Family and classmates mourn loss of New Orleans-area teen killed in the West Bank

Editors’ note: This story contains graphic images.

GRETNA, La. — Palestinian Americans in the New Orleans area are shaken by the killing of a local 17-year-old while he was visiting family in the occupied West Bank. Grief and anger are raw a week after a witness says Israeli security forces fatally shot the teen, and the community’s cry for justice and accountability is growing.

Born and raised in a New Orleans suburb, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar was killed northeast of Ramallah on Jan. 19, more than three months into the Israel-Hamas war. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli security forces killed the teen near the village of Al-Mazra’a Ash-Sharqiya.

“Tawfic was larger than life and always the center of attention,” said Sherean Murad, vice principal of the Muslim Academy in Gretna, Louisiana, who was Abdel Jabbar’s civics teacher last year. “He was a big tall boy, but he was a teddy bear. He was just so funny and hilarious. We’re reeling.”

Tawfic Abdel Jabbar was killed on Jan. 19 while visiting family in the occupied West Bank. The teen, seen here at his home in Gretna, Louisiana, was killed by Israeli forces, according to a witness. Photo courtesy of Abdel Jabbar family

Murad described him as “the kind of kid who was able to get through to everybody’s hearts.” Counselors said his friends and classmates were left “sobbing and walking around in disbelief,” and that it took several hours to comfort them.

Many members of the Muslim Academy community are frustrated, Murad said, with what they feel is a lack of response from local and national officials — as well as the public — to the case.

“I don’t want my students to see that their blood is cheap and that it wasn’t that big of a deal. [Tawfic] was murdered in cold blood,” she said.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby offered his condolences to the family at a news briefing in the days after Abdel Jabbar’s funeral, while calling on Israel to conduct a full investigation.

The details of Abdel Jabbar’s death are unclear, but his family alleges Israeli fire targeted the vehicle he was driving in with a friend. Mohammad Salameh, who was in the passenger seat when the shooting happened, told media outlets that shots hit the back of the truck and struck his friend in the head. Family members say Abdel Jabbar was on his way to a picnic. Israeli police have reportedly opened an investigation into the incident, though his family worries whether the investigation is being taken seriously.

READ MORE: Witness says fatal shooting of American-Palestinian teen in the occupied West Bank was unprovoked

The teen and his four siblings moved with their parents to the West Bank last May, completing his senior year of high school abroad so that he and his family could reconnect with their Palestinian roots and learn about the Arabic language and culture, which is not uncommon among families, Murad said. Abdel Jabbar planned to return to the U.S. and attend the University of New Orleans to study engineering.

Mourners gather around the body of Palestinian American Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, 17, at his Jan. 20 funeral near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Tawfic’s father (right), Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, railed against U.S. military support for Israel. Photo by Mohammed Torokman/Reuters

The family will remain in the West Bank for the foreseeable future in light of their loss and have buried Abdel Jabbar in their ancestral Palestinian village. During the funeral on Saturday, the boy’s father, Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, told a large crowd of mourners how he returned to the West Bank after 23 years to raise his children. He also railed against Israeli forces and Washington’s military support for Israel.

“They are using our tax dollars in the U.S. to support the weapons to kill our own children,” Hafeth Abdel Jabbar said.

“The American society does not know the true story,” he added. “Come here on the ground and see what’s going on … How many fathers and mothers have to say goodbye to their children? How many more?”

Abdel Jabbar’s uncle told the PBS NewsHour that the family hopes images of the teen would bring more awareness to his death.

At least 350 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire – mostly by Israeli forces – since the outbreak of the war last year. Among those deaths, 91 children across the West Bank have been killed since Oct. 7, according to the latest figures from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

‘Everyone is silent’

Back home, the tight-knit Palestinian American community in Jefferson Parish is frustrated that Abdel Jabbar’s death has not garnered more attention from public officials. The parish is home to the largest Palestinian population in the state. While the U.S. Census Bureau indicates 1,800 Palestinians live in Jefferson Parish, community leaders believe that number is a sizable undercount.

Nabil Abukhader, president of the local Masjid Omar Mosque, said some people in the community are feeling isolated and ignored, especially when other families receive consolation when tragedy happens abroad. They have not been contacted by the governor, none of Louisiana’s senators or representatives, nor the Jefferson Parish leaders, he said.

“Everyone is silent,” Abukhader said.

To Abukhader, the lack of outreach from local leaders feels like disrespect due to the young victim’s background. “He’s an American. He lives in Louisiana. I didn’t hear from anyone … No one issued a statement or release or tried to reach us or reach out to the community,” he said. “It shows you how much discrimination is going on. We did not receive the proper attention for this child as they normally give if he was in a different race or he was in a different country.”

It’s a feeling echoed by Abdel Jabbar’s family.

“[These elected officials’] own constituent gets killed in cold blood and they act like it’s not happening. They totally ignore it,” said Mohammad Abdeljabbar, Tawfic’s uncle. “We’ve lost a great citizen that could have been productive for this country and this community. We lost someone with a bright future, [a] smart, good kid raised right. They should care.”

The mosque president said it’s not the first time he’s had to hold up his community, but somehow “this one hits differently.”

“It’s unbelievable when you see a young man who has his entire future ahead of him and instead of sending him to college to achieve his dreams — suddenly — you send him to the graveyard,” Abukhader said. “Of course, you get angry, frustrated, mad, especially when you know he was killed for no reason.”

More than a hundred cars decorated with Palestinian flags stretched along a New Orleans highway for a Jan. 28 memorial motorcade in honor of Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, a Palestinian American teen fatally shot in the occupied West Bank. Photo courtesy of Masjid Omar Mosque

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the death, but the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement they received a report of a “Palestinian individual suspected of hurling rocks” and that “an IDF soldier was present in the area.” IDF said the claim that the soldier fired at the Palestinian is under review. The family said Abdel Jabbar was not throwing rocks.

Abdel Jabbar’s uncle, who called the death of his nephew “devastating,” visited the West Bank in 2022. He said the situation continues to deteriorate, and his extended family members have experienced “very threatening” interactions with Israeli settlers.

“It’s a very scary environment. They try not to leave the village. They try not to go to main cities. There’s foreign soldiers along the way with checkpoints and harassment. It’s hectic so we try not to leave the village unless we absolutely have to,” Mohammad Abdeljabbar said. “Nobody ever gets brought to justice. In the West Bank, they have a green light to kill Palestinians.”

In the aftershock, a community mourns

Since the war began, there have been at least three large marches in New Orleans to show solidarity with the Palestinian community. In October, a pro-Palestinian rally near Tulane University briefly turned violent and left several students injured near the school. Another demonstration two months later shut down traffic following a sporting event.

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During a Jan. 20 vigil at the mosque, an overflowing crowd of mourners gathered in silence around the basketball court behind the building where Abdel Jabbar would often play.

Abdel Jabbar’s uncle said it was a “heartfelt moment” that underscored what he loves about the community.

“They stand with each other. They support each other in times of need, and I’m very grateful that we’re a part of this community,” Mohammad Abdeljabbar said. “I hope that his death doesn’t go in vain and it brings awareness to the whole situation and stops it from happening again.”

Abukhader said he is praying for peace for everybody: “For the Arabs, for the Palestinians, for the Israelis, for the Christians, for the Muslims, for the Jews, everybody,” he said. “Every life does matter, and this killing cycle has to stop.”

A motorcade in Abdel Jabbar’s honor was held on Jan. 28. Starting at the Masjid Omar Mosque, the memorial also demanded a cease-fire in Gaza.

Back at the school, students and families are deeply saddened but not deterred by the loss. Murad said some parents are determined to continue the pilgrimages to the West Bank even if the violence continues. And Abdel Jabbar’s class is talking about adding his name to their senior jacket.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Abdel Jabbar family prefers to write its surname as two words.