theft and lethal violence represents an escalation that gives this case particular urgency and legal weight. Wrongful death claims arising from the killing of a U.S. citizen by actors funded and equipped by U.S.-based organizations present some of the most compelling facts available in any case of this kind.
That attack did not occur in isolation. For the past two to three years, the entire village of Mukhmas has been systematically cut off from its agricultural land. Residents have been unable to harvest their olive trees, graze their flocks, or access properties that have been in their families for generations. Settlers operating from nearby outposts — outposts constructed, supplied, and financially sustained by U.S. nonprofit organizations claiming charitable tax-exempt status — have established what amounts to a permanent blockade around the village, enforced through violence, intimidation, and the destruction of property and livelihoods.
